Internova Travel Group Marks Global Travel Advisor Day, 10th Anniversary of Family Bonds Foundation
Charitable initiative to help those in need in the travel industry has distributed more than 250 grants since its founding in 2015
NEW YORK, May 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- As the world celebrates Global Travel Advisor Day, Internova Travel Group is also marking a major milestone: the 10th anniversary of Family Bonds Foundation, its nonprofit initiative dedicated to supporting travel professionals and their families through life's toughest challenges.
(PRNewsfoto/Internova Travel Group)
Since its founding in 2015, the Foundation has provided more than 250 emergency grants to individuals across the U.S. affected by illness, job loss, natural disasters and other unexpected hardships. These grants have helped advisors rebuild their lives, often after devastating personal losses.
"This day is about honoring the dedication of travel advisors around the world," said J.D. O'Hara, CEO of Internova Travel Group, one of the world's largest travel services companies representing more than 100,000 travel advisors. "But it's also a powerful reminder of our responsibility to stand by the people who make travel possible when they need us most."
In 2024 alone, Family Bonds Foundation raised a record-breaking $650,000, thanks to Internova's advisor network and the incredible generosity of supplier partners. Globus family of brands, Outside Agents, Pavlus Travel and Signature Travel Network served as Diamond sponsors, while Allianz Partners and AmaWaterways have already signed on as Diamond Plus donors in 2025, each committed to contributing at least $100,000 this year.
To mark its 10-year anniversary and build on this momentum, Internova has set its most ambitious fundraising goal yet—$800,000 in 2025—with major fundraising events planned at two flagship conferences: Travel Leaders Network's EDGE Conference, June 9-12 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and Nexion's CoNexion Conference, Sept. 8-10 at the Universal Orlando Resort. Both events will feature public silent auctions and raffles with travel prizes including cruises, luxury stays and premium flights. Bidding opens online one week before each event.
"This foundation is not just for our company, it's for the entire travel advisor community," said Jackie Friedman, President of Family Bonds Foundation and of Nexion Travel Group, a premium host agency within Internova Travel Group. "We encourage all travel agencies and networks to join us in supporting the people who make this industry so special. Together, we can make an even bigger impact."
The Foundation accepts nominations year-round, and anyone in the travel industry can nominate a U.S. colleague in need. The next nomination deadline is July 15, with recipients notified by August 1. This year, the Foundation aims to award more than 100 grants.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Travel Weekly
6 hours ago
- Travel Weekly
Travel Leaders Network enjoying double-digit revenue growth
LAS VEGAS — Travel Leaders Network (TLN) revenue is up double digits so far this year, president John Lovell said during the group's Edge conference here, with luxury and river cruising particular bright spots. Theme park revenue is also up, thanks to a bump from the Universal Orlando Resort's newest theme park, Epic Universe, which opened in May. TLN is part of Internova Travel Group. The Edge conference is ongoing this week at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Revenue boost from cruise As of the end of April, TLN's cruise and land revenue was up 12% compared to the same period in 2024, Lovell said during a media briefing. That number will "bump up a little bit" once May revenue has been calculated, he said, based on figures that have already been reported by suppliers. Breaking that number down, cruise revenue is up 14.5%, and land revenue is up 6.5%, Lovell said. He attributed the cruise increase to advisors selling high-quality cabins as well as gaining a bigger share of the market. By segment, luxury cruise revenue is up 20% compared to the same time last year, while premium cruise revenue is up 16%, contemporary cruise revenue is up 8% and river cruise revenue is up 29%. "We just wish they would dredge more river somewhere," Lovell said. "The growth there is just absolutely phenomenal." Solid gains in land revenue Though it's a smaller increase than cruise revenue, a 6.5% increase in land "is a really strong number," Lovell said. At the same time last year, comparing 2024 to 2023, land sales were only up around 2.3%, indicating land sales are growing. By segment, land FIT and touring revenue is up 13% compared to the same time last year, fun and sun revenue is up 3.7% and theme park revenue is up 12%. Lovell attributed a lot of the bump in theme park revenue to Epic Universe. "Had you asked me these numbers in February for theme parks, it would have been vastly different," Lovell said. "But as soon as that date came out, the May launch of Epic, we just saw bookings flying in for the Orlando market." Lovell said those bookings aren't just for Universal, as Epic's opening has driven a bump in business for the whole market. In the past four years, TLN has grown its base by 1,175 members, representing $1.5 billion in preferred supplier sales, said COO Lindsay Pearlman. To ensure all member needs are met, TLN has been expanding its field team that supports members, recently adding nine new employees, he said. Business tips from Richard Branson During the conference, Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, stopped by for an on-stage chat with Lovell. He shared stories about his famed companies as well as his advice on how to operate a solid business. "I think the key to running a good company is to experience it yourself," Branson said. It's a practice that Branson preaches. For instance, if he's on a Virgin Atlantic plane, he'll talk to each guest and employee, notebook in hand, seeking pain points and advice for improvement. "On an average flight, I write down anything from five to 25 different items," he said. Then he gets to work fixing problems and putting suggestions in place. He behaves similarly on Virgin Voyages ships. "If you talk to your customers and you talk to your staff, they know what needs to be done," Branson said. "I think what makes an average company exceptional is getting those little things right."
Travel Weekly
6 hours ago
- Travel Weekly
Travel Leaders Network expands Super Agent designation
LAS VEGAS — Travel Leaders Network (TLN) is adding two new categories to its Super Agent designation on its Agent Profiler tool, among other technology updates discussed at its annual Edge conference this week at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. Agent Profiler is TLN's lead-generation tool for members. There are nearly 20,000 advisor profiles on today. In 2022, TLN added the "Super Agent" designation, awarded to advisors who fill out their profiles with a variety of content, like reviews, specialty bios, maps and photo albums. Now, two additional categories of Super Agent profiles are coming: Super Agent Gold and Super Agent Diamond. Advisors can reach those levels based on performance metrics using Agent Profiler, said Stephen McGillivray, chief partner marketing officer at parent company Internova Travel Group. That includes metrics like response rate within 24 hours and booking close rate. The basic Super Agent designation will remain in place. The new categories will likely go live in July, Lovell said. Having an elevated Agent Profiler designation puts an advisor higher in the search order, making it more likely a consumer will select their profile and send leads their way. Leads from the profiles are about flat compared to last year, which saw an all-time high of more than 300,000, McGillivray said. "We're happy about that, because a lot of the digital space, I've seen traffic numbers drive down," McGillivray said. "We were very happy that we're holding our own in lead flow to the members." The average cost of a booking that comes through Agent Profiler that an advisor can close is $10,665, according to McGillivray. The close rate, Lovell said, is a little over 25%. Continuing CRM integrations TLN continues its work to become CRM-agnostic, enabling members to work with whichever CRM they prefer and benefit from integration into TLN's systems. "CRMs are exploding all over the place in our industry," said Cory Voss, TLN's chief information officer. "When I say exploding, I mean lots more options than there ever was before. And we're sensitive to that. We acknowledge that, and we want to make sure that our membership base has the ability to make the choice and work with the CRM that fits their business best." Traditionally, TLN's systems were integrated with ClientBase and AgentMate, but the consortium has been making moves to be CRM-agnostic, enabling more CRMs to communicate with its systems. Integration of the VacationCRM is ongoing. Planiteasy, Tess and Tres are coming down the pipe, Voss said. "There's so many options in the CRM space," he said. "It's an important business decision for an agency to make, and we want to be as accommodating as we possibly can in supporting the decision that they're going to make. And we're going to do that by trying to get as many integrations as we possibly can." Simplified Sabre GDS rolling out for Canadian members Getting more advisors to sell air has been a focus of TLN in recent years. Last year, TLN began to roll out SNAP, its co-branded version of Sabre Red Launchpad designed to be a simpler-to-use version of the GDS. "Air has been ignored for a long time, and it's a huge opportunity," Lindsay Pearlman, TLN's COO, said. "When you think about it, it doesn't make sense that an advisor doesn't book air." It helps build relationships and loyalty by providing a more complete vacation product, he said. The proof is in the numbers: If an advisor books air for their customer, he said, the cancellation rate drops by 39%. "There's a stickiness factor," he said. "You're going beyond the transaction piece to providing full service for that customer." After a year of beta testing in the market, SNAP is now officially rolling out to TLN members in Canada.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
EncorEstate Plans Named Double Finalist for 2025 WealthManagement.com Industry Awards
Recognized for new standalone deed filing feature to be demonstrated at upcoming EDGE Conference SEATTLE, June 10, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EncorEstate Plans (Encore), the most comprehensive and customizable estate planning and trust funding solution for advisors, has been named a finalist in two categories for the 2025 Industry Awards ("The Wealthies"). The four-year-old company is recognized for its innovative solutions in estate planning implementation for their Standalone Deed Filing Service and Streamlining Trust Digitization and Restatement. This marks the second consecutive year Encore has received multiple finalist honors, underscoring the company's commitment to empowering advisors with tools that simplify and elevate the estate planning experience. Encore serves more than 5,500 advisors nationwide and maintains the highest advisor satisfaction rating in the industry according to the most recent Kitces Advisor Productivity Survey and the T3/Inside Information Advisor Tech Survey. "As a bootstrapped company, our 'Advisors first, always' core value lets us prioritize what matters most to our users," said Matt Morris, CEO of EncorEstate Plans. "We're grateful to the advisors and other partners, along with our amazing team, for making this recognition possible. We are mission-driven to help more financial professionals see how they can use modular estate planning services – supported by not just the EncorEstate Plans technology, but a team of legal professionals who supervise and support the documentation and deed filing process – to supercharge their business offerings, increase client satisfaction, and add to both their top and bottom lines." UPCOMING DEMO AND NEW FEATURE ANNOUNCEMENT AT WM EDGE Morris will showcase Encore's latest advancements at the upcoming Wealth Management EDGE conference, June 10-12 in Boca Raton, FL, where he will debut an exclusive new platform feature, the Standalone Deed Filing service, during the WealthStack Demos on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. The 60-minute WealthStack Demo session, which will showcase Encore as well as other innovative wealthtech solutions, starts at 2:40pm ET. This new capability enables advisors to assist clients in funding their trusts with real estate, even if the original estate planning documents were not created on the Encore platform. "Think of a trust as a safe. You fill it with things you want your trustee to control," Morris explained. "The benefit of avoiding probate is lost when real estate isn't titled in the name of the trust. Our new Standalone Deed Filing Service makes it easier than ever to ensure existing estate plans are properly funded and to overcome the common procrastination that leaves clients exposed." The new Standalone Deed Filing Service is designed to close a critical gap for advisors. While many clients complete estate planning documents, they often delay or neglect the crucial step of recording their home deeds with the county, leaving their largest asset out of the trust. Encore's solution streamlines this process, enabling advisors to deliver comprehensive, actionable estate planning support. #1 IN ADVISOR SATISFACTION AND FLEXIBLE PRICING Encore continues to set itself apart with a pay-as-you-go pricing model and a steadfast commitment to advisor autonomy – there is no vendor lock-in. Unlike other estate planning tools that compete for attention within the financial services industry, renewal sticker shock is also thwarted thanks to EncorEstate Plans' innovative business model. ABOUT "THE WEALTHIES" AWARD COMPETITION Now in its 11th year, the Wealth Management Industry Awards (a.k.a., The Wealthies) is the only awards program of its kind to honor outstanding achievements by companies, organizations and individuals that support financial advisor success. A panel of judges made up of top names in the industry, led by director of editorial strategy and operations David Armstrong, chose the finalists and will determine the winners, which each year recognizes the firms and individuals who are bringing new innovations to market that make a real difference to the daily activities of financial advisors. Winners will be announced at a gala and awards ceremony in New York City on September 4, 2025. "The Industry Awards are a beacon, illuminating the trailblazers and innovators who are shaping the future of the financial services industry," said David Armstrong, director of editorial strategy and operations. "They serve as a leading indicator of future activity, and as a barometer for the dynamic ecosystem of companies and organizations that empower, support and enable advisor success who are driving the industry forward." an Informa business, provides wealth professionals with information that helps financial advisors build stronger relationships, improve efficiencies, and grow business. offers financial services organizations a broad array of marketing services designed to help them influence the industry's leading audience of wealth management professionals. ABOUT ENCORESTATE PLANS Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Seattle, EncorEstate Plans is the most comprehensive and customizable estate planning and trust funding platform for advisors. The company's technology and support team empower advisors to create, update, and fund estate plans efficiently, all under the advisor's brand. The platform has been rated an "All Star" for the second consecutive year by the T3/Inside Information Software Survey, earning the highest average user rating (8.47 out of 10) and nearly doubling its market share in the estate planning software category. Kitces' Financial Planning Productivity Survey ranked Encore #1 in client satisfaction, recognizing the focus on scaling up their team of human estate planners, attorneys, and paralegals to be advisors' estate planning back office, and placing value on higher service touch over pure technology solutions. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact:Dori ThomasImpact Communications, Inc.913-649-5009DoriThomas@
