Having just returned from the 36th annual Virtuoso Travel Week, where a mini-city of top travel advisors, media, suppliers and other industry leaders converged on Bellagio Resort & Casino, ARIA Resort & Casino, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Vdara Hotel & Spa, we’re seeing that luxury travelers are reaching deep into their pockets for that ultimate vacation, relying on luxury travel advisors to create an extraordinary experience. It’s no longer about “keeping up with the Joneses,” it’s about “being the Joneses.”
Luxury Travel Advisors Are in Demand
During the press conference at Virtuoso Travel Week, which welcomed 4,700 attendees from 97 countries and featured 2,086 travel brands, Virtuoso’s Misty Belles, VP, Global Public Relations, noted that Virtuoso is not “seeing a slowdown in luxury experiences. As a network, Virtuoso produces $35 billion a year in exclusive, immersive travel experiences. We have relationships with 2,300 of some of the best-known brands in luxury travel, and they extend to more than 100 countries.” She added, too, that, “Travel advisors are in high demand right now. That’s because we have two forces coming together: We have demand for travel that is incredibly high; and we have travelers who can afford it or who will afford it. And the pandemic really brought through the value of the advisor from the advocacy standpoint.
“We’ve always said advice, access, accountability, advocacy, value, time savings…those are important factors that you just can’t replicate online or through any other way that you get by using a Virtuoso advisor,” Belles continued. “But I’ll also add trust to that as well, because as AI becomes much more ubiquitous, having that trusted relationship with an actual human is important.”
She also pointed out that Virtuoso’s own data points to this demand, noting that the organization has seen a “76 percent increase in the number of people looking for a Virtuoso advisor through our website just this year.”
“Advisors are the direct link between consumers and their experiences. Their intelligence, skill and powerful relationships have enabled them to thrive despite challenges,” said Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch, during Travel Week’s opening general session. “While some in the financial sector may view them as ‘intermediaries,’ advisors are essential to a successful direct-to-consumer sales strategy, especially as the luxury market grows and diversifies….”
Hot Trends
“When you compare how we’ve come out of the pandemic, it’s absolutely amazing,” Belles told a room full of journalists. “We’re at 213 percent higher sales,” pointing to sales for the first half of 2024 when compared to 2019. “For this year alone, we are 14 percent higher than we were in 2023, and 2023 was a very robust year. But if you look at how Virtuoso is pacing overall, we’re really outpacing global leisure travel sales altogether.” Future 2025-2026 sales area up by 38 percent over 2023. Belles noted that every sector—from cruises to tours—is doing quite well.
Trends among luxury travelers include a rise in travel to cooler climates, or “Coolcations,” to destinations in northern Europe and Canada, which are up 44 percent this summer, while visits to warmer spots, including Italy, Greece and France, have decreased by .5 percent.
Belles noted that Virtuoso asked their advisors for alternative destinations to the more popular vacation hotspots, and they pointed to Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia as an alternative to Italy, and for clients who’ve been to Croatia, recommend Montenegro. An alternative to highly popular Costa Rica? Guatemala, say Virtuoso advisors.
Wellness travel is expected to be a major trend this year and into the next, with a focus on “Silver Bullet” wellness—a sub-trend coined by Globetrender in a forthcoming co-authored report with Virtuoso—highlighting hyper-specific, targeted “cures” tailored to individual wellness needs. A survey revealed that 70 percent of travelers are seeking relaxation and disconnection through wellness travel, while half are interested in hyper-personalized experiences and mental resets.
Solo female travel, dubbed as “Wander Women” by Virtuoso and Globetrender, has also seen significant growth, with women making up 71 percent of solo travelers. Additionally, as Gen Z begins having children in 2025 (Beta babies), the industry for the first time will see seven generations traveling simultaneously. Legacy travel, or the act of bringing all these generations together to celebrate milestones or to seek nostalgia and reconnection (24 percent according to the 2024 Virtuoso Brand & Travel Tracker study) is becoming increasingly popular. And when surveyed, 32 percent of Gen Zs were planning to travel with children over the next year, with 42 percent of them planning to do so under the guidance of a travel advisor.
Fall Travel—Top Destinations
In fall 2024, travelers are venturing afar in record numbers, according to Virtuoso data, with Italy, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Spain, St. Barts, Portugal, Canada and Japan topping the list. The largest growth areas year-over-year are Canada (+168 percent), Japan (+160 percent) and St. Barts (+155 percent). Major cities like Paris, London, New York, Rome and Tokyo are showing significant increases compared to 2023, while destinations such as Taormina (Sicily), Napa and Amsterdam are seeing rate declines, making this fall a great time to visit.
Do Luxury Advisors View AI as Threat or Opportunity?
“Everybody thought travel advisors wouldn’t grow their business, we wouldn’t get enough Millennials, we wouldn’t build to the next generation, [Virtuoso sales for 2024] really proves all the critics wrong. The luxury travel advisor, specifically the Virtuoso network, is more relevant than they’ve ever been before,” said David Kolner, Virtuoso’s Executive VP, during the press conference specifically for trade publications.
In terms of Virtuoso advisors’ current business structure and whether it enables them to maintain a fulfilling work and personal life, in data collected July 2024 through the Virtuoso Pulse Survey, 80 percent said they are fulfilled. “This goes beyond just making money,” noted Kolner. “We want to make sure that the advisors in our network are enjoying themselves and are having a good time.”
The Virtuoso Pulse Survey also collected asked advisors the AI question—whether they see it as an opportunity or a threat. Most Virtuoso advisors see it as an opportunity, with Kolner noting, “I think this is related to the overwhelm of business that a lot of people are feeling, and they’re really looking to AI to help advisors be able to be more productive.”
Kolner also noted that advisors within the network are doing a ton of professional development, with “65,000 courses completed so far this year. If we consider that there are 20,000 advisors worldwide in the Virtuoso network, this means that every advisor has already done three professional development classes, on average, around the entire world. That is really incredible as an average. And this is all optional, but they’re coming in and learning through training program, development programs.” According to the survey, 99.5 percent of advisors believe they will be significantly more successful because they’ve taken time to take these courses.
