Trevello World Holdings founder and CEO Morris Chia said he had been eyeing a foray into the U.S. for some time, and the Canadian company sealed the deal earlier this week.
Trevello acquired North Carolina-based host agency Gifted Travel Network, which will operate as its own division with its current management. Trevello already operates 1,000-advisor host agency Trevello Canada.
Morris Chia
Chia said, "We've always looked at the U.S. as an opportunity, but we thought that this was the right timing given what we're thinking about in terms of reimagining what the host agency could look like."
What will it look like? "More to come," said Chia, who added that his goal is "continuing to up-level the compensation" of travel advisors.
Trevello's Canadian host agency says that it offers the highest levels of commissions with suppliers as well as commission splits ranging from 85% to 100%. And, according to Trevello co-founder and COO Zeina Gedeon, Trevello offers a single sign-on booking platform for air, car, hotel and cruise.
"This ensures that advisors can access all necessary services from one convenient platform, streamlining their workflow and enhancing efficiency," Gedeon said.
Travel agencies in Canada are more regulated than those in the U.S. via a governmental licensing process, Chia said, though some U.S. states do require licenses. In Canada, agencies also must maintain trust accounts.
Trevello and Gifted Travel Network came to know each other through their mutual membership in Virtuoso. Both are top producers, Chia said, and their executives had spent time together at Virtuoso's annual Chairman's Event for top members. Chia was impressed by Gifted and its reputation in the industry.
For Trevello, the acquisition also represents the opportunity to have a luxury-focused division of the company.
Gifted's 354 advisors can expect business as usual from their host. Its entire leadership team remains intact, with Jen Cochrane at the helm as CEO. Gifted will also see benefits like economies of scale, new technology and enhanced buying power via its alignment with Trevello.
"Our goal is to continue to support the success that they've built on so far," Chia said. "They've got a successful formula. They've been successful with their leadership team, with the culture that they've built out, with the brand that they've built out, and we don't intend to change it. We just want to continue to support it."
Right now, Chia's main focus is Trevello's ownership of Gifted, and its goals of growing the business while preserving its existing brand.
"We're looking at, down the road, to build and grow the Trevello side of the business [in the U.S.]," he said.
Chia founded the company in 1994 as the host agency Travel Professionals International, rebranding to Trevello in 2022.
Gifted was founded in 2013. Originally a coaching and education company called the Global Institute for Travel Entrepreneurs (Gifte), its trio of founders -- Cochrane, Meredith Calloway and Vanessa McGovern -- began the host agency. Several years ago, they folded Gifte's educational offerings into Gifted. The agency joined Virtuoso in 2019.