Travel Leaders Network Welcomes Six New Affiliate Advisory Board Members

Advisory Board helps guide Travel Leaders’ member experience

 

ALEXANDRIA, VA (December 11, 2024) – Travel Leaders Network is welcoming six new members to its Affiliate Advisory Board. The Advisory Board consists of a wide variety of Travel Leaders Network Affiliate (non-franchise) members and is a think tank for Travel Leaders’ executives as they seek to develop programs and tools to serve the membership.

 

The new members of the Affiliate Advisory Board are:

 

Michelle Branco, Co-Owner of Ellison Travel & Tours, a full-service travel agency and tour operator based in Exeter, Ontario, with additional offices in London, ON and Vancouver, BC. Ellison was founded in 1980 and is now in the second generation of the family business. Branco has grown the team to over 100 staff across Canada. 

 

Kari Dillon, Owner of Marvelous Mouse Travels in Waxhaw, NC. An initial focus on Disney travel led Kari to build an agency of over 300 ICs that sells travel to Disney and cruise. Dillon and her husband, Jason, just opened another IC network to focus on additional types of travel.

 

Anthony Hamawy, President of Cruise.com in Dania Beach, Fla. Hamawy is an expert in travel sales and marketing.  Cruise.com’s employees and growing stable of ICs makes it one of the leading sellers of cruise and most recently, land-based vacations.

 

Angela Hughes, Owner of Trips & Ships Luxury Travel in Winter Garden, Fla. Hughes is involved in all aspects of selling travel and is very tied into social media. She has 150 ICs under her and was voted Influencer of the Year in 2024 at Travel Leaders’ EDGE conference. Hughes is a sought-after motivational speaker in the travel industry.

 

Liz Moore, Owner of Liz Moore Destination Weddings in Vancouver Island, BC. Moore began her career in travel 2006 as a hosted agent. In 2010, she and her husband Steve Moore decided to create their own business dedicated exclusively to destination wedding travel. Over the years, they have successfully grown their agency with 16 Canadian ICs as well as 16 U.S. IC agents. In 2013, they created an additional Destination Wedding agency in the UK called My Wedding Away.co.uk which presently has 6 UK-based agents.

 

Robert Siamon, Owner of Incentive Connection Travel in Phoenix, Ariz. Siamon represents a 40-year- family business his father built and runs the agency with two family members. He has approximately 300 ICs as well as a team of full-time agents. Though he originally started his business focused on incentive travel, Siamon has guided the travel agency to a well-rounded business model booking all types of corporate and leisure travel today.

 

These new Advisory Board members join current board members:

• Marivic Cregan, New West Holidaytrips, New Westminster, BC
• Adam Duckworth, Travelmation, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
• Tom Karnes, LaMacchia Travel, Kenosha, WI
• John Maguire, International Voyager/Cruise Direct, Newark, NJ
• Carlton Montaut, Centre Holidays Inc., Mississauga, ON
• Don Oneal, Travelworld, Tampa, Fla.
• Craig Pavlus, Pavlus Travel & Cruise Inc., Albuquerque, NM
• Bill Walsh, Cruise & Travel Outlet, Salem, NH

 

“As we welcome these new members to the Affiliate Advisory Board, I’d like to thank all our current and past board members,” said John Lovell, President, Travel Leaders Network. “Travel Leaders’ reason for being is to serve our members and our Affiliate Advisory Board ensures that our team has access to the minds of some of the top travel advisors in the industry. I deeply appreciate their investment of time and energy. With the constant demands of running a travel agency, it isn’t easy to take time away from the business, but their input is incredibly valuable. And with the addition of these six new board members, Travel Leaders is excited to hear their ideas that will make us an even better Network.”

 

For travel agencies interested in learning more about the award-winning programs and diverse offerings of Travel Leaders Network in leisure and luxury travel, business travel, honeymoon and destination weddings — as well as active and adventure travel — visit TravelLeadersNetwork.com.

 

About Travel Leaders Network

 

Travel Leaders Network (www.TravelLeaders.com), an Internova Travel Group company, assists millions of leisure and business travelers annually and is one of the largest sellers of luxury travel, cruises and tours in the travel agency industry, with approximately 5,700 travel agency locations across the United States and Canada.