5 things we learned at Virtuoso Travel Week 2024

This year marked the 23rd edition of Virtuoso Travel Week (VTW) in Las Vegas, the annual conference for members of the travel network and its preferred partners.

More than 4,700 attendees, including luxury travel advisors and 2,086 travel brands from 97 countries, gathered for the week-long event from August 10-16 at the Bellagio Resort & Casino, Aria Resort & Casino, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Vdara Hotel & Spa.

But even though the conference has a history spanning decades, this year everything was significantly different due to several changes in the event format.

Each member’s attendance was verified by the Virtuoso team, rather than allocating spots on a first-come, first-served basis. VTW’s classic schedule was replaced with coordinated meetings in the morning and self-planned meetings or events in the afternoon. New offerings included “Brain Dates” for informal and unstructured group discussions on self-selected topics, a hotel showcase, and wellness offerings such as fitness classes and yoga.

“Changing Virtuoso Travel Week came with risks, but we embrace those risks,” said Julie Campbell, senior vice president of network products and events, during the event’s opening session on August 11.

The conference, which was themed “The Voice of Luxury,” also featured Virtuoso’s diverse community of members and partners.

“Our diverse backgrounds, business models and offerings enable us to deliver the ‘right’ experiences, supported by authentic relationships, to a very diverse group of affluent travelers around the world,” Campbell said.

Here are five things we learned at the event, from the latest trends in luxury travel to what’s coming to the network.

1. Virtuoso continues to grow

This year, 18 new members and 109 preferred partners joined the luxury network, including 71 new hotels, 26 new tour/on-site partners (DMC), eight new tourism associations and four new cruise lines. According to Cory Hagopian, senior vice president of global member and partner sales for the network, this brings the total partner network to 2,300 suppliers in 58 countries.

Virtuoso’s advisors and vendors are focused on serving high-net-worth clients, and the company must continue to grow to meet the high demand of this sophisticated group, said David Kolner, the company’s executive vice president. He noted that Virtuoso was able to increase its revenue from preferred partners by 15% year-over-year while adding only 4-5% more preferred partners.

“We may not even be hiring enough new employees to keep up with the increased demand and new types of customers,” he said. “As for advisors, I want everyone (travelers with a relatively high net worth) to have the opportunity to use a Virtuoso travel advisor, and we’re a long way from that. So we’ll be hiring additional advisors to meet that need.”

Virtuoso also recently launched its enhanced hotel amenities program, which includes higher commissions for consultants and additional amenities beyond Virtuoso’s standard upgrades, including early check-in and late check-out at the time of booking (one in four of the network’s hotels have signed up to the program), and an initiative to help preferred hotels sell villas and suites is in the pipeline. The Virtuoso Air program was also recently relaunched as a preferred partner category.

“The whole industry still has a lot of growth to do, so we’re optimistic that we’ll find people to move the industry forward,” Kolner added. “There’s so much demand out there and there’s an opportunity for more choice in this space.”

2. The latest luxury trends include coolcations and the “Swift Lift”

Although geopolitical conflicts, wars, elections, natural disasters, climate change and overtourism are cited as the main concerns that could affect travel in 2024, the first half of the year has been record-breaking for Virtuoso members. According to Kolner, revenues in the first six months of 2024 have doubled from 2019 and increased 213% (compared to the overall travel industry, which currently accounts for 136% of 2019 revenues). From 2023 to 2024, the network’s revenues are up 14%, and for 2025 to 2026, revenues are up 38% so far.

“They ate and left no crumbs,” Kolner joked to attendees during the opening session. “Not only are we achieving record sales, but we are also growing faster than the (entire) industry… We are in our era of relevance.”

Not only are we seeing record sales, but we are also growing faster than the industry (as a whole)… We are in the era of our relevance.

Speaking of “eras,” Taylor Swift’s global “Eras” tour is a driving force behind this booking volume, thanks to a phenomenon called the “Swift Lift.” Virtuoso sees a 51% increase in average daily rates (ADRs) and a 139% increase in nightly booking volume during Swift’s concerts. (The Paris Olympics were also a driving force behind the increased ADRs.)

Hot weather is also driving some travelers toward cooler destinations, including Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Norway and Finland. Sales to these “coolcations” are up 44%, while sales to warm destinations are down 0.5% (however, sales to warm destinations are still 10:1 higher than to cool destinations).

3. Integrated technology solutions, PR outreach and travel advisor reviews ensure Virtuoso Advisors stay top of mind

On the sales and marketing side, Virtuoso continues to stay top of mind with traveling consumers with new initiatives and outreach. The network’s PR efforts have gained momentum, reaching 20 billion impressions this year. In addition, usage of the “Find a Travel Advisor” button on the website will have increased by 76% in 2024, according to Helen McCabe-Young, the network’s senior vice president of marketing.

Additionally, the Virtuoso homepage has been redesigned with improved search and navigation, as well as new optimizations for mobile viewing.

Advisors also receive top marks: Nearly 94% of clients recommend preferred Virtuoso partners after traveling with them, and 99.3% of clients recommend their Virtuoso advisor. (Cristina Buaas of CSB Travel in Houston has the highest number of 100% ratings in the network.)

4. Each generation has its own different interests and travel habits

The current period is unique in that, for the first time, seven generations are traveling simultaneously: the Silent Generation (also known as the Elders), Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z, Generation Alpha and, starting in 2025, Generation Beta. The last-minute planners Virtuoso advisors use are mostly from Generation X, which has the shortest booking window of any group (83 days on average), according to Kolner. However, when it comes to travel intent, Millennials and Generation Z are the undisputed leaders, seeing a 15% increase in travel intent in 2024. They are also outpacing their older counterparts, traveling faster and in more luxury, according to the network.

Travel spending is attracting a very different group: Baby boomers are the most likely to spend money on travel in 2024, twice as much as any other age group.

5. Sustainability is (still) a hot topic

Sustainability has been at the forefront of Virtuoso’s strategy since 2011, and this year’s network Impact Study (which tracks the sustainable contributions of consultants and supplier members) found that Virtuoso’s revenues as a Sustainable Partner will be $700 million so far in 2024.

And ethical travel is certainly of interest to customers: Half of Virtuoso travelers say global developments have encouraged them to travel more responsibly, and 55% expressed a willingness to visit popular attractions outside of peak travel times. Top destinations seeing growth in fall include Canada (up 168%), Japan (up 160%) and St. Barts (up 155%). Year-on-year growth for 2023 is led by Greater China (146%), Japan (108%), Iceland (72%), French Polynesia (60%) and the UK and Ireland (33%). To combat overtourism, Virtuoso has listed Slovenia, Portugal, Croatia, Montenegro and Guatemala as recommended alternatives to traditional hotspots.

On August 12, the Network hosted its “Under One Sky” luncheon, where the Network honored the consultants and preferred partners making a difference in sustainability. On the supplier side, Wilderness, Big Five Tours & Expeditions, Inc. and Abercrombie & Kent Vietnam took home awards; on the agency side, Nuba and Winkaffe Global Travel were honored.

“Virtuoso’s mission is to make sustainability a more important factor in travelers’ decisions so that those who do good succeed,” said Jessica Hall Upchurch, vice president and sustainability strategist at Virtuoso. “Not only is it important to do good, but prioritizing sustainability is both a serious market opportunity and a transformative way to do business.”