This year’s Travelsavers Chairman’s Award—the highest honour presented to affiliate agencies—was awarded to Total Advantage Travel & Tours, led by longtime industry veteran Robert Townshend.

With nearly four decades in the travel business, the president of Total Advantage Travel has seen it all—and adapted through it all. TravelPulse Canada caught up with him in his Toronto office.

In a candid conversation, Townshend opens up about the strategy behind the win, his passion for advocacy, and why he believes travel advisors must embrace change while standing firm on their worth.

RELATED: Travelsavers Canada Honours Top Agencies and Partners at 2025 Travel Market

Q: First of all, congratulations on winning the Chairman’s Award. What does this recognition mean to you?

Robert Townshend: It means a lot—not just to me personally but to all the hardworking people under our umbrella at Total Advantage. We’re about 60 strong, and this was a complete team effort. Everyone has an entrepreneurial mindset, and when you bring that together in a supportive environment, it leads to recognition like this.

Q: Was there a specific turning point or strategy that helped Total Advantage stand out?

RT: Yes. In late 2023, I met with the entire team and said: “We need to focus on supporting our preferred suppliers.” I asked every advisor to prioritize Travelsavers preferred partners—using their marketing materials, visiting the portal daily for updates, and really making it a central part of how we operate. Our overall sales were strong, but our preferred numbers weren’t where I wanted them to be. That unified push made all the difference.

Q: You’ve been in the travel industry for nearly 40 years. What’s the biggest shift you’ve seen?

RT: When I started, everything was commissionable—airlines were paying 10% on U.S. tickets, 8.25% on domestic, and even more internationally. But when United stopped paying commission in 2001, it was a wake-up call. We had to reframe ourselves as professionals and start charging service fees. That was a major turning point.

Q: You’ve been vocal about travel advisors never working for free. Why is that so important to you?

RT: Because we’re professionals, no one works for free—and neither should travel advisors. It’s the only industry I know where someone could spend hours building an itinerary, only to have the client book it online. I always tell my team: get a fee or get out. You can always credit it back if the client books with you, but your time is valuable.

Q: You’re also deeply involved in advocacy work. Why do you serve on the TICO board?

RT: I’m the vice chair of the TICO Board, and I also sit on the Business and Regulatory Committee and the Governance Committee. The industry voice at TICO is small—only three out of nine board members are from within the industry. I’m there to ensure travel advisors and registrants have a voice. We’re working hard behind the scenes on changes that will elevate this profession and make it more respected.

Q: What’s the busiest area of travel for your agency right now?

RT: The area that’s taken off more recently than ever before is solo travel. The number of people we’ve booked on their own has more than doubled over the past year. Instead of waiting for a friend to say, “Yes, I can go,” people—especially women—are saying, “I’m not going to wait. I’m going to go and see it myself.”

They’re actively looking for tours that have reduced or no single supplements, and cruise lines like Norwegian are embracing this trend with solo cabins—designed just for one person. Those cabins sell out almost every voyage. It’s clear: people want to travel, and they’re no longer waiting for someone to join them.

RELATED: TICO Appoints New Members to Consumer and Industry Advisory Councils

Q: Do you think the pandemic helped fuel that shift?

RT: Absolutely. After being locked up for so long, people realized they weren’t going to wait anymore. I’m leading a tour to Italy and was shocked to find that more than half the travellers are solo. It’s a reflection of a mindset change—people want to go now, with or without company.

Q: Can you share a personal trip that truly changed your life—and how it shaped the way you work with clients?

RT: Without a doubt, the most life-changing trip I’ve ever taken was an African safari in 2018 to Kruger National Park in South Africa. I stayed at a lodge inside the park for five days, and every day we went out on morning and afternoon drives. We got up close with all kinds of animals in their natural habitat. But the real impact wasn’t just the scenery—it was the silence.

I didn’t check emails. I didn’t return voicemails. I disconnected from everything. For those five days, I was completely cut off from the rest of the world—and it was transformational. When I came back, I was so relaxed, so stress-free, I can’t even begin to describe it. I didn’t care about the little things anymore. Gone were the days of honking the horn if someone didn’t turn left on a green light. I didn’t get irritated in line at the store. I was just… chill.

And that feeling? It stayed with me for a year. A whole year. It changed my entire personality, my perspective. I tell people now: if you want to de-stress your life, don’t turn to pills. Go on a life-changing trip.

Whether it’s an African safari, an Antarctic cruise, or a river journey through Cambodia, there are certain experiences that stick with you—that reset you.

RELATED: WestJet and Kenya Airways Sign Interline Deal to Expand Canada–Africa

Q: You also taught travel and tourism at Centennial and Sheridan College. What drove you to education?

RT: I wanted to help shape the next generation of travel professionals and set realistic expectations. So many students come into the industry thinking it’s all about free trips. But the reality is you’re up at 3 a.m. helping someone who lost their passport. It’s high stress. But it’s also highly rewarding—if you’re prepared.

Q: What advice would you give to new advisors starting out?

RT: Build a loyal clientele. That’s your greatest asset.

My advice would be to develop yourself a good and faithful, loyal clientele that will stick with you throughout your career… Once you build them up, you can then nourish it and get referrals from friends of your current clients… You won’t have to advertise your services because your services will be recommended just by word of mouth from the clientele that you’ve built up.

Q: What are your thoughts on AI and its impact on travel?

RT: AI is here to stay. I believe we should embrace it, not fear it. It’s like when the internet first came out—everyone thought it would wipe out jobs. But it didn’t. We still need human expertise. At Total Advantage, we’re using Travelsavers’ AI Connect to assist with research and writing, but AI can’t replace human intuition or relationship-building.

Q: Where are people looking to travel right now?

RT: There’s been a huge increase in domestic travel this summer. I’ve never sent so many people to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland in my life. Everyone seems to want to stay within Canada—Alberta and B.C. are popular too—but the Maritime provinces really benefited from people choosing not to travel to the U.S.

RELATED: Whales, Trails, and Chowder Under the Stars: Come From Away to Unpack Newfoundland’s Magic

I had a family of eight who had already booked flights to the U.S. and paid for a rental condo. Two weeks later, they called me back and said, “You know what? We’ve changed our minds. We’re not going to support that regime.” They took the hit, cancelled everything, and rebooked their Air Canada flights to Cartagena, Colombia. They said they couldn’t, in good conscience, travel to the U.S., and felt like traitors after telling their friends and family about their plans.

So we’ve started doing “Destination Dupes”—like instead of skiing in Utah, go to Calgary. We’re trying to help clients find alternatives that align with their values.

Internationally, one of the biggest shifts I’ve seen is the number of Canadians booking trips to the south of Portugal, especially the Algarve. I’ve never had this many people asking for it. The weather’s not as warm as Florida—it’s about 15 degrees in the winter—but that’s better than sleet and ice. It’s more affordable, the cost of living is lower, it’s way more relaxed, and you’re not stuck in conversations with locals about who should be president.

In fact, I’m doing it myself. I usually go to Florida for the winter, but this year I’m going to Portugal instead. And many of my snowbird clients are staying three months, renting houses or condos—and yes, we can book that for them. Honestly, once Canadians start spending winters in Europe instead of the U.S., it’s going to be very hard to win them back.

Note: Responses in this article have been paraphrased and condensed for clarity and flow while preserving the essence of Robert Townshend’s original remarks.

Topics From This Article to Explore