Agents from Alberta & Ontario win with Contiki

Contiki has announced the winners of its ‘Travel Makes Better Humans’ agent contest that was held this past fall, during the youth travel brand’s recent Europe 2018/19 launch.

The agent exclusive contest was catered specifically to the travel agent community as a way to celebrate the impact they make on their clients’ lives. Contiki asked agents to submit their best ‘Travel Makes Better Humans’ story (either about a client they sent away, or about themselves) as their entry.

Victoria White, a travel consultant at Flight Centre’s Oakville Place location, is the first-place winner of a new Contiki trip that also includes airfare. Victoria will be gliding through Iceland’s outdoor playground on Contiki’s new “Fire and Ice” six-day trip to Iceland.

Titled “The Molly Burke Story: Blind and Bullied,” Victoria’s personal tale of an acquaintance, later becoming a good client, who faced severe bullying growing up due to pigmentosa – an “eye disease that would eventually fade her into a world of darkness” – perfectly illustrated the power of travel. According to Victoria, Molly endured years of abuse at the hands of fellow classmates until the end of school, where Molly was eventually featured in a Dove commercial. Having endured years of bullying led Molly to become one of ME to WE’s motivational speakers and as Victoria described it, “four years prior, no one even wanted to sit with Molly. Now, 20,000 people were on their feet supporting and cheering her on.”

Coming in a close second, Heather Dumont, a Team Leader at the Flight Centre Chinook location will have the opportunity to join a Contiki FAM of her choice later this year.

Heather’s personal tale, titled “Trunks and Tattoos in Thailand” recounts her time in Thailand volunteering for the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. During her time making a difference, Heather was tasked with bringing a rescued elephant named Kabu from an illegal logging camp back to the sanctuary. Having been so enamoured by the experience, she and a friend got tattoos of Kabu with the caption ahinsa, which means non-violence to all living things in Thai. Heather says, “seeing the mistreatment of animals first hand, and what impact humans have on their well-being, I decided I had to make a change at home. I have now been a volunteer with the MEOW Foundation in Calgary, helping homeless and abandoned cats find their forever homes.”