Agents Make Their Mark at KHM Travel Group’s Crystal Conference
KHM Travel Group’s annual Crystal Conference is where knowledge, recognition, and a sense of community meet. Over 300 agents and suppliers joined the KHM Travel Group team on Celebrity Reflection for an unforgettable week.
This year’s conference theme was "Make Your Mark." At KHM Travel Group, we know the vital role travel agents play and we’re here to help our agents strengthen and showcase their value. All throughout the week, attendees discovered how they can make their mark with their clients, community, and the industry.
KHM Travel Group also got in on the action to share how we’ve made our mark. Members of the Executive Team shared a few recent achievements like our record-breaking commission payouts last year and reaching a milestone 5,000 travel agents! This growth has helped us receive numerous industry awards including the prestigious Host Agency of the Year award from Travel Leaders Network, as well as Host Agency of the Year from our 2024 Crystal host, Celebrity Cruises.
We were honored to have Celebrity Cruises’ Senior Vice President of Sales Katina Athanasiou provide our keynote speech. She reflected on her background in the hospitality industry and how you can “turn the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations.” Her advice to attendees was to build relationships by paying attention and being intentional with thought and purpose.
Our Agent Journey has become a cornerstone for the way we approach education, events, and providing our agents with the resources they need. With levels for different commission earned, our agents start out as Explorers and move on the path to success up to our Pinnacle program. To date, our top-producer numbers have skyrocketed...with more than 1,500 agents in our Basecamp and Pinnacle programs. And those numbers continue to grow.
At our Crystal Conference, attendees were the first to hear we’re expanding the Agent Journey to include a new level: Diamond Elite for those agents with eligible commissions of $250,000+. We were thrilled to have a few agents in attendance who will be in this level when we roll it out this year. Whether an agent is at the Diamond Elite level or earning their first commissions, everyone is welcome at our Crystal Conference.
In addition to learning about our Diamond Elite level, agents also heard the latest updates from our supplier partners through training sessions and networking opportunities throughout the week. We also brought back our popular Scavenger Hunt but added a twist–agents worked in pre-determined teams! With 20 different teams, our agents explored the ship, bonded over meals, and created new friendships.
Our commitment is stronger than ever with our industry partners: ASTA, CLIA, PATH, and The Travel Institute. Through our Executive Team involvement, we’re represented on boards and other decision-making groups that are advocating and making waves of positive change for independent agents. Our Executives gave agents a look at the strategic future of KHM Travel Group and took questions from the audience during their Q&A panel.
The highlight of the week for many was the formal award ceremony, where we honored over 40 agents with our Crystal Awards. These annual awards are based on each agent’s commissionable sales that traveled in the previous year. In addition to production-based awards, we also recognize agents, team members, and supplier partners who excel in demonstrating KHM Travel Group’s Core Values and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This year’s DEI in Action Supplier Award recipient was Celebrity Cruises.
With our Crystal Conference and all our accomplishments as a host agency, we're following the mindset of People First and making our mark in travel!
To learn more about becoming a travel agent with KHM Travel Group, visit our website at https://khmtravel.com to request information. You can also give our team a call at 888-611-1220.