ITG Delegation Visits Quintana Roo to Lay Plans for Tourism Comeback
New York, NY (Dec. 4, 2020) — To accelerate the rebound of tourism to Mexico, a delegation of senior Internova Travel Group executives traveled to the popular tourism destination of Cancun to meet with key partners from the tourism board, as well as airline and hotel partners.
J.D. O’Hara, CEO of Internova Travel Group, John Lovell, President, Travel Leaders Group, as well as Brian Hegarty, Vice President of Marketing at Travel Leaders Network, Peter Vlitas, Internova’s Senior Vice President of Airline Relations, Faisal Sublaban, Internova’s Senior Vice President, Hotels, and Jose Luis Castro, President of CTS of Mexico, met with airline, hotel and tourism partners from Palace Resorts, Quintana Roo Tourism, Aeroméxico and Delta Air Lines to discuss future strategies for tourism recovery.
“We wanted to meet in person with our partners to strengthen our relationships and send a strong message about our commitment to re-build tourism to Mexico,” said O’Hara. “Our partners understand that the travel advisor plays a more important role than ever in helping customers decipher the complexities of travel today, and they confirmed their full support to the advisor community.”
Lovell, who leads Travel Leaders Group, which sends tens of thousands of visitors to Mexico annually, said, “Across the board, all of the processes—the transportation, the resort properties and the rooms—were carefully thought through. Every one of us was very impressed with the precautions and procedures that have been implemented. Seeing the positive reactions of visitors at the resort properties gave us hope.”
For the cruise passenger, one of the best international travel options until cruising returns is staying at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico or the Caribbean, said Lovell.
The Internova executives stayed at The Grand at Moon Palace Cancun and met with representatives of Palace Resorts. Internova Travel Group executives discussed air routes and capacity with airline representatives including Delta Air Lines’ Scott Jordan, Managing Director New York Sales, andAeroMexico’s Giancarlo Mulinelli, Senior Vice President, Global Sales, and Pete Ross, Director Global Travel Management Company Sales.
Cancun is one of the most well-connected destinations in North America since the start of the pandemic. There are direct flights from over 30 major cities in Canada and the United States, and more routes were recently added this month. Approximately 1.5 million American tourists have visited the region since it re-opened for tourism in June.
Their trip coincided with the first exclusive Travel Leaders Insider Educational Trip. These Insider trips are structured familiarization trips sponsored by Travel Leaders Network (TLN) and its supplier partners to give advisors a firsthand view of the current travel experience. Over 150 TLN advisors will experience Mexico and Caribbean destinations on 18 different Insider Educational Trips scheduled over the past two months.
“We are working on many different fronts to prepare for travel recovery and restore trust in travel. Our goal is to ensure our travelers can book with confidence, fly with confidence and stay with confidence and we are exploring every option to make that possible,” said O’Hara.
Palace Resorts Meeting:
Internova Travel Group executives met with Palace Resorts representatives at a recent meeting in Cancun. They are (left to right) Kathy Halpern, Vice President, Global Marketing, Palace Resorts; Brian Hegarty, Vice President, Marketing, Travel Leaders Group; Jose Luis Castro, President, CTS Mexico; J.D. O’Hara, CEO, Internova Travel Group; Gibran Chapur, Executive Vice President, Palace Resorts; John Lovell, President, Travel Leaders Group; Peter Vlitas, Senior Vice President, Airline Relations, Internova Travel Group; Faisal Sublaban, Senior Vice President, Hotels, Internova Travel Group; Frank Corzo, Vice President, Sales, Palace Resorts; Gerardo Garcia, Vice President, Sales & Marketing USA, Palace Resorts; and Victor Vargas, Corporate Director of Sales, Le Blanc Spa Resorts.
Quintana Roo Tourism Board Meeting:
Internova Travel Group executives traveled to Mexico to meet with Quintana Roo Tourism Board executives to discuss tourism strategies. Pictured are Brian Hegarty, Vice President, Marketing, Travel Leaders Group; Lizzie Cole, Executive Director of Promotion, CPTQ; John Lovell, President, Travel Leaders Group; Dario Flota, CEO, Quintana Roo Tourism Board; J.D. O’Hara, CEO, Internova Travel Group; Clementina del Tejo, Director of Strategic Partnerships, CPTQ; Jose Luis Castro, President, CTS Mexico; and Keren Ríos, Director of Social Communications, CPTQ.
About Internova Travel Group
Internova Travel Group is one of the largest travel services companies in the world with a collection of leading brands delivering high-touch, personal travel expertise to leisure and corporate clients. Internova manages leisure, business and franchise firms through a portfolio of distinctive divisions. Internova represents more than 65,000 travel advisors in over 6,000 company-owned and affiliated locations predominantly in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, with a presence in more than 80 countries.