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Jessica Huras is a writer and editor with over a decade of experience creating travel and food content. In addition to writing for PAX, she’s a content editor for LCBO Food & Drink magazine and her work has also appeared in the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life, Chatelaine and Elle Canada.
Travel Leaders Network added more than 300 member agencies in 2025, representing over $300 million in annual preferred partner sales, as the network navigates shifts in Canadian booking patterns driven by geopolitical tensions and evolving consumer preferences.
The network, which includes 6,000 agencies representing 100,000 travel advisors across North America, shared 2025 results and travel trends at a Wednesday (Jan. 14) press briefing at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. 
The new members include 264 U.S. affiliates, four associate agencies and 36 Canadian agencies representing $24.5 million in preferred partner sales.
North American combined cruise and land bookings grew 11 per cent in 2025, with cruise up 14 per cent and land up 7 per cent. 
But beneath those numbers, Canadian advisors are reporting geographic shifts as travellers respond to global events.
Canadian business closed 2025 with combined growth of 9 per cent, driven by 13 per cent cruise growth and 5 per cent land growth year over year. 
But the composition of that growth tells a more complex story.
Christine James, vice president Canada for Travel Leaders Network reported Caribbean cruise bookings from Canada are declining while Europe and Alaska gain momentum, a shift attributed to the Miami departure point for most Caribbean sailings.
“We just had a call yesterday with our biggest cruise line partner, and he is saying the Caribbean is seeing a drop from Canada, but it’s up for Europe and up for Alaska,” she said. 
The network is already adjusting its marketing approach. 
“We’re pushing a message to our Canadian members to book Europe [cruises] now if you don’t want to be disappointed,” she added.
Despite the shifts, overall travel demand remains strong. 
“Booking trends are being altered by geopolitical situations, but they’re not not booking. They’re still booking. They’re just shifting,” James said.
Canada’s top three sun destinations remain Mexico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. 
Despite ongoing concerns about Cuba’s infrastructure challenges, bookings remain stable. 
“I also checked with our big suppliers offering Cuba, and they’re saying they’re not seeing any cancellations,” James said.
Across the broader North American network, luxury, and experiential travel continue driving disproportionate growth. 
“Luxury and experiential travel remains strong, and a lot of that’s driven by the ability for the agent to personalize the offer and communicate that on a level that creates some loyalty,” said Lindsay Pearlman, president of Travel Leaders Network.
Pam Young, senior vice president of partner relations at Internova Travel Group, noted an unexpected pattern in luxury booking windows. 
“Consumers are booking luxury very close in,” she said.
In Canada, FIT and touring represented 30 per cent of revenue with fun and sun at 19 per cent, reflecting the market’s concentration in mass market beach destinations.
“River cruising is exploding in Canada,” added James.
River cruising now represents 18 per cent of cruise revenue.  
Despite adding 300 agencies in 2025, the network is pivoting its strategy toward deepening support for current members as the travel industry prepares for explosive growth, projected to triple from $5 trillion to $15 trillion by 2040, according to research from BCG.
“Our focus going into this year will be less on bringing on new members and more on supporting our existing members,” Pearlman said.
That member-centric approach extends to how advisors build their businesses.  
“It’s not just about scale — it’s about how do we do more profitable growth?” Pearlman said. 
“When we try to look at helping our advisors, we focus on two things: How do we earn more money per file? And how do we help them operate more efficiently? Because that’s bottom line savings.”
Pearlman emphasized the strategic rationale. “It’s not about chasing new customers all the time. It’s really about how do you maximize your existing business,” he said.
The network’s SNAP booking platform, which expanded to include air booking in June 2025, has seen 83 per cent year-over-year adoption growth. 
About 17 per cent of the member base currently uses the platform, which previously handled only hotel and rental car bookings.
“We truly believe that travel advisors should be selling air to their customers,” Pearlman said. 
“We know that if an advisor is booking all components of the trip, that loyalty factor is up substantially.”
The network is also developing an AI travel planner that will allow conversational itinerary building and natural language consumer search functionality on travelers.com. 
“It’s one of the biggest things that we do as far as providing additional value for the network,” said Cory Voss, vice president of product & solutions for Travel Leaders Group.
Pearlman emphasized AI as an enabler rather than a replacement. 
“AI is a tool. It’s a tool that needs to be used by a person, so I don’t think AI is going to replace anybody,” he said. 
“But I do think people will lose business to people who are using AI, because if they’re using it effectively, then that makes them more efficient.”
The company’s Agent Profiler platform, which drives lead generation through travelers.com, now includes 21,500 agents, with 2,050 achieving Super Agent status for providing high-quality content. 
Those advisors receive preferential placement in search results, with Canadian advisors converting 27 per cent of leads at an average sale value of $13,000.
The network’s Cruise Complete booking platform, launched in 2023 as a CruisePRO replacement, now offers 21 suppliers with seven more coming in the first half of 2026. 
The platform saw bookings increase 23 per cent in 2025 versus 2024.
“The markets doing really well. There’s huge opportunity for growth over the next several years,” said Pearlson. 
“We’re focused on that growth, but it’s leveraged based on the value that we continue to bring to the network.”
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