Mooresville, NC - October 5, 2023 - Gifted Travel Network (GTN) is pleased to announce a strategic reorganization with the promotion and expansion of multiple staff members' roles and responsibilities.

As the opportunity in the luxury travel space continues to increase, GTN’s hosted advisors are building large, successful businesses and scaling in a way that surpasses what they have seen in the past. This trend further solidifies the need for a host agency that can fully support rapidly growing agencies while continuing to serve its members at the highest level possible.

"As a host agency for luxury travel advisors focused on growing their businesses, we strive to provide our members with the best support in the industry through our award-winning professional development and coaching programs, cutting-edge technology, and exceptional service, stated Jen Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer of Gifted Travel Network. At GTN, our mission is cultivating success through travel entrepreneurship, and we pride ourselves on empowering our members, ensuring our team is well-positioned to aid our members in their growth, wherever they are in their entrepreneurial journey."

To further its mission and in recognition of the growth its advisors are seeing in their businesses, GTN has undergone a strategic reorganization, elevating and expanding roles to provide the utmost level of support to its advisors.

Sandy Saburn is stepping into a new role as Chief Strategic Alliances Officer. In this new role, she will dedicate her time and focus on the quickly evolving landscape of technology. Her first big initiative in this role will be a company-wide rollout of a new technology platform, Sion.

Vanessa McGovern’s role as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer will expand as she will provide executive oversight to include the Member Services department in addition to the Sales, Marketing, and Partner Relations Departments.

Kristin Matthews’ role has been elevated from Director of Professional Development to VP of Member Experience. This change has broadened her purview to include the delivery of all GTN member benefits, not just those aligned with a Travel Business University (TBU) program.

Hannah Reitz’s role has been elevated from Director of Operations to VP of Operations to reflect the expanding scope under her purview and significant operational initiatives, some of which directly support GTN members and some of which support GTN’s employees and corporate/management reporting and oversight functions.

Shannon Cunningham’s new role as the Director of Engagement has been realigned to allow more time dedicated to facilitating opportunities for GTN’s advisor community to come together virtually and in person. Rounding out the leadership team, Caroline Hollar and Erica Whitaker continue asDirector of Marketing and Director of Partner Relations, respectively.

In addition, the GTN team continues to grow with several new staff members joining the team in October. Amy Pearson Jensen, the new Lead Mentor for Travel Business University (TBU), brings the GTN full-time staff to 30. 

“We recognize that GTN is more richly staffed than other luxury host agencies of a similar size and scope because we are so focused on professional development. From our best-in-class Travel MBA Program for those advisors just building their businesses, to our mastermind program for our top producers, we are dedicated to delivering the conversations, content and services that expedite their success,” said Cochrane.

About Gifted Travel Network‍

Gifted Travel Network (GTN) is a member of Virtuoso, the leading luxury network of premier travel advisors and preferred partners. GTN provides an elevated hosting experience for the luxury travel advisor. From their innovative approach to educating and supporting successful travel entrepreneurs, Gifted Travel Network has quickly grown to be a leading agency within Virtuoso and leads the way in attracting new-to-industry professionals in entering the industry.