More than 370 Virtuoso travel advisors from around Australia participated at events hosted by the global luxury travel network around the country last week. The events supported Virtuoso’s advisors as they reconnected in person with a select number of international preferred partners for the first time since the pandemic.
The week commenced with a new format called ‘Virtuoso Connects’ in Adelaide, bringing together a smaller number of travel advisors and preferred partners in a regional location over an intimate dinner at the Mayfair Hotel. (Learn more about the Virtuoso Connects format, reported exclusively by LATTE last week, here).
From Adelaide, the traditional ‘Virtuoso On Tour’ commenced in Brisbane on Tuesday 13 September at the Emporium Hotel, in Melbourne on 14 September at the Park Hyatt and in Sydney on 15 September at the Fullerton Hotel. More than 30 preferred partners from around the globe took part in the events.
“It was exciting to have so many advisors and partners attending the Virtuoso On Tour in Brisbane,” said Mike Dwyer, Main Beach Travel.
“It felt like our world had returned to ‘normal’ as we engaged with our international partners and explored new options. Lots of hugs and laughter – it’s why we’ve always loved this industry.”
Speaking on the events, Fiona Dalton, GM Virtuoso Australia and New Zealand, said “We were reminded as recently as Virtuoso Travel Week, held last month in Las Vegas, about the power of human connection.
“Coming home to deliver our first On Tour event in Australia with so many international partners wishing to reinvest for the first time since the pandemic in this source market, our advisor community has been both joyful and emotional to witness. Virtuoso’s CEO Matthew Upchurch recently reminded us of one of Virtuoso’s key tenets and that is that ‘the quality of a client’s travel experience is directly related to the quality of their advisor’s connections.”
“It’s up to us here in Australia to ensure we do our part to create those opportunities to bring the right partners with the right products to the right members at the right time.
That’s what this week has been all about,” Dalton said.
The next scheduled local event on Virtuoso’s calendar is Virtuoso On Tour – Cruise, which will be held in Sydney, Gold Coast and Melbourne on 8, 9 and 10 November 2022, respectively.
Lead image: Sandra Pelekanakis, Gabrielle Thackray, Anna Mcmurtrie and Lynn Mayer from Wentworth Travel, with Jen Pagett, Virtuoso.
More photos from last week’s Virtuoso events are below.
