Collette reaches 100 year milestone in style

Hey! Guess what? North America’s largest tour operator celebrated it’s centennial in Rhode Island this week, kicking off with a conference and gala dinner.

But what makes it even more exciting is that Travel Weekly was live on the scene!

After a short stay in Newport, Rhode Island (which we would 100 per cent recommend, BTW), guests were transferred to the Omni Hotel in Providence.

From there, we got an exclusive tour of Collette HQ – which puts our teeny office in Sydney to shame. There’s three office buildings, one of which is still being built.

You can find every department you can think of in the two operational buildings – from the customer service call centre to business development and marketing desks all the way up to the executive suite, where CEO Dan Sullivan, who later opened the conference, has his office.

There is over 300 staff housed in these two buildings, plus another 300 staff all over the world. No wonder they’ve lasted 100 years.

Next, we were whisked away to The Future of Travel 2018 global forum, and boy were we in for a treat.

Opening up the first day of the conference, Sullivan said that making it to 100 years was “a great milestone for any business.”

“We are now in the third generation of Sullivan ownership of Collette. Only three per cent get through the third generation. So we feel very proud that we’re able to continue the legacy.

“Today and tomorrow, you’re going to hear a dynamic group of people who are inspired [by] a particular facet of travel. And all these panels are tremendous.”

Sullivan wasn’t wrong – from discussions on sustainable tourism to predicting hot destination trends before they happen, the conference proved a pretty inspirational two days. Oh, plus a gala dinner in the middle to celebrate Collette in style.

Held on Thursday June 21, the cocktail gala event rivalled even our own Women in Travel Awards, with both Sullivan and his daughter Jaclyn Leibl-Cote (the newest, first female president of the company) speaking on the night.

“We were inspired to hold this event,” Sullivan said.

And even as most of the crowd nursed their sore heads the next morning, the conference continued!

With international speakers and panellists including travel editors, CEOs and company owners, the conference provided attendees with thought-provoking discussions and inspirational sentiments.

Stay tuned for more from the conference and the centennial celebration in the coming days – after our two-day flight home, that is.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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