Ensemble Travel Group has lost several top-producing agencies to competitors in the consortia space recently, but others that remain have affirmed their loyalty to the member-owned cooperative and believe it is well positioned to support them through the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
"Having been a leader in the travel agency consortia business for more than 50 years and a solid history of delivering profits to our members, we at Ensemble are confident about our future and are well positioned to lead a strong recovery," Ensemble CEO David Harris said in a statement.
Recently, former Ensemble members Travel Planners International (TPI) and Uniglobe Travel Center switched affiliations to Signature Travel Network and Virtuoso, respectively. Starting Monday, Atlas Travel Vacations & Cruises will be an affiliate of Signature.
All three agencies sit on Travel Weekly's 2020 Power List. TPI ranked No. 33 with $379.2 million in 2019 sales, Atlas was No. 34 with $347.3 million in 2019 sales and Uniglobe parent company Uniglobe Travel Partners was No. 44 with $215.4 million in sales.
According to a December release from Ensemble, all three were part of its top 10 members based on 2019 sales in the U.S., and TPI had the No. 1 highest sales in the U.S. (Ensemble keeps a separate list of its top producers in Canada, where it also has a large presence).
David Harris
"We always regret seeing members leave but respect that these are challenging times and everyone is making difficult decisions," Harris said.
"This past year has truly been unprecedented and one that has not spared any vertical within the industry from significant challenges," he continued. "That said, we are committed to and working tirelessly to ensure that we provide a strong ROI for our members as well as the tools, resources and support they need to restart and recover better and stronger.
"This will not be an easy lift for anyone in our industry, but we have been preparing for this next phase of the recovery with introduction of several new and/or significantly improved programs and technologies that will be critical to helping our members in the weeks and months to come as we all look to not just recover but return to the prosperity and success we enjoyed prior to Covid-19."
In normal years, some churn among consortia members is expected. That has been no different during the pandemic, though Signature has managed to onboard more agencies than usual. Signature did, notably, lose Tzell Travel Group, which went to Virtuoso, the longtime home of fellow Internova Global Travel Collection brand Protravel International.
Despite Ensemble's recent losses, several of its top-producing agencies were vocal in their commitment to the consortium this week.
"In my view, Ensemble currently has the strongest and most stable management it has ever had and has done an admirable job steering through a marketplace where the consortium model -- always based on growth over previous year -- is essentially suspended," said James Ferrara, president of InteleTravel.com. "All consortia are in the same position right now. Yet Ensemble continues to innovate in marketing, advisor education and supplier contract negotiations, delivering value -- even now."
Ferrara also praised Ensemble's communication and advice to members on navigating through the pandemic and said he remains confident it will return to 2019 results and beyond as the market returns.
Similarly, Robert Siamon, president of Incentive Connection Travel, said he has "extreme confidence that Ensemble Travel Group as well as every other consortia will get through this decline in sales with minimal issue."
Ross Spalding, president of Crown Cruise Vacations in Princeton, N.J., also praised Ensemble for its member support during the pandemic.
"I truly believe that Ensemble will be in a position to support its members better and more efficiently than ever before, ultimately becoming a more profitable company," he said. "It will not be easy, as it has not been easy for any of the agency members during this challenging time. But I am confident it will happen, and I suspect that many of those members who left will regret their decision in doing so."