Three months into the year, Travel Impressions appears on track to top 2012's results, which COO John Hanratty described as the firm's "best year" since 2007, the benchmark year for measuring growth.
"We're seeing price hikes," he said. "Average daily rates are higher than in the past. We're pacing ahead, and the mood is good."
Following on the heels of a strong showing since the launch of its Villa Experience program in January 2010, Travel Impressions expanded its villa portfolio this year with the addition of several properties in Cancun and in five Caribbean destinations.
The total number of villas in the collection now tops 1,200, with more than 300 in the Caribbean, 210 in Italy, close to 140 in Mexico and the remainder in France, Central America, Greece, Hawaii and Ireland.
"This is a great tool for agents," Hanratty said. "We train and educate them in selling villa vacations. They fill out a form, send it to us to start the process. We can handle air and car bookings, as well, so it is a seamless process from start to finish."
Despite the expanse of the collection, he said, "The Caribbean is our best-selling region, with Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados and Turks and Caicos leading the pack, then followed by Italy."
Villas range in size from one to seven bedrooms, with nightly rates from $1,000 to $13,700. They are commissionable at 10%.
The average length of stay for villa guests is seven nights.
Travel Impressions also expanded its portfolio of Caribbean resorts this year, with 18 more properties on 11 islands.
"The continued expansion allows us to capitalize on our supplier relationships and accommodate the steady growth in demand we're seeing in the region," Hanratty said.
Another growth area for the tour operator is group business.
"We were all leisure until three years ago, and then we set our targets on the group market," Hanratty said. "It's paying off, as is the destination wedding market, which comprises 16% of our overall business [and is] up from 1% to 2% from only a few years ago."
The destination weddings business grew 20% last year, with Punta Cana, Jamaica, Cancun and the Riviera Maya accounting for the lion's share of the business.
"The average size of that kind of wedding is 30 people," he said. "That's a good commission for an agent."
Two years ago Travel Impressions realized it had to become more competitive in the digital and social media space, so last year the firm moved Susan Black into the role of chief marketing officer and launched its series of Social U webinars, seminars and presentations.
"We're seeing big growth from that perspective," Hanratty said. "For many agents, it's their introduction to how to take their social media efforts to the next level."
Last fall, the firm launched its Ambassadors program, consisting of 96 agents selected to represent and promote eight resort and destination partners, including Hard Rock Hotels, AMResorts, Atlantis, Cancun, Excellence Group, Palace Resorts, Sandals and Beaches and Aruba.
The agents are yearlong brand ambassadors, each with specific responsibilities for one month to promote and market a specific brand, backed by Travel Impressions' own promotional and social media techniques.
Initial reports of the program's progress are "great," Hanratty said. "Our vacation packages are only sold through agents, which qualifies them as our best advocates and natural ambassadors for us and our selected partners."
Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly.