How Avoya Travel Academy Uses LifterLMS to Provide Travel Agent Certification Education

Award Winning E-Course Prepares Travel Advisors with a Strong Foundation for Success and Improves the Traveler Experience

Image of Gina Hoyt From Avoya Travel

 Gina Hoyt, Avoya Travel Academy

Success Story Highlights

Engaging video lessons with advanced controls

Comprehensive certification for travel agents

Boosted commissions and success rates

Look at someone’s bucket list, and one item you are nearly always likely to see listed is “travel.” For many of us, travel is a life experience we cannot get enough of.

Whether it’s to catch a quick vacation getaway, or a need to explore at leisure, the adventure of travel is enticing… until it comes time to plan. Sure, we all have the ability to make reservations and to research itineraries via the internet at our fingertips. 

However, there is often no substitute for the knowledge and advice a good travel agent can offer, and the more educated and knowledgeable the agent, the better your travel experience will be. 

And yet, unlike many other professions, travel agents are not required to be certified. 

Gina Hoyt of Avoya Travel Academy wants to make it easier for travel agents to get certified.  Avoya Travel Academy offers online classes built with LifterLMS that provide both an educational foundation and a certification. The course, Travel Agent Education Powered by Avoya, is recognized by major travel organizations such as CLIA (Cruise Lines International) and ASTA (American Society of Travel Advisors.) It has also received the Travel Weekly Magellan Award, a premier travel industry honor.

Image of Gina Hoyt From Avoya Travel

“I chose LifterLMS because it’s designed with course creators in mind. From intuitive tools to exceptional support, it’s everything I needed in one platform.”

— Gina Hoyt, Avoya Travel Academy

Elevating the Travel Industry via Professional Development

Despite the lack of a mandate for travel agent certification, Gina shares that certified agents generally offer superior guidance to their clients. They also tend to be more successful in their business than those agents who lack the same educational foundation. Moreover, there are usually no extra costs to the client because commissions typically come from suppliers.

Home page of Avoya Travel Academy


If you’re talking [about] an international flight or even a whole package, this is really where travel agents can show their value––not only with pricing, but with their knowledge.


Beyond being an education platform, Avoya Travel Academy offers insights and immersive learning experiences to inspire up-and-coming travel advisors. The LifterLMS-based course, which includes 119 lessons, is online and self-paced, and in both written and audio formats that allow students to learn at their own pace.

This course flexibility suits the average aspiring travel agent. In the United States, some 90% of travel agents own and operate their own businesses from home. For those who are new to the industry in particular, the Avoya Travel Academy course and certification will teach them how to set up a new travel advisory business, understand some of the requirements of the industry or state, follow best practices, and learn how to run a business.

The education that the course provides greatly impacts the success rate of agents who get certified, outpacing that of those who do not take the course. With commissions and close rate percentages averaging over fifty percent higher, it is more likely they will stay in the industry longer, something Gina wants to support. 

Most agents have a love of travel, education, and service, with many transitioning to the industry from other service fields like health care and education. By itself, a dedication to serve does not always translate into business success, however, and Gina’s course helps ensure they will have the tools necessary to carry out their vision and enjoy working in their new field going forward.

Course page of Avoya Travel Academy

While the travel industry does not require any specific certifications to become a travel agent, obtaining a travel industry-recognized certification demonstrates a commitment to professionalism, knowledge, and a strong desire to become an industry expert.

Using LifterLMS for the Travel Academy Education Course

With over twenty-five years of experience in the travel industry, Gina not only loves helping travelers but also teaching the next advisor how to be successful, a passion that led to her building the Avoya Travel Academy course. After checking into several LMS (learning management system) software platforms she found she liked LifterLMS’ features and user-friendly interface, which made it a breeze to learn its features, as well as teach her team how to use it.

To learn LifterLMS in the first place, Gina took advantage of its many how-to videos (1700 on YouTube alone, not including LifterLMS documentation), using a focused “watch and learn” type approach. Among the features she learned to apply are engagements that are especially valuable to her course, such as email triggers, awards, and automatic certificates, automations for tasks that used to be done manually, which are now huge time savers for her team.

Advanced Videos, a LifterLMS Add-On, also plays a critical role in the academy’s video lesson presentation. Among its features is the option to display or hide video player controls to customize the learner experience, ensuring that students stay engaged and absorb the content before being able to proceed. 


I loved the resources that Lifter provides, and how easy it was to build and to teach my team. It’s super simple.


Gina has been developing other LifterLMS-based courses for the Avoya network, focusing on topics like sales, destinations, and internal training.

The Tech Behind the Avoya Travel Academy

Gina’s tech stack must support her team as well as her students, so among the applications she uses are:

  • WordPress
  • LifterLMS
  • GoDaddy hosting
  • Elementor Pro
  • Frontend Admin: for frontend dashboard display
  • PublishPress Capabilities Pro: to control team access

For videos she records herself, Gina uses Zoom and makes edits with Camtasia. She also uses third-party videos from some of Avoya’s suppliers whose own certification courses are in the Avoya program.  All these course videos are hosted on Vimeo, and the LifterLMS Advanced Videos Vimeo integration gives Gina the ability to present the Vimeo-embedded videos within her LifterLMS lessons.

The course builder is super simple. I love it.

You do not have to travel far to connect with Gina Hoyt. Find her at:

We have published a podcast episode with Gina Hoyt on LMScast. Learn more in detail in this podcast, “How Gina Hoyt From Avoya Travel Leverages a LMS To Grow Business.”