Earlier this month, Classic Vacations welcomed 39 travel advisors to its annual educational event, Elite, Education, Experience, known more commonly as E3.
Held at Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa, E3 featured networking events, hands-on workshops, panels, presentations and keynotes with industry leaders. The interactive multiday event was specifically designed for advisors new to Classic or who had yet to sell the wholesaler’s products. The primary objective was to empower advisors with the tools and knowledge necessary to grow their businesses and enhance their agency’s brand recognition.
"E3 offers actionable insights for the advisor and practical advice, but we don’t want it to be a commercial for anybody, especially Classic,” said Melissa Krueger, CEO of Classic. “We leverage our 47 years of relationships with our suppliers and leave space for relationship building. We’re telling our partners that we’re betting on these 39 advisors, and we want our partners to meet them and invest in them early.”
We’re telling our partners that we’re betting on these 39 advisors, and we want our partners to meet them and invest in them early.
In addition to group dinners at partner resorts along the shores of Kaanapali Beach, advisors spent one-on-one time with suppliers during a speed-dating style partner exchange as well as a pool networking event complete with mai tais and pina coladas. Sponsors included the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau (HVCB), Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Outrigger Resorts & Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Hilton All-Inclusive and Velas Resorts, among several others.
Sustainable Training Program Debuts
New this year, Classic debuted an exclusive sustainability training program for E3 attendees in partnership with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and California State University Monterey Bay’s Sustainable Hospitality & Tourism Management program, led by executive director Paige Viren. Classic covered the costs for all E3 advisors opting into the program, enabling them to become GSTC-certified.
Directly following E3 and held at The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Kaanapali, the same comped training and certification was offered to Classic’s 75 supplier partners throughout the Hawaiian Islands.
From left: Dr. Paige Viren with Classic Vacations' Melissa Krueger and Marilyn Cairo
Credit: 2024 Classic VacationsThe training supports the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that address global challenges such as poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation and peace. While many sustainability certifications exist for the travel industry — and Viren warned attendees to do their due diligence to avoid greenwashing practices — the GSTC program aligns with the U.N.’s goals of creating a more sustainable and equitable world by 2030.
"I like to think of the SDGs as an interconnected puzzle in which progress on one goal influences progress on the others,” Viren said. “Advisors who promote sustainable options to their clients contribute to the preservation of natural resources, cultures and economies, helping to safeguard the industry’s long-term health.”
Rebuilding Together: Lahaina’s Path Forward
Notably, August marked the first anniversary of the wildfires in Lahaina that left 12,000 residents without housing and claimed the lives of 102 people in 2023. Rebuilding and recovery efforts are expected to take years, and the region's reliance on tourism remains a crucial economic driver.
According to monthly visitor statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, in the first eight months of 2024, there was a 17.5% decrease in visitors to Maui compared to the same time frame in 2023. Total visitor spending on the island through August of this year was $3.52 billion, a drop of approximately 20% in comparison to the first eight months of the previous year.
“Hawaii is the very heart and soul of Classic Vacations, and we have a responsibility when bringing our event to Maui,” Classic’s Krueger said. “We need to take care of Maui’s community, culture, economy and environment. They have to be in harmony. We strongly believe and support this community and understand how much Maui needs people like us to do right by them right now.”
To that end, Robyn Basso, senior director of travel industry partnerships for HVCB, encouraged attendees to champion the businesses and activities that have already reopened in Lahaina, as well as promote other parts of the island, including some 100 miles of hiking trails that might be new to repeat visitors. She pointed to online resource MauiNuiFirst.com for a comprehensive directory of local products, services and activities.
I feel even more inspired to sell Maui after the fires than before.
“Knowing the difficult times Maui has gone through and that visitation is still down, we need to send more people to Maui and support the community,” said Debbie Ellis, an E3 attendee and advisor with Good Life Travel. “I feel even more inspired to sell Maui after the fires than before.”
Success Stories From E3
Years ago, keynote speaker Jennifer Jacob attended E3 as a new advisor transitioning out of human resources. Since then, she grew her agency, Explorateur Travel, into a host agency with more than 10 employees and contractors, sold that agency and co-founded Tique HQ, a company dedicated to helping other travel advisors.
"In 2020, when a lot of advisors were reevaluating their processes, websites and branding, my co-founder, Robin Bradley, and I had a conversation that I will never forget,” Jacob said. “We envisioned helping everyone else in the industry avoid the pitfalls and mistakes we made and learn to scale faster without going through the hard stuff. The idea for Tique was born so we could help the travel industry on a larger scale.”
We envisioned helping everyone else in the industry avoid the pitfalls and mistakes we made and learn to scale faster without going through the hard stuff.
During her workshop “Crafting a High-Touch Client Experience for Your Brand,” Jacob showed how templated communications can offer peace of mind for both the traveler and the advisor, ensuring that every box gets checked during each step of the customer journey. Advisors were gifted one of Tique’s templated client experience workflows, which included 44 email templates and 14 customizable forms.
Jennifer Jacob (second from left) with attendees at the farewell dinner
Credit: 2024 Classic VacationsDuring her keynote, “Stop Selling. Start Solving. How to Become a Master of Sales Through Problem-Solving and Client Education,” Jacob aimed to shift the audience's mindset from viewing sales as manipulative to seeing it as a form of exceptional service. She stressed the need for advisors to have a niche and to be storytellers.
"All of the teaching Jennifer Jacob gave during E3 resonated with me because she spoke about establishing the baseline and creating the standard,” said Ryan Taylor of Ryan Fitness & Travel. “Having a procedure in place will help me have a more efficient — but also more consistent — process that I can reflect onto my customers. This will only instill more trust and establish my rapport with clients.”
Encouragement to Be Bold
Tourism executive and keynote speaker Marsha-Ann Donaldson challenged attendees to activate their personal and professional greatness by overcoming distractions and focusing on self-care and personal development during her keynote, “Activate Your Success.”
Marsha-Ann Donaldson (right) worked one-on-one with advisors during her keynote, “Activate Your Success.”
Credit: 2024 Classic VacationsShe asked participants to dig deep to understand what brings them personal fulfillment, and what they would do with their lives without any limitations. Attendees walked away from the session with a personal mission statement and video recordings of themselves (via their phones) repeating positive affirmations to embolden them. In fact, this reporter overheard a volunteer who called home after the keynote telling a loved one that, despite having an aversion to public speaking, she had stood up in front of the entire crowd to work one-on-one with Donaldson and overcome her fears.
Our job is not to preserve the legacy of Classic Vacations — it's to build upon the legacy of both Classic and our industry.
“Our job is not to preserve the legacy of Classic Vacations — it's to build upon the legacy of both Classic and our industry,” Krueger said. “We need to make sure our business and industry are viable for the next 50 years. And part of that is making E3 a great space for skill development and knowledge transfer so we can inspire the next generation of leaders.”
While the location of next year’s event has yet to be announced, applications for E3 2025 are open to advisors with one to seven years of experience selling travel. The program is geared toward independent contractors and small agency owners, and priority is given to advisors with recent Classic Preferred bookings.
