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The Bellagio in Las Vegas.
Crusoe Collective
Virtuoso travel advisors are gearing up for the world’s foremost luxury travel conference, where they’ll shop for your next getaway.
A treasure hunt through the Tuscan countryside in a vintage Fiat. A private meeting with the Dalai Lama. Those dinner reservations that friends told you were impossible to get. Because of the connections they have around the world, Virtuoso travel advisors can surprise their clients with some incredible and unexpected experiences. And in the past few years, they’ve also proved they can handle the admittedly less-incredible surprises too – flight cancellations, lost luggage, travel restrictions. In a time when expecting the unexpected feels like the norm, working with a travel advisor has become more valuable than ever.
These connections – whether they’re pulling off big surprises or saving the day – are made and cultivated at Virtuoso Travel Week, one of the world’s most influential luxury travel conferences. Now in its 36th year, the event brings together over 5,000 Virtuoso travel advisors and representatives from Virtuoso’s network of hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, tourism boards, and more for several days of connecting and networking. Participants will travel to Las Vegas for the event at The Cosmopolitan, Bellagio, Aria Resort & Casino, and Vdara.
“Virtuoso Travel Week is the family reunion of the luxury travel industry,” says Virtuoso advisor Brooke Lavery. “It’s a weeklong, multigenerational event with people who share the enthusiasm for making our clients’ lives better.”
Advisors will spend the week meeting with representatives from more than 2,000 hotels, resorts, tour operators, and more – all in the name of scoping out which new, popular, and one-of-a-kind travel experiences are best for each of their clients. Think of it as the Fashion Week of travel: Advisors sit front row on the proverbial runway, shopping for travelers. As a result, they know exactly which ship to book for that Caribbean cruise you want to take next summer, or which Bali hotel fits best with your vacation style.
“My time at Virtuoso Travel Week builds my knowledge and professional relationships with suppliers from all over the world,” says Virtuoso travel advisor Arlene Thompson-Brantley. “I meet new travel colleagues and greet old ones, cementing the foundation for partnerships that directly benefit my clients and their travel companions.”
The family reunion of the luxury travel industry.
Las Vegas Photographic Excellence International
Beyond networking, the week’s events include professional development seminars and interactive workshops, a travel technology summit, a sustainability-focused function, opportunities to explore Las Vegas, and a gala dinner to recognize advisors and companies leading the way to the future of travel.
One of the biggest factors that sets Virtuoso travel advisors apart is their connections – advisors know hotel owners, tour providers, and on-the-ground contacts around the world who can help them make any vacation an extraordinary one. When you check into a hotel room and your favorite bottle of wine is waiting for you … your Virtuoso advisor helped make that happen. If you’ve always dreamed of sipping tea with a member of the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace … a Virtuoso advisor likely knows someone in London who can make that a reality. These are the types of connections that get made at Virtuoso Travel Week.
Making connections at Virtuoso Travel Week 2023.
Las Vegas Photographic Excellence International
Travel advisor Andrew Harris, who has been attending Virtuoso Travel Week for more than 20 years, says connections made at the event have led to many personal touches for his clients over the years. “After meeting the team from on-site tour connection Decouvertes in Las Vegas, we worked together to arrange a boat cruise of the Seine, private entrance to the king’s apartment at Versailles, and a guided walking tour of Paris’ Latin Quarter for travelers taking a family vacation before their kids went off to college,” says Harris. “I also worked closely with my connections at InterContinental Paris Le Grand and Auberge de Jeu du Paume to choose spacious suites for their celebration.”
Virtuoso is driven by human connection, and that’s one of the biggest benefits of working with a Virtuoso travel advisor – that curated, personal collaboration is something a travel booking site will never be able to provide. Spending a week engaging with an extended family of global travel professionals results in another year of exciting vacation opportunities – and peace of mind – for travelers.
“The desire to help and support your friends is basic human nature,” says Lavery. “Virtuoso Travel Week is several days out of the year where those friendships are made and nurtured – a time when we bank up relationship currency that gets spent throughout the year to directly impact our clients. We’re able to clear waitlists, get priority upgrades, plan birthday surprises, solve problems – all because of this special week.”
