The Travel Institute announces The Auto Club Group as its 2025 Educational Excellence Award winner
ACG advisor education has ‘focus AND execution correct’
DEARBORN, Mich., (September 4, 2025) — The Travel Institute announces AAA – The Auto Club Group (ACG) as this year’s recipient of its annual Educational Excellence Award. Established in 2022, the annual award from the non-profit education leader recognizes organizations and individuals that demonstrate a significant, ongoing commitment to quality education for travel advisors and that make a substantial, meaningful investment to ensure its delivery.
“The Auto Club Group’s holistic approach to advisor education through comprehensive planning, execution, and measurement is truly impressive. The Travel Institute is thrilled to recognize the team’s exceptional efforts,” announced Diane Petras, CTIE, president of The Travel Institute, strategic travel education partner to countless industry organizations, educational institutions and individuals. “ACG’s robust, ongoing commitment to advisor training is ensuring success for the organization as well as for individual advisors and the broader industry.”
Recipients are selected through an annual nomination process that strips out identifying information for nominees. The judging panel includes external judges, making the award especially meaningful. “This award comes from The Travel Institute, but it’s also an impressive nod from industry leaders who serve as judges, validating recipients’ efforts and further inspiring future nominees,” asserted Guida Botelho, CTIE, senior director of education for The Travel Institute. In selecting ACG, judges cited the considerable investment; flawless focus and execution; and comprehensive, data-driven, industry-aligned training strategy.
The award was presented September 3 to ACG’s Debbie Haas, vice president, travel products and services; Vicky Evans, CTC, assistant vice president, travel sales development; and Lisa Swanson, CTIE, manager, travel sales support and agent development, at ACG’s Dearborn, Michigan headquarters. The Travel Institute’s Botelho, along with Patty Noonan, CTC, director of sales, who leads the partnership with ACG, presented the award.
“We are dedicated to empowering our travel advisors with the expertise, creativity, and global insight to design extraordinary, personalized journeys,” said Haas. “The Auto Club Group is truly honored to receive this award from The Travel Institute, reflecting our shared commitment to elevating travel professionals and delivering exceptional service to our members.”
ACG is the second largest AAA club in North America, serving more than 13 million members. The travel industry has experienced a record number of new hires in recent years, making education only more critical. “True expertise starts with education and this award highlights our significant commitment to ensuring exactly that in support of our agents and our members,” offered ACG’s Swanson, emphasizing that business results prove out the education program’s value. “Program feedback from our agents speaks volumes; they appreciate the training’s depth, relevance, and transformative impact, which is evident in our sales growth and improved customer satisfaction scores, as recognized by our members,” Swanson continued.
ACG’s training includes a comprehensive new agent onboarding program where product- and skill-specific learning is paired with frontline experience, supplier exposure, role play scenarios, mentoring, and sales and revenue tracking to measure effectiveness. Afterwards, agents are encouraged to declare their preferred expertise and enroll in one of The Travel Institute’s destination or niche market courses, considered to be “core pillars” of ACG’s education program—a strategic combination of in-house and third-party training. Agents then continue to build expertise through expert training tracks. Experienced ACG advisors continue learning through weekly product training webcasts, destination workshops, and ship inspection weekends. A professional development and certification program focuses on in-destination training aligned with ACG’s top destinations and travel partners. ACG advisors are also encouraged to pursue advanced certification through The Travel Institute and CLIA.
Two industry surveys from The Travel Institute: the 2023 Changing Face of Travel Agents and the 2025 CTA Graduate Insights, as well as numerous other organization and industry reports, demonstrate clear links between agent education and success. Petras emphasized, “Our mission is, and always has been, advisor success. Our Educational Excellence Award shines a light on those organizations that understand and pursue educational excellence in support of success for advisors, their organizations, our industry, and the travelers we all serve.”
ACG is the fourth winner of The Travel Institute’s Educational Excellence Award. Travel Leaders Network’s Lea Diele, CTIE, was recognized in 2024; Canada’s TTAND was recognized in 2023; and AAA’s Auto Club Enterprises (ACE) earned the inaugural award in 2022.
ABOUT THE EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
The Travel Institute’s Educational Excellence Award represents the undeniable, critical, and positive impact of education ongoing for the travel industry community, including for front-line travel advisors, management, and executive leaders, while also aspiring to further professionalism for individual organizations and the industry alike. The award also furthers higher educational and professional standards for individual organization and the industry alike—a critical industry issue given the influx of new agents industry-wide and a myriad of disparate training options. One organization or individual in North America is selected annually through a process that includes external judges and excludes identifying information for nominees. Calls for nominations take place starting each January for educational efforts in the prior year.
ABOUT THE TRAVEL INSTITUTE
A collaborative industry effort created in 1964, The Travel Institute has continuously evolved to maintain its role as the global leader and industry’s recognized gold standard in travel industry education and certification. Dedicated solely to advancing the professionalism of both agents and industry leaders in support of individual and industry success, The Travel Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, independent organization operating exclusively for educational purposes to meet the ever-changing needs of travel agents. Working with leaders throughout the industry to create and deliver relevant and rigorous coursework and proctored, closed-book testing to ensure graduates demonstrate the highest standards of expertise and service, The Travel Institute has more than 31,000 Certified Travel Associate, CTA®; Certified Travel Counselor, CTC®; and Certified Travel Industry Executive, CTIE® graduates. It also administers the Travel Agent Proficiency, or TAP®, exam to confirm students new to the industry demonstrate a mastery of travel industry basics. Countless individuals, agency owners and managers, and educational institutions utilize The Travel Institute’s award-winning TRIPKITSM introductory program and CTA® as their learning tools of choice. A trusted partner to industry suppliers and educational institutions, The Travel Institute is also the approved provider of travel industry civilian occupation training for U.S. military and has trained hundreds of thousands through various courses, webinars, and other online content through its Education Hub. Throughout North America, many successful agents and high-profile leaders credit their success to The Travel Institute’s affordable and accessible educational resources. Learn more.
About AAA – The Auto Club Group
The Auto Club Group (ACG) is the second largest AAA club in North America with more than 13 million members across 14 U.S. states and two U.S. territories. ACG and its affiliates provide members with roadside assistance, insurance products, financial services, travel offerings and more. ACG belongs to the national AAA federation with more than 65 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA’s mission is to protect and advance freedom of mobility and improve traffic safety. For more information, get the AAA Mobile app, visit AAA.com, and follow us on social media.
