VIP International announced a partnership with Yellowknife-based Canadian North, Canada's leader in northern air travel. Under the three-year agreement, VIP International will manage Canadian North's Contact Center, providing reservation, customer support, and e-ticketing capabilities to customers who call the airline's toll free number (1-800-661-1515). 

Founded in 1998, Canadian North serves over 44 communities in the north directly or through established partnerships. Early in 2002 Canadian North launched a search for a new contact center partner in an effort to gain better control of these operations and their cost. 

That search led to Calgary-based VIP International. "VIP is blessed with a corporate culture that mirrors our own," comments Ryan Fawcett, Canadian North's Director of Business Development. "We need a partner whose focus is the customer, and whose employees routinely provide service that is above-and-beyond the standard." 

Canadian North delivers a customer-driven product unique to the airline industry: no cancellation or change fees; hot meals on all flights of an hour or more; and a fare strategy that rewards those customers who book first with the best prices. 

VIP International boasts a 24-hour reservation sales center that consistently meets world-class standards in the areas of call response, call quality and the conversion of calls into reservations. VIP has 20 Reservation Sales Specialists supporting Canadian North all of whom received in-depth product and reservation training. Six specialists spent a month at Canadian North's headquarters in Yellowknife. 

"We are tremendously enthused at the addition of Canadian North," says Eddie Drganc, VIP's Director of the Reservation Sales Center. "They share our commitment and dedication to supporting the customer, and know we want to be partners with them in what really is a joint venture." 

About Canadian North 
Canadian North (www.cdn-north.com) is jointly owned by the Nunasi and Inuvialuit Development Corporations through NorTerra Group. NorTerra is a 100% northern aboriginally owned holding company ranked in the top 500 Canadian Companies by the Financial Post. 

Along with providing an essential service to the community and creating job opportunities, one of Canadian North's mandates is to be profitable over the long term for its northern shareholders. 

Canadian North serves over 44 northern communities from three southern, gateway cities: Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa. 

About VIP International Corporation 
VIP International (www.vipintcorp.com) is a channel marketing organization that drives revenue for hoteliers, car rental owners and now airlines through a multi-channel reservation sales center, the adoption of leading-edge technology, and partnerships with clients to provide ongoing education. 

Founded in 1979, the now privately held Calgary, Alberta-based firm pursues a mission of being "the number one producer of bookings per client." This is accomplished through mastering the electronic channel marketing environment and providing a central point of distribution to every viable Internet web site and to all of the major Global Distribution Systems including SABRE, Galileo, Amadeus, and Worldspan. 

This also includes VIP's Reservation Sales Center, staffed with nearly 50 Reservation Sales Specialists, providing reservation and support voice services to over 30 clients, including Pueblo Bonito Hotels & Resorts of Mexico, Hong Kong-based Regal Hotels International, Destination Hotels & Resorts of Colorado, and Los Angeles-based Fox Rent-A-Car.