TOP NEWS “Book it through the site, book it through the portal,” said Walker, addressing the issue of unwieldy call centre hold times that have been the bane of travel agents throughout the pandemic. The phone should be seen as a last resort, he added, while acknowledging that “tour operators need to do a much better job at handling the volume of calls.” Walker also touched on the silver lining of the pandemic: “This is a time that the services of a travel professional will be critical. Consumers know that, and the industry knows that.” Service fees also came up. “If you weren’t a believer [in professional fees] before [the pandemic], I hope you’re a believer now,” said Adamo. “You need to charge for your time, for your services, full stop. And you need to charge the right amount. I'm not talking $20 or $25. You need to charge a legitimate fee for your services.” Agents also shouldn’t have any clients travelling without proper insurance, he added. Another panel discussion at the ACTA Summit, ‘Setting Your Standards through Professional Fees’, dealt exclusively with the importance of travel advisors making sure they see their own value, and charge for it, with service fees. Flemming Friisdahl, founder and owner, The Travel Agent Next Door, moderated the panel, which included Chelsey Wheatley with CAA Atlantic, TTAND advisor Becky Kershaw, and Ottawa-based travel advisor Norm Payne. The panelists were forthcoming about what they charge, and why. “Professional fees are something I’ve championed since day one,” said Payne. “I’ve always instinctively felt that travel agents should be charging a fee.” The ACTA Summit also included a presentation by Jennifer Hendry, Senior Research Associate, Conference Board of Canada, who cited Canadians’ growing reserves of discretionary income for post-pandemic travel spending, and pent-up travel demand. The vast majority - 89% - of Canadians say they miss travel, said Hendry. The stats also show the highest travel intentions in over a year, however only 1 in 10 of those say they plan to travel outside of Canada. Confusion over travel requirements, from testing to accepted vaccines, will continue to suppress demand. Travellers right now “are reticent,” she said, adding “they need your assurances … to help close the deal.”
Remembering Stanley Tollman, Chairman of The Travel Corporation TORONTO — The travel industry has lost a true visionary and innovator with the recent passing of Stanley Tollman, Chairman of The Travel Corporation (TTC). A much beloved patriarch, Tollman passed away in France, surrounded by his family, following a battle with cancer. He was 91. Under Tollman’s leadership, TTC, which celebrated its centenary in 2020, has become one of the most renowned family-owned and run travel businesses in the world. A man from very humble origins, Tollman was born in the small fishing village of Paternoster in the Western Cape of South Africa in 1930. There, his family ran a modest hotel where the lavatories were outdoors and a young Tollman roamed barefoot. At the age of eight, his family moved to Johannesburg where his parents acquired another hotel and it was during this time that Tollman’s work ethic, curiosity and passion for the world of hospitality began to take shape. In 1954 he married Beatrice Lurie, beginning an extraordinary love story and partnership that has lasted almost 70 years. Their journey in hospitality began right away, when in 1954 they used their wedding money to purchase their first business venture – the Nugget Hotel in Johannesburg. As a young hotelier, Tollman worked tirelessly and was driven by his relentless pursuit of perfection. With this ethos in place, the young Tollmans soon became some of the leading hoteliers of South Africa. In the mid-1950s, their Hyde Park Hotel put them on the global stage by being the first to bring world-famous artists to South Africa, including Marlene Dietrich and Maurice Chevalier. Their reputation as world-class hoteliers grew even further with the opening of the first five-star and allsuite hotel in South Africa, the Tollman Towers. Simultaneously, Tollman’s interests across all segments of the tourism industry came together with the creation of The Travel Corporation, which included the purchase of Trafalgar Tours.
As a man of values, Tollman was unable to accept the racist apartheid policies being enforced in South Africa at the time. He was one of the first to boldly invite black guests and performers into his luxury hotels despite the ruling government’s policies. Sadly, government policies forced Tollman to shift his focus beyond South African borders, and together with his wife and four children, he left South Africa in 1976. Rebuilding in England and then the United States, Tollman continued to expand and innovate in the travel industry over the decades. He had a special affinity for Canada, making his first trip abroad as a young man to Hamilton, Ontario to visit relatives. He opened TTC’s first Canadian office in Toronto in 1968, beginning with the guided tour brand Trafalgar. He travelled across the country, personally hosting travel presentations and visiting travel advisor partners. With the success of Trafalgar, Tollman later purchased and brought Contiki, the leading youth travel company, to Canada in 1989, followed by premium guided tour brand Insight Vacations in 1994. In 2003 he acquired Canadian-based Lion World Travel, and was also instrumental in bringing Uniworld, the most-awarded luxury river cruise line, to the Canadian market in 2004. Today, Canada represents the third largest travel market for The Travel Corporation. TTC has since grown to become a portfolio of 40 award-winning brands. Tollman’s travel businesses, pre-pandemic, carried over two million travellers annually worldwide. October 7, 2021 | TRAVELWEEK | 7
