On the last day of this year’s Ensemble Horizons conference at Resorts World Las Vegas, TravelPulse Canada’s Bruce Parkinson sat down with Ensemble president Michael Johnson and SVP Operations Kristina Boyce to talk about the state of a 50-year-old consortium that has navigated through transformational change in the past few years.
This was the third Ensemble Horizons conference since the 50-year-old, formerly member-owned travel consortium was acquired by Navigatr, a tech-focused company with a vision of “investing in the future of travel.”
As well as Ensemble, Navigatr’s portfolio includes TripArc, creator of the ADX travel agency booking platform, luxury advisor network Travel Edge and private-guided tour operator Kensington Tours.
The company’s diverse products of high-tech tools and high-touch human travel advice marries well with Ensemble’s aim to simplify travel processes so that advisors can do what they do best – which, as Johnson puts it, is to “leverage their expertise and their empathy.”
At the first post-Navigatr Ensemble Horizons conference in Miami, the vibe was optimistic but tentative. Last year in Vegas, momentum was tangible as Ensemble members saw early promises come to fruition. Back in Nevada this year, 850 attendees were in high spirits.
Travel Gurus owner Hidar Elmais (left), with G Adventures’ Jenna English, and Gurus Melissa Tolmie and Meghan Duncan. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Hidar Elmais, owner of successful Alberta-based Travel Gurus, told TravelPulse Canada that Ensemble’s leadership is doing the right things at the right time. “They’re very young, they’re pushing the boundaries. They’re new, they’re different. They’re like us.”
Here are some highlights of our conversation with Johnson and Boyce.
TravelPulse Canada: “It’s the last day of the conference. How are you feeling about the progress Ensemble has made over the past couple of years?”
Michael Johnson addresses the opening session of the Ensemble Horizons conference. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
Michael Johnson: “Normally when you run a marathon, the last couple of miles are the hardest. I would say, at this event, the last couple of miles have been the most rewarding, because people – members, partners, the industry at large – seem to be really engaged, and the momentum is growing.
Part of the reason is it was designed for the members. We consulted via a census to create an event that was tailored to the individual constituents. So everyone gets what they need from this event – and that makes it very special.”
TravelOnly and Ensemble members Robert Rizzo and Barbara Scrocco at the Ensemble Horizons conference 2024 in Las Vegas.
TravelPulse Canada: “Attendees have commented on how Ensemble is successfully combining a technology focus with a human touch. One described the opening session as delivering “the right amount of polish and humanity.” Does that resonate for you?”
Kristina Boyce: “From the top down, it’s who we are. We just serve the travel advisor community. We can’t do that if we don’t know them. That means knowing their business, but it also means knowing their kids and their lives and how we can help make their business easier. We hope we’re all very accessible to the membership. Everyone’s voice is incredibly important in Ensemble. And I think when you live that people feel it and it translates into a really beautiful, exciting energy.”
Michael Johnson: “I think what separates Ensemble is the amount of effort we make in getting to know our members. You can’t, I don’t think, effectively help someone if you don’t know them. Part of this conference is talking about our programs and all the different opportunities, but there’s a tremendous amount of time just spent understanding as many as we can and what makes them tick so that we can better develop our programs in response.”
TravelPulse Canada: “Looking back at the past couple of years, what are you most proud of?”
Michael Johnson: “I’m proud of the progress we’re making across every dimension. There’s been progress on the tech side, progress on the partner relations side in terms of some of the differentiated amenities, progress across the marketing side, so the entire company has taken a step-change forward.
It’s very gratifying when you come to a conference like this, because we’re in it every day, we’re building every day, and then when you come here and unveil the work that we’ve done and the response you get back, it’s particularly fulfilling. If you want to know what I’m most proud of, I’m most proud of this team, because they have done exceptional work.”
Kristina Boyce: “We had an average 90% Net Promoter Score (NPS) on our learning program. We like to NPS everything we do. It’s about that feedback, it’s about the voice of the customer being our anchor, always, for everything we do. So if we have a low NPS anywhere we have to instantly fix it, work to understand why so we can address it.”
To produce Range Magazine, whose peers are Conde Nast and Travel+Leisure, to have those high NPS scores, to have technology that we built last year that our members are now using and reaping benefits from. For us to see the impact of the work we’ve put in is something I’m very proud of.”
Ensemble president Michael Johnson and senior vice president Kristina Boyce at the 2023 Ensemble Horizons conference. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
TravelPulse Canada: “You have promised to turn the Ensemble consortium into ‘something completely new for the industry.’ Where are you in that journey?”
Michael Johnson: “We have made demonstrable improvements in the company. I think we are absolutely a differentiated consortium. The work is never done because the work is based on our customer feedback. Customer feedback will always change, which means we always need to be A, listening and then B., developing new programs, introducing new opportunities based on that feedback.
I think the new Ensemble has demonstrated through things like tech, ADX, our marketing etc., that we take our customers’ feedback very, very seriously and as a result have been able to develop something that’s entirely different.”
Kristina Boyce: “I look at things like the amenity program in hotels for cruise, developed by a team led by our SVP Global Partner Relations Beth Butzlaff. That’s something the old Ensemble one, may not have imagined, two, may not have known that the members needed, and three, would not have been able to go, execute and get. It’s a really big deal. The advisors are so excited. But it’s also: ‘Why has no one done this?’ And that’s where we come in.”
TravelPulse Canada: “During this conference you have described the current time as the ‘Golden Age of the Travel Advisor.’ What leads you to this assertion?”
Michael Johnson: “I come back to a very basic question – ‘What’s the best way to book travel?’ And the best way is to work with a human being. Full stop. I honestly believe that the pendulum is coming back. It starts slow and it progresses. I think the travel advisor is going to become more and more important and more valued as an expert, along the lines of every other expert that you engage with.
We have made a huge mistake in this industry by confusing choice with convenience. We think the more choice, the more ways to book, the more products on the shelf, means convenience for our advisors and ultimately our clients. In fact the more we introduce, the more complex it is.
Our goal is to simplify (the process) so that our advisors can do what they do best. Nobody got into travel because they wanted to become an IT expert. They got into travel because they love people and they love travel. So let’s start there and let’s help them with that and remove all of the other administration.”
Canada’s Go Travel was well-represented at the 2024 Ensemble Horizons conference. (Photo Credit: Bruce Parkinson)
TravelPulse Canada: “Ensemble is unique in that its membership is a 50/50 split between Canadians and Americans. How do all members benefit from this?”
Kristina Boyce: “The commonalities are greater than the differences, but because of our size we can serve those differences. We have the best contracts with WestJet Vacations, Sunwing, Transat, Manulife of anyone else, and we have these deep relations with U.S. headquarters of cruise lines. Our size enables us to do both of those things.
Our partners have been incredibly supportive since day one. They invested, they were along for the ride. They believed in the vision early on and you can see demonstrated here, they are in, they know that there’s huge value in who our advisors are. We are very happy.”