VIRTUOSO has hosted its annual Symposium at sea, chartering Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Serenity to bring together almost 400 top industry leaders from around 40 countries.
The Symposium was hosted from 13-17 May, welcoming Virtuoso’s top leadership and management from the network’s travel agency members and preferred partners.
The event explored key travel trends and highlighted Virtuoso’s latest technology enhancements, focused on data privacy & quality, and customisable solutions tailored to traveller needs.
Guests embarked in Barcelona, and enjoyed shore excursions in Portofino and Monte Carlo, before disembarking in Marseille.
Virtuoso executives took the stage during the cruise’s day at sea, with Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Matthew Upchurch, Executive Vice President David Kolner, and Senior Vice President Global Events Jennifer Campbell addressing attendees.
They looked at the evolving future of Virtuoso events, highlighting how they reflect broader transformations in the luxury travel industry – particularly in the areas of personalisation, sustainability, exclusivity and technology.
Attendees also heard from Senior Vice President Technology Paul Kearney regarding Virtuoso’s latest enhancements in this field, focused on data privacy and quality, as well as its philosophy around providing a choice of customisable solutions for the network, as opposed to a single tool for all.
A panel of Virtuoso’s senior leadership team provided visibility into the continued strategic focus on membership and partnership quality and network engagement.
This comprised of Senior Vice President Global Opertations Michael Londregan; Senior Vice President Global Marketing Helen McCabe-Young; Senior Vice President Global Memberships Cheryl Cheney-Bunker; Senior Vice President Global Products Thatcher Brown; and Senior Vice President Global Partnerships Cory Hagopian,
They also discussed Virtuoso’s shared focus on the co-creation of new product solutions and tools that drive additive impact and business results, reflecting the foundational belief that “together is better”.
This includes the recently launched Social Media Content Centre, which enables more hyper-focused content solutions for members and partners around the world.
MEANWHILE, more and more travel advisors are seeing AI as an opportunity, as opposed to a threat, bucking trends of years prior which framed it as antagonistic.
Upchurch said half of respondents to a Virtuoso survey now view AI positively, as more companies attempt to harness the technology to improve their businesses.
“In the midst of another tech inflection – or as some call it, a disruption – with AI, I love how optimistic Virtuoso members are about its potential,” Upchurch said.
“Starting in the onset of the millennium, we have seen how these disruptions make travel – and the professional, knowledgeable, well-connected travel advisors – all the more important in people’s lives.”
The luxury cruise market was valued at USD$7.7 billion last year, and is expected to reach USD$21.38 billion by 2032.
Upchurch noted one of the fundamental trends which he believes is contributing to the strength of luxury travel is six generations all travelling simultaneously for the first time in history, from the Silent Generation to Generation Alpha.
The prioritisation of experiences over goods and the rise of global wealth have also been a boon for the luxury sector.
Upchurch said Virtuoso is tracking how different generations value luxury through its membership with Altagamma and research with Bain.
“We’re tracking everything from AI’s role in augmenting the workforce to the evolving definition of luxury itself,” he said.
“While headlines often suggest AI is replacing human jobs, the reality is our profession is booming – LinkedIn lists ‘travel advisor’ as the fifth fastest growing career.
“At Virtuoso, we’ve long embraced what’s now called ‘prompt engineering’ as the art of asking the right questions: at its heart, luxury is the ‘how did you make me feel’ business,” Upchurch enthused.
