Identifying major trends -- and acting quickly to take advantage of them -- is the secret to Michael Drever’s business success. The 2023 inductee to the Canadian Travel Hall of Fame has had some pretty notable successes over a 35-year career, and he’s not done yet.

When Drever sold CruiseShipCenters to Expedia in 2006, the company he founded 18 years earlier was responsible for a staggering 25% -- 1 in 4 -- of the cruises bought by Canadians. As the franchisor, he lead the company from a small start-up to the retail market leader with 160 locations in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, supporting over 4,500 travel agents.

The Vancouver-based Drever has all the hallmarks of a classic entrepreneur. He does his homework, reads the signs, anticipates future trends and springs into action when he senses the time is right. There’s an element of risk in any new venture, but the groundwork of building a solid business case helps mitigate the danger.

It was a ground-breaking book that inspired Drever’s ‘Aha! Moment’ and set him on an entrepreneurial path.

“My journey was greatly influenced by the book Megatrends by John Naisbitt, which came out in 1982. It was definitely a life-changer for me as it was my first exposure to the power of marketing,” Drever told TravelPulse Canada during a Good Friday interview from Whistler, where he was preparing to spend the day skiing with his adult children.

Reading the best-seller on trends that have impact on a global scale inspired Drever to go back to school to study Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. With a solid educational foundation behind him, he set out with a clear goal: to create a company that could build on the trends he saw unfolding in a fast-evolving societal and business environment.

“As a business leader, I have passionately focused on megatrend #2 – ‘The integration of High Tech and High Touch,’ to successfully build customer-centric brands and fuel extraordinary growth,” he says.

Why did Drever choose the travel industry for his first major endeavour?

“I watched the rise of Starbucks in the 80s. I wanted to build a company and I saw major opportunities in specialty franchises and the huge market of baby boomers. Travel was interesting because there were different elements – business, leisure and DIY travel. I looked at leisure travel and cruise was the fastest-growing segment. The numbers were there.”

Franchising was attractive to Drever as a way to quickly expand without financing. He took out the biggest ad in the Yellow Pages for his first cruise-focused agency, and relied on a combination of direct mail marketing – which required a postage stamp in those days – and personal selling to build profile amongst potential customers and franchisees.

Drever maintained a role at ExpediaCruiseShipCenters for several years after the initial 50% sale, later selling the rest of the company to the online travel giant. In 2010, he also sold 1to1 Interactive Inc. to Expedia. Founded in 2000, the company focused on developing technology for one-to-one marketing and website development.

With the rise of the Internet and e-mail communication, Drever maintained his focus on personal selling combined with direct database marketing. Realizing that technology would soon make it possible for travel agents to work anywhere, he stopped building brick-and-mortar facilities and cast an eye on the emerging trend of social media, which he notes that “some thought was a fad.”

Drever didn’t think so. He closely followed the growth of Facebook, which began as a place for Harvard students to post photos of themselves and personal information about their lives. As it grew into a multi-billion member global community, he recognized the power of Facebook’s massive database, and the possibilities that created for marketing travel and other products.

“Using technology to fuel one-to one marketing was the core strategy in building CruiseShipCenters into a travel industry leader and highly successful franchisor,” Drever says. “I am currently applying this strategy once again in the travel industry with BranchUp, in the wellness industry with Glory Juice Co., and in the real estate development industry with Performing Equity Ltd.”

BranchUp is the result of years spent developing a tool with the ability to offer professional Facebook marketing for travel professionals, with the goal of engaging customers and generating leads.

Funded by travel suppliers, BranchUp delivers free curated Facebook marketing posts to the pages of travel advisor subscribers, with images and messages that maintain the creative look and tone of the supplier being promoted. Posts link back directly to the agent through a branded rich-content landing page.

Drever says BranchUp’s value all comes back to high-tech and high-touch. “Travel advisors can be the recognized expert in their community with digital posts that resonate with clients. They don’t have to create the content, so they can spend more time working with customers. From the start with CruiseShipCenters to BranchUp now, our technology efforts are always about building tools to empower the agent.”

Drever says industry reaction to BranchUp “has been phenomenal,” with over 32,000 advisors signed up in the U.S., and thousands more subscribers in Canada. “We’re very busy working with those who get it, and we’re maxed out working with core suppliers. Our partners are way down the path, and we’re in their data, so we can deliver highly relevant content.”

Drever is also excited about the potential of artificial intelligence in the travel space, through applications like the chatGPT chatbot, which can form articulate answers to questions in a broad range of knowledge domains. “chatGPT can start the conversation, and once the customer is ready to go, they can talk to an advisor or book it,” Drever says.

In the new world of travel, Drever says, content remains king, and search engine optimization is the big driver. He says travel advisors need to expand their own databases to influence consumer decisions and drive leads, or partner with other social media influencers to access their followers. They can then deliver digital travel content that both educates and promotes, straight to the eyes of consumers.

Drever says the complexity of the travel product will always require travel advisors. “Touch is an absolute necessity going forward, and good advisors aren’t going anywhere.”

In addition to BranchUp, Drever the entrepreneur has his hand in a few other pies. Glory Juice is a wellness-focused company with five company-owned retail cafes and plans for future franchising. Another Drever-founded company, Performing Equity Ltd., is building multi-family and resort properties, including a major project in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. But he says the travel business remains his true passion.

“I never left the travel industry,” says Drever, who then uses a golf analogy. “The front nine was CruiseShipCenters, the back nine is BranchUp. I love selling dreams, and more and more, people are seeking things that are experiential rather than materialistic. Travel is a huge and ever-growing market.”

Drever says he’s honoured to be recognized by his peers in being selected for membership in the Canadian Travel Hall of Fame. But he’s quick to say that business success is a team sport.

“Each of my business ventures involves deep industry experience and a core leadership team with shared values of integrity, initiative, and respect. My career has allowed me to develop lifelong working relationships and friendships, and the key people at BranchUp have been part of the ride all along. The whole team is being recognized.”