Collette Built a Two-Year Stack Around Travel Advisors

Collette has spent two years stacking training, booking software and marketing money on the Encompass campaign it opened for travel advisors in September 2024. The Pawtucket, Rhode Island, operator still routes most tours through those desks, not through its own website.

The public pitch is productivity. The wager underneath is simpler. If Collette owns the advisor’s login, the next file is easier to write on a Collette departure than on someone else’s.

Nearly All of Collette’s Bookings Still Come From Agents

Jack Collette ran the first departure in 1918, a three-week jitney from Boston to Florida that sold for $68.50. The firm now keeps offices in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, and it calls itself North America’s longest-running tour operator.

Jaclyn Leibl-Cote became CEO in 2023. She is the fourth person in that chair, the first woman, and the third generation of the Sullivan family to run the company after Dan Sullivan Sr. bought it from Jack Collette in 1962. Christian Leibl-Cote, executive vice president of global sales, is the voice on the advisor kit.

In 2023, then-CEO Dan Sullivan said the agent community brought in 95% of Collette’s business. In May 2026, Christian Leibl-Cote said the majority of business still runs through advisors, with Canada the highest share of any market Collette sells in. Canada, he added, had been the fastest-growing market for three years running.

THE ADVISOR BET IN FIGURES

• Founded: 1918, with the first tour a $68.50 Boston-to-Florida run.
• Channel: 95% through agents in 2023, per Dan Sullivan; majority still through advisors in May 2026.
• FAM travel: 1,100 advisors travelled on Collette in 2025, the company’s highest count.
• Roadshow: more than 1,000 advisors across 12 Canadian cities when Encompass launched.

That mix is why a software launch in 2024 did not stay a software launch. A company that still lives on trade bookings will keep feeding the people who write them. Direct offers on gocollette.com exist, including consumer promo codes, but they have not replaced the desk.

Four Tools From the Encompass Launch

On September 18, 2024, Collette said the Encompass campaign opened a “new era for doing business with Collette” and put four new and enhanced tools in front of the trade. A virtual event followed on September 20 at 2 p.m. ET. A Canadian roadshow took the same kit to more than 1,000 advisors in 12 cities.

Christian Leibl-Cote said the products came out of advisor focus groups. “Through advisor feedback and collaboration with advisor focus groups, we were able to develop tools that allow advisors to sell confidently and work more efficiently,” he said.

THE ENCOMPASS KIT

The split was deliberate. MyCollette and the portal were built to cut phone time. University and the guide were built to make an advisor willing to put Collette on the table when a client asks for Italy, Japan or a small-group departure. Advisors were told to create an account at gocollette.com/travel-advisors and take the whole set from there.

University classes run 5 to 20 minutes and can be opened on a computer, tablet or phone. New courses were promised through the year. After a signup, Collette said login details would arrive by email within 48 hours, or two business days, from advisorlearning@collette.com.

University 201 Splits Training by Years on the Job

In March 2026 Collette added Collette University 201, a second layer on the same platform. It is not a new login. It is a fork in the curriculum.

One track is for advisors with up to five years in the business. The other is for people with more than five years. Collette said it built the split with advisors so a new seller and a veteran would not sit through the same product lecture. New modules were scheduled every other month through 2026 on brand positioning and storytelling, the tour list, business growth, and matching clients to trips.

We built Collette University 201 to meet advisors where they are, giving them the chance to learn in the ways that work best for them, whether that’s through virtual training, experiencing our tours firsthand or through meaningful in person conversations. Our goal is simple: to empower advisors with the tools, knowledge and confidence they need to grow their business and match clients with exceptional guided travel.

Christian Leibl-Cote, Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Collette

That is product school with a sales finish. An advisor who finishes the modules is meant to know which Collette trip to put against a client who wants more time in destination, a small group, or a classic motorcoach day. The operator still has to win the booking. The courseware is how it tries to be the first name in the conversation.

A Playbook, a Grant and a Discount Ladder

Training was only the middle of the build. In 2025 and 2026 Collette added money, copy and personal travel on top of the original four tools, which is how a campaign starts to look like a sales desk.

THE BUILD AFTER ENCOMPASS

1. September 18, 2024: Collette announces Encompass and the four advisor tools, with a virtual launch on September 20.
2. September 2023 into 2026: The Travel Advisor Reward Program, already running when Encompass landed, keeps paying personal-travel discounts that rise with how many guests an advisor books in a calendar year.
3. March 2026: Collette University 201 opens two experience tracks and a bi-monthly module calendar.
4. June 4, 2026: Applications open for the Growth Accelerator; seven advisors are to be chosen by June 15 for guided campaigns and up to US$2,000 in co-op funds.
5. June 25, 2026: Collette issues “Guided Advantage: A Selling Playbook for Travel Advisors 2026-2027.”

Diana Ditto, vice president of product marketing and growth strategy, said the accelerator was for partners willing to spend alongside Collette, with discovery sessions, campaign work and a results review after the ads ran. Seven desks is a small class. For those seven, Collette’s creative team becomes an in-house studio for a season.

Kelsie Marchetti, head of virtual events, put the playbook in plainer terms. “Your clients are navigating more choices than ever before,” she said. The document tells advisors to ask how someone actually wants to travel, then map that answer onto Collette’s list instead of leading with a price. It also pushes groups, pre- and post-tour add-ons, and a call after the trip so the next file is easier to open.

That is not a fifth Encompass tile. It is what Collette wrapped around the tiles once advisors were already inside the portal.

Tauck and Trafalgar Are Arming the Same Desk

Collette is not the only escorted-tour brand treating the advisor as the real storefront. The same years that produced University 201 produced rival kits with the same target.

On October 7, 2025, Tauck said advisors can now redeem up to 100 points annually, a pool it values at $20,000 USD in travel, and that points last two years instead of one. Advisors can combine points across years. Steve Spivak, vice president of global sales and reservations, said more than 5,000 advisors had already redeemed rewards so they could sell Tauck from the seat, not the brochure. Tauck marked its 100th year in 2025.

Trafalgar, under TTC Tour Brands, is folding Insight Vacations and Costsaver into one Trafalgar list for 2027 and putting the combined catalogue on its Travel Agent Portal in the fourth quarter of 2026. Mae Cheah, TTC Tour Brands managing director for Asia, said agents have always been central to growth. The new TAP hub is meant to walk sellers through five categories and three price tiers across more than 600 itineraries in 75 countries. Trafalgar has also sold 60% off advisor rates on select 2026 European river sailings to people who finish its Masterclass eLearning.

The pattern is the same at each brand. Train the advisor, discount the advisor’s own trip, and park the booking tools behind a login the operator controls. Collette’s version is denser because Encompass, University 201, the playbook and the co-op grant sit on one portal rather than as a single rewards catalogue.

What Now Sits in the Travel Advisor Portal

The live advisor site no longer reads like a 2024 campaign microsite. Collette now promises 360-degree support for travel advisors behind a signup at portal.gocollette.com/sign-up, and the home page still carries the 2026-season line “By Travelers. For Travelers.”

INSIDE THE LOGIN

• MyCollette: Book of business, reservation data, flight schedules, invoices, group and individual files, and a path to send bills to clients.
• Collette University: The original short courses plus the 201 tracks, with flyers and tour notes beside the modules.
• Marketing desk: Print-on-demand, first look at sales, social tiles, video, and Collette Connection, which mails brochures to clients with a personalized letter at no extra charge to the advisor.
• Events and community: On-demand virtual events, brochure ordering, and a private advisor network for tips and contacts, including the local business development manager.

Webinar walk-throughs have described the portal as the hub that ties University, MyCollette, commissions and traveler history together. Advisors can also see Passport Club status, Collette’s two-tier guest loyalty scheme, which starts with a 5% credit on the land package. That is useful when a repeat client calls. It is also a reason to open Collette’s screen instead of a generic CRM.

Independent advisors still sell the trips in public, on their own sites and through local groups such as chamber departures. The software itself barely shows up in those posts. The fight for the desk is happening after login, on FAM trips, and in the co-op grant, which is why a quiet B2B stack can move share without a consumer splash.

Repeat Bookings With Less Friction

Cash and a free seat still close more conversations than a module. Collette’s Advanced Commission Program, made permanent in November 2021, pays $100 on a land booking, $125 on land and air, and $200 when the client takes Collette’s travel protection, on deposit, and Collette said it would not claw that advance back if the trip cancelled. The rest of the commission follows after travel. Retail bookings only; groups are out.

The Travel Advisor Reward Program, which first launched in September 2023 and was still being offered in 2026, is the personal-travel ladder. An advisor with an active IATA number can request a reduced rate on a retail booking 150 days or less before departure. Earnings reset each calendar year. Antarctica and special events can be blocked. Air is 10% off for the advisor and a companion at every tier.

PERSONAL TRAVEL DISCOUNTS

Land savings are capped, and those dollar caps have moved between program writeups, so the working figure is the percentage, not the ceiling. Book enough guests and the advisor’s own tour is free on land. That is a FAM by another name, and it is also a reason to keep feeding Collette files until December 31.

In 2025, 1,100 advisors travelled with the company, the most it has recorded. University 201 keeps dropping modules through the rest of 2026. The original Encompass login is still the door. An advisor who wants the stack still starts by creating an account and opening the portal, which is exactly the habit Collette has spent two years trying to make automatic.