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24 October, 2022

Travel advisors are having a moment, according to Virtuoso’s top travel trends

Two people, man in modern travel agency talking with woman who is working there, she is giving him a airplane ticket.

By James Harrison

This year, more than 5,000 luxury travel professionals (from 100+ countries) gathered in Las Vegas at Bellagio, Aria, and Vdara resorts for Virtuoso Travel Week.

Attendees had the long overdue opportunity to network, attend seminars, foster relationships and hear Virtuoso’s travel trend forecasts, among which include the ever-increasing importance of travel advisors.

According to a recent Virtuoso survey, 76 per cent of travellers have accepted that we’re living in a “new normal,” which explains the growing demand for – and increased value of – an expert advisor who can save travellers time, energy and the headache of sitting on the phone for hours with customer assistance.

Even Millennials and Gen Zers are turning to travel advisors.

“My daughter is 25 years old and she’s an advocate of using a travel professional,” Virtuoso travel advisor Susan Bowman said.

“She tells everyone and her friends also agree. They appear to be a generation that gets it, and they’ve figured out that we add value.”

Between navigating airport travel and handling trip logistics, many travellers are opting to work with a dedicated travel advisor.

“One of the simplest definitions of luxury goes like this: ‘Of course I can do it myself. I don’t want to’,” Matthew D. Upchurch, Chairman and CEO of Virtuoso said.

“Travellers want to find someone who really knows what they’re doing, has great connections, saves time and has their back.”

Other trends included that sustainability remains a top priority with 74 per cent of Virtuoso travellers saying they’re wiling to pay more to travel sustainably.

Travellers are back to planning ahead was a reported trend with travellers now booking their trips an average of 58 days ahead for domestic hotel stays and 80 days for international travel. This is relatively higher than 2019 levels which were 44 days for domestic travel and 60 days for international trips

“We’ve seen so much last-minute demand and literally the space is not there,” Virtuoso advisor Beth Washington said.

“We’re seeing people now willing to think about things for 2023 instead of planning so last-minute.”

Off-season travel is also gaining steam with countries such as Italy overwhelmed with tourists this Summer so it is promoting travellers visit the rest of the year.

Virtuoso also revealed some lesser travelled destinations to look out for including India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Greenland, and the East Cape, which is a 45-minute drive north of Cabo San Lucas.

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