In last week’s newsletter, I let you know about my first day in Vegas for Virtuoso Travel Week – Globetrotting!
I’d spent the day Saturday visiting community travel supplier partners in their elaborately designed and thought out travel show booths – and they were organized in pavilions for Adventure Travel, Cruise Travel, and Wellness Travel (as well as Family & Celebration Travel, Culinary Travel, and Ultraluxe Travel) with each travel supplier partner giving a 10 minute presentation about what’s new with their products and luxury travel offerings.
I was learning and shopping for you, my client, so you can travel the world better.
And, of course, I was constantly moving between the Bellagio, Vdara, and Aria hotels for various meetings.
Sunday marked a day of professional development meetings, followed by some Direct Travel team meetings, and the opening session of Virtuoso Travel Week.
And then the full on meetings began for Monday- Thursday sessions.
Monday was the first day at the tracks “speed-dating” appointments, and I had 26 six -minute meetings with various travel supplier partners (including Four Seasons Philadelphia, Enchantment Resort, Joali Maldives, Fairmont Pacific Rim, A&K Morocco, Tahiti Legends, and more) . This was followed by a business lunch with Australia and New Zealand Tourism boards (and a pop in to the “Under One Sky” sustainability tourism lunch). And then 10 ten-minute matched appointments with travel supplier partners I’d requested to meet (including a villa in Greece, a hotel in Amsterdam, a tour operator in Mongolia, a destination management company in France, a resort in Newport Beach and another in Palm Beach – plus Uniworld, Paul Gauguin, Australis, and more). I had some other meetings with travel supplier partners at the Cruise Cafe, as well as Preferred Partner Lounge. And then “Cruise Night Out” – an exclusive “by invitation only” (with invites extended only to those advisors who had at least $350,000 usd in preferred partner cruise sales.) And there were awards extended to my cruise partners at Uniworld, Quark, and Silversea win!
Tuesday had another 26 six-minute speed-dating meetings (including Natural Habitat, Switzerland Tourism, AndBeyond Botswana, Cheval Blanc St-Tropez, Montage Big Sky, and the Retreat Costa Rica) , followed by a business lunch with Windstar cruises. The afternoon had another 10 ten-minute matched appointments where I met with suppliers more aligned with my business (including Malliouhana in Anguilla, Norwegian Adventures, South World Australia, SHA Wellness, AndBeyond Childe); and then I had some appointments at Cruise Cafe and Preferred Partner lounge with my partners that I work closely with. The evening kicked off with Quark Expeditions and AndBeyond transporting us via Vegas party bus to the main event of Culture Night at the Cosmopolitan with Virtuoso Travel Partners displaying food stations, cocktails, and music from around the world – including an African dance troupe, Chinese dragons, balancing acts, and more. And – I was working with clients (including solving a couple of pretty major client issues) along the way when there was a few minutes of time between events. Each day had me walking in excess of 15,000 steps each day.
Wednesday at Virtuoso Travel Week featured another 26 speed- dating meetings (including Raffles Dubai, Singita Tanzania, Tierra Patagonia, Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Made for Spain, Austrian Tourism, Nobu Hotel San Sebastian, and more); 10 more matched appointments (including Coral Expeditions, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collecition, A&K Italy, Southern World NZ, and more), with a half dozen cruise cafe and preferred partner meetings. Throw in a fantastic meeting with Ama Waterways, a business luncheon with Lush Experiences hotel reps (including Jade Mountain, Cap Maison, Hermitage Bay, and more), a cocktail/ spa party with my Canadian Virtuoso travel partners, some serious business planning over drinks with Uniworld River cruises, and a few other business meetings too. Virtuoso Travel Week is where serious work intersects with fun while building relationships. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.
Thursday was the wrap up day for Virtuoso Travel Week 2023 in Las Vegas . Another full day with 26 speed- dating meetings (including Lafayette Travel France, Four Seasons Kyoto, Conrad Punta de Mita, One& Only Rwanda Necker Island, St. Regis Deer Valley, and Tourism NZ); cruise cafe meetings, 10 more matched appointments (including Big Five Tours, andBeyond South Africa, Silversea Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Lindblad Expeditions, and more); a business lunch with Island Luxe hotels and my friends at Jade Mountain, Cap Maison, Hermitage Bay, and more – followed by the top off – the wonderful Gala evening, where I dined with Explora Lodges Patagonia, and enjoyed cheering for my table mates from Leonida’s Travel from Croatia .
I made it home safely, exhausted but energized. Hope the rest of my friends can leave Las Vegas safely too (many flight delays and cancellations), and beat the storms .
As always, I took oodles of pictures at VTW in Vegas at the Bellagio, Aria, and Vdara hotels. It was so wonderful to see all my friends and colleagues from around the world, and such an important week for my luxury travel business in terms of furthering relationships and building business ventures; plus gathering new ideas for my clients to travel the world. See https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=vacay&set=a.10222991557927841
I’m excited for the year of travel planning ahead, and eager to share with you. Let me know where you’d like to go next!