Ensemble held its first Summit event for owners and managers at the Stein Erikson Lodge in Park City from June 4-7. Coinciding with the one-year anniversary since its acquisition by Navigatr Group with a theme of “Champion Mindset,” the consortium marked its first full year as the "new Ensemble."
Coming out of "one of the most devastating crises for our industry," David Harris, executive chairman of Ensemble, said the network has "taken a 180-degree turn and gone into overdrive." In his opening remarks, he noted that "travel has surged and our members’ businesses are busier than ever ... We are not seeing signs that the pace will diminish any time soon as long as we continue to fuel consumer interest and drive value through our very strong relationships and an expanding, impressive lineup of diverse product offerings.”
Michael Johnson, president of Ensemble, provided a recap of the transformation Ensemble has undergone in the past year and what’s next as part of its evolution. “This past year has been about rebuilding and reimagining what Ensemble could be and how it could transform our business, our members’ businesses and the consortium mode. Having successfully created that foundation, we are now focused on growth. It has been particularly gratifying to see the response from within our membership, but also the tremendous interest we’ve had from those who share our vision, have seen the evolution over the past year and want to join our community.”
Johnson reported that Ensemble’s agencies have experienced tremendous growth in the past year. While noting that the 96 percent year-over-year growth is also the result of recovery from the pandemic, he also acknowledged that it’s also partially due to the enhanced value proposition of the consortium. While growth was experienced in all sectors, Johnson pointed to the growth in the tour operator vertical, which was up nearly 114 percent in the U.S. and 128 percent in Canada.
Key to Ensemble’s growth has been the ability to onboard members on the proprietary ADX platform, which has more than 10,000 advisors using it at an average 7.9 percent yield.
The three-day agenda also included opportunities for networking with partners as well as for fun activities—some of which were Olympic themed in keeping with the location—such as bobsledding, cycling, exploring Park City and a dine-around to the some of the area’s top restaurants.
Summit is one of the newly branded annual events Ensemble announced in January and follows on the heels of the success of Uncharted, an advisor-focused virtual event that was held in April. Next up is Horizons, the annual event for the entire consortium that will take place at Paris Las Vegas from November 2-6.
For more information, visit www.ensembletravel.com.
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