Selling to travel advisors and helping them grow their businesses are two different jobs. Classic Vacations, which says advisors have been central to its business for 50 years, now wants its sales staff doing both, and it has rebuilt that staff to match.
The company calls the approach “hypercare”: personal attention backed by real knowledge of how each customer operates, where it could expand and what its market demands. In practice, Classic says, that means helping advisors find untapped openings, draft growth plans and turn those plans into sales.
“We have nearly tripled our Sales organization because we want to be much more than a supplier to our customers. Our ambition is to be a strategic growth partner—closer to their businesses, more proactive in identifying opportunities, and better equipped to help them succeed,” said Vijayeta James, chief commercial officer of Classic Vacations, in a press statement.
The Classic Partnerships
Most of the seven new teams are organized by business type rather than territory. Group travel belongs to Jeanne Flood, recently promoted to oversee Groups Sales and Operations after 36 years with Classic. Flood’s team manages groups with and without contracts, from meetings and incentives to destination weddings and multigenerational trips, and stays involved until each one is delivered. Host agencies have a dedicated lead in Carmen Gashnikov, newly appointed to the role, who builds account plans with agency leadership and the independent contractors affiliated with them. Gashnikov has more than 15 years in sales, partnerships and account development.
The other two specialist teams look after the edges of the advisor relationship. Tiffani Gilardi leads New Business Development, which handles onboarding, education and training so newer advisors start selling sooner and keep growing with Classic. Kathy Ellis oversees Sales Support, which runs Classic’s events and handles registration as well as rewards and recognition for advisors.
Three regional teams handle on-the-ground coverage across the U.S. Sue Ferguson leads the Western Region, Julia Jakkaraju the Central Region and Dimitri Andre the Eastern Region. Each region’s strategic account managers work with advisors on business priorities, account strategy and how to put Classic’s products and tools to use.
Combined, the teams total 34 people. Classic has filled 18 positions in 2026 and is recruiting for five more, and the company says the added scale and expertise are meant to support advisors nationwide as their businesses expand.
For more information, visit classicvacations.com.
