travel intel
Behind the Scenes
with AMA Travel
Shelley Samycia iS like a travel agent
for travel agents. She’s a member of
AMA Travel’s product team that works
behind the scenes—researching travel
trends, gathering and comparing
information from tour companies and
other suppliers, negotiating special
deals for members, and packaging
bucket-list trips. The product team
then shares that knowledge with AMA
Travel counsellors across Alberta.
Members of the product team have
their own areas of specialization. For
Samycia, AMA Travel’s cruise sales
manager, that means she lives and
breathes cruising. She scouts the best
deals and itineraries, working closely
with suppliers to learn about special
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AMA InsIder
sailings. She meets with frontline
agents to answer customers’ cruising
questions, like what side of a certain
ship to book or the restaurant with the
best steak tartare.
“We are a great resource for agents,
whether they are new to the cruise
industry or have years of experience,”
says Samycia, who has personally
sailed on 102 cruises—and counting!
Other members of the product team
are also in-house experts about cruis-
ing, as well as soft adventure, coach
tours, escorted trips, foodie or solo
travel. They are always on hand to offer
deeper expertise to AMA’s team of 200
across Alberta.
“No other company in the province
has that kind of core team backing up
its frontline staff,” says Nikola Berube,
AMA Travel’s director of sales.
Because AMA Travel is based in
Alberta, our experts understand what
fellow Albertans want, need and appre-
ciate when travelling. “There are often
hundreds of booking options available
in a destination,” says Terry Vander
Linden, product marketing manager
at AMA Travel. “It’s difficult to know
which one is best, particularly if you’re
headed to a far-off location like Asia,
Africa or South America. Our experi-
ence allows us to narrow the options
down to the very best, and the types
of trips we know an Albertan would
typically enjoy.”
Meet AMA’s team of industry experts and travel gurus
who work to find you the perfect vacation