Global Travel Marketplace West, the event geared towards travel advisors on the West Coast, drew a record number of applicants this year for its hosted-meeting and networking program, which ran July 11 to 13 at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort in Henderson Nev.
Similar to the annual Global Travel Marketplace, which took place earlier this year in Fort Lauderdale, advisors at GTM West must apply; if selected, they are matched for a series of networking appointments with representatives from travel companies. Advisors must live in the western US or Canada and must show individual sales of at least $800,000 or be an agency owner of a multimillion-dollar agency to be considered for one of the 125 GTM West spots.
This year, the event drew applicants primarily through referrals from past attendees known as GTM Ambassadors, said Jacqueline Hurst, the director of trade recruitment and engagement for Northstar Travel Group, which runs the GTM events (Northstar is also the parent company of Travel Weekly) .
