Published on : Friday, April 6, 2018
Virtuoso®, the international network specialising in luxury and experiential travel, held its 2018 Symposium March 17-22 in the Netherlands, where 591 of the industry’s top executives gathered. Virtuoso Symposium is a high-level business meeting that brings together the most influential decision makers in up-market travel, and shines a light on the host destination.
In an industry first, seven cruise lines and six hotels banded together to display the differences between competing luxury river cruise ships, hosting members onboard river cruise vessels from AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Crystal Cruises, Tauck, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, U by Uniworld and Viking Cruises.
Virtuoso Chairman and CEO, Matthew D. Upchurch, said travel advisors are a valued extension of their preferred partner’s sales force. He said Virtuoso-affiliated travel advisors provide the highest rates at the lowest distribution cost along with providing valuable insight on their clients that leads to better travel experiences and loyalty.
“The true definition of luxury is this: I choose to have someone do it for me,” stated Upchurch. “Without question, people have the ability to research anything they want or need, whether it’s travel or any other aspect of their life. The reason they’re coming to a Virtuoso advisor is because they want someone to collaborate with. They want someone who knows them so well that they can craft deeply personal and meaningful experiences, effectively making the advisor a specialist in them.”
Virtuoso’s Asia Pacific Managing Director, Michael Londregan said this year’s Symposium saw a strong contingent of 32 Asia-Pacific members in attendance – a record number at an international Symposium event.
“This is testament to the value of the Virtuoso brand as the event provides a unique opportunity for members to directly engage with key executives from the world’s most significant luxury travel products”
“These direct experiences and relationships are the cornerstone of Virtuoso’s proposition and both our advisor members and product partners recognise the value of regularly nurturing and strengthening these relationships through events like this.”
Mosman Travel’s Managing Director, Sharyn Kitchener, who attended Symposium said the experience was truly unique.
“This event gave Virtuoso members amazing access to all the cabins, we dined on various vessels, met the crew and took part in a range of shore excursions – experiences that will be an enormous asset for advisors working to find the perfect product for their clients and their individual needs.
“We have now experienced the same service that our clients will receive and this understanding will give us much greater capacity to match the right river company to our clients,” Ms Kitchener said.
Tags: Virtuoso