DALL·E 2024-03-14 12.26.01 – A panoramic image capturing the essence of ‘VIRTUOSO®’S AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND FORUM WRAPS UP, UNITING THE NETWORK AND SETTING THE STAGE FOR CONTINUE
Leading global luxury travel network Virtuoso® concluded its annual Australia & New Zealand Forum, which took place on the 12th and 13th of March at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok. The gathering brought together more than 200 attendees, including the owners and managers from Virtuoso’s travel agency members in Australia and New Zealand and preferred partners from around the world. During the two-day event, attendees participated in curated professional development, taking part in courses designed to enhance business practices. Topics ranged from adopting strategies for achieving work-life balance and effective storytelling to harnessing the power of AI and developing a luxury strategy to take their business to the next level. Additionally, participants engaged in one-on-one networking appointments with partners.
The Opening Session began with Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch addressing the audience by describing “the power of together,” an idea in which collaboration is the threshold for success. He stated, “New management research on how to best succeed in an accelerating world emphasizes that the sharing of data and skills is a way to create shared value. But this isn’t new for Virtuoso. We’ve done this with our ever-growing database, via our innovation teams, our boards and committees, professional development offerings, targeted brand marketing campaigns and more, all of which create new capabilities for our network and enhance ROI. The common connection in all of this is data, and every increment adds value.”
Moving on to the topic of AI, a tool Upchurch supports as an aid to the travel advisor profession rather than a substitute, he said, “Travel advisors are motivated and constant learners, and they know how to surprise and delight travellers through personalisation and the power of relationships. New technologies shouldn’t be adopted to replace the human touch, but rather to enhance it. AI may be leading the online ‘age of distrust,’ but I also believe it will make trust and human connection even more valuable.”
Responding to the exchange of data and expertise, Virtuoso has launched benchmarking dashboards for member agencies that share transactional data with Virtuoso. Crafted to provide best-in-class, real-time insights accessible through Virtuoso.com with a single sign-on, these dashboards will be made available as an additional benefit to members, designed to help them drive their business decision-making and, in turn, preferred partner sales.
Following Upchurch, Virtuoso’s General Manager of Australia and New Zealand, Fiona Dalton shared an inspirational recap of last year’s network sales and achievements as well as an optimistic outlook for 2024. Among the highlighted statistics, the region’s preferred partner sales in 2023 increased by 95 percent compared to 2022, and the forecast for leisure tourism for the region in 2024 was an increase of 26 percent. In 2023, the network organised 15 events in Australia and New Zealand, attracting over 1,300 advisors and more than 300 preferred partners, which facilitated 35,452 connections and 3,319 hours of networking. In professional development, Dalton highlighted the 10,044 training modules completed by Virtuoso advisors in the region, an increase of 318 percent from 2022 and a testament to the heightened focus on elevating Virtuoso advisors through education and engagement. Dalton also shared findings from Virtuoso’s network pulse survey, in which 84 percent of Australian and New Zealand members and 79 percent of partners said they currently feel optimistic about their future business.
During the General Session on the event’s final day, Virtuoso unveiled several key initiatives for Australian and New Zealand members, including a new “Marketing for Marketers” full-day course slated to launch in 2024. This course aims to assist member agency marketing managers in better leveraging Virtuoso’s marketing assets to drive increased high-net-worth client inquiries.
Also announced at the General Session were three professional development milestones for the region:
- The addition of luxury travel doyenne Claudia Rossi Hudson as a mentor and facilitator for the Virtuoso Certified Travel Advisor (VCTA) accreditation course
- The first-ever Study Tour for Australian and New Zealand advisors to Canada in September 2024, supported by Destination Canada
- The premiere of two new Deep Dive courses in the region in 2024 in response to member demand:
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- Sales Success, Elevate your Client Process
- The Luxury Advisor: Adaptability to Manage Availability
The event ended with the announcement of the destination for the 2025 Virtuoso Australia & New Zealand Forum, to be held in Perth / Boorloo. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with Tourism Western Australia to bring our Forum event to Perth in 2025, showcasing the city’s captivating beauty and its picturesque surroundings. The highly anticipated annual event promises to be a transformative gathering fostering learning, sharing and empowerment,” said Virtuoso’s incoming General Manager, Australia and New Zealand Greg Treasure.
Tourism Western Australia Minister Rita Saffioti said attracting these types of international events was another major win for the State’s tourism industry.
“Having the 2025 Virtuoso Australia & New Zealand Forum here in Perth is another amazing opportunity to showcase what Western Australia has to offer to these world-leading travel advisors, and of course, inject valuable delegate spend into our local economy.”
This year marks 20 years of Virtuoso’s operations in Australia and New Zealand. For more information on Virtuoso’s global network of the world’s best travel agencies, advisors and preferred partners, please visit www.virtuoso.com.
