Virtuoso has announced changes to its senior leadership team and a strategic realignment, naming Cheryl Cheney Bunker as senior vice president, global memberships and Virtuoso executive Cory Hagopian evolving his role to senior vice president, global partnerships.
The changes see Cheryl Cheney Bunker named as senior vice president, global memberships. Bunker is an industry veteran with more than 25 years’ experience and has been with Virtuoso since 2007. She heads up teams that work hand-in-hand with Virtuoso member agencies and advisors to maximise engagement and drive preferred partner sales.
Most recently, Bunker served as vice president, global member relations, providing leadership, management, and strategic direction for the team responsible for over 1,200 travel agency locations and more than 20,000 travel advisors in 58 countries across North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.
In her expanded role, Bunker will be responsible for setting the strategic direction and oversight of Virtuoso’s global membership. In this pivotal role, she looks to drive sustained growth, deepen member engagement and reinforce Virtuoso’s leading brand position across all regions by upholding and evolving Virtuoso’s rigorous membership standards.
Virtuoso executive Cory Hagopian evolves his role to senior vice president, global partnerships. Since joining the organisation in 2022, Hagopian has led both member and partner relationships worldwide.
He now solely focuses his efforts on driving Virtuoso’s global partner sales strategy and developing relationships across all product categories, including hotels and resorts, cruise lines, tourism boards, alliances, tour operators, air, car services and insurance as well as Virtuoso’s new Ultra-High-Net-Worth vertical.
This sales strategy focuses on increasing value to current global partners, while also developing new partnerships in emerging destinations. As Virtuoso continues to expand its partnerships and product offerings, it remains committed to maintaining the highest quality and standards.
This move is part of a broader globalisation strategy aimed at establishing regional partnership teams to better engage with and support Virtuoso’s partners around the world.
“As Virtuoso continues to expand, we are more committed than ever to ensuring the success of our members, advisors and partners, and developing the teams that will serve the needs of these diverse groups takes strong leadership,” Virtuoso chief operating officer, Brad Bourland, said. “Cheryl’s full-time focus on the strategic growth of our global membership allows Cory to fully dedicate his attention to delivering even greater partner value, while elevating engagement and overall network satisfaction through operational excellence.”
Virtuoso’s senior vice presidents are integral members of its executive team. The S-Team, as they are known internally, hold a unique and influential position that extends far beyond managing their individual verticals. Virtuoso S-Team members have strong business knowledge across a range of functions and segments to provide exceptional strategic direction that is reflective of the organisation’s collective global position in luxury travel.
Bunker’s role takes effect as of 1 May and she continues to office from Windermere, Florida. Hagopian’s position is effective immediately, and he remains based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Both report to COO Brad Bourland.
