The Western Association of Travel Agents (WESTA), a member-owned travel agency consortium is celebrating record attendance at its 2018 Owners & Managers Conference.
The event held May 4-7 at the all-inclusive Marival Residences Luxury Resort in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, was the organization's first-ever conference held outside of the U.S.
The shedding of domestic boundaries was particularly fitting for this conference, which had an overarching theme of exploring ways to adapt to and embrace change in the workplace.
"We were extremely pleased to be able to bring our first international conference to Mexico," said Mike Estill, Chief Operating Officer of WESTA. "We felt the best way to counter the negative, alarmist narrative about Mexico was not with words but with actions and taking this event to Puerto Vallarta did just that."
More than 200 WESTA owners and managers were welcomed by the Riviera Nayarit Convention & Visitors Bureau, which organized cultural tours and hotel inspections, and presented a destination report on Nuevo Vallarta and Punta de Mita.
"The Marival Group was WESTA's first preferred hotel partner in Mexico and the spectacular job they did hosting our event only served to strengthen that relationship even more," said Estill.
Travel agents in attendance were presented with a broad range of topics facing the travel professional community, including the new travel insurance licensing model, the evolving landscape of agency legal liability and disclosure, and how to understand and manage generational differences in the workplace.
In addition, the show featured a half-day trade show with more than 50 suppliers as well as small roundtable discussion groups with 30 WESTA preferred suppliers.
A conference highlight was WESTA's Annual Awards Banquet, held at MozzaMare, a beautiful new beachfront restaurant at Marival Residences.
"We were very excited to showcase our new beachfront dining experience during this special event," said Bea Barbero, Marival's Corporate Director of Sales. "It was our first international industry event at this impressive venue, and we thank Mike Estill and the board for their confidence in choosing it for their first-ever conference in Mexico! The banquet was a perfect opportunity to highlight the beauty of Riviera Nayarit to our valued friends in the industry, and to demonstrate that they can promote the region to their clients with confidence."
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