Travelwizard.com Attends Virtuoso's 20th Annual Travel Mart

Recently Travelwizard.com joined more that 3,200 attendees from 102 countries at Virtuoso’s annual Travel Mart conference, which was held at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas, August 17-22, 2008.  Virtuoso®, the leading luxury travel network, commemorated the 20^th anniversary of Travel Mart by welcoming their largest audience to date during the Opening Session, which included presentations from Virtuoso CEO, Matthew D. Upchurch, and President, Kristi Jones.  The session opening was celebrated by a private performance from the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday and concluded with the Broadway cast from “Chicago” delivering a private performance during Thursday night’s Gala.  Travel Mart is a multi-day event consisting of extensive training sessions and peer-to-peer meetings, which help project and shape the high-end, leisure travel industry.  It is considered the most important and largest luxury travel conference in the world. 

Travelwizard.com was among the travel elite who participated in Travel Mart’s renowned exchange that takes place during the conference’s individual, four-minute meetings.  During the course of four days, Travelwizard.com held approximately 420 face-to-face meetings with the world’s top travel providers.  “I think we invented speed-dating,” stated Matthew Upchurch. “We organize these one-to-one appointments between travel advisors and travel operators to ensure Virtuoso clients have the best experience possible, wherever they travel.” 

“Luxury travel has changed in many ways over the past 20 years, but the idea of professional service and the importance of global, personal relationships has stayed the same and remains the hallmark of Virtuoso and our Travel Mart conference.” said Matthew Upchurch.

According to Virtuoso, leisure travel continues to hold strong for the affluent, as 73% of Virtuoso members report higher revenues in 2008 versus 2007 with 2009 projections consistent with this trend.  In fact, Virtuoso is addressing the challenge of more travelers seeking the services of professional advisors through a talent recruitment and development initiative.  “A few short years ago the online world was predicting our demise,” stated Kristi Jones.  “Now, according to Forrester Research, 23% of online travelers would prefer working with a professional consultant, and online travel is experiencing a decline in customers and satisfaction rates.  We must address a growing demand for expertise and service.”  Jones referenced www.becomeavirtuoso.com, a Virtuoso-hosted job board and introduced The Virtuoso Trust, a comprehensive professional development program that provides multiple tiers of 24/7 training sessions designed to increase the knowledge, sales skills and earning power of the frontline travel consultant. “Travel has always been a lifestyle choice for articulate, educated, sales-people.  We want to ensure that it is also a viable economic choice.  After all, our travelers expect the best, and that is what we consistently must provide,” concluded Jones.

Keynote speaker Carl Honoré focused on the case for slowing down as a way to live, work and play in the fast-paced modern world, as advocated in the global ‘Slow Movement.’  Honoré stated that the Virtuoso network benefited from clients’ desire to stop and ‘smell the roses’ by providing ‘slow travel’ through its network of small, unusual travel providers; its intimate knowledge of destinations; and its personal service delivery.    

The most resonant theme of the session was confirming the viability of the travel consultant profession. Virtuoso Member Richard Turen encapsulated this message by sharing his recent Travel Weekly column, “A Letter to the Moms of America’s Agents.” His reading received enthusiastic applause, with the message “I am a merchant of travel, but I am also a purveyor of dreams. I work on the best moments of people's lives.”

Upchurch concluded the session by speaking about the importance of trust and introduced a term that best sums up the Virtuoso philosophy, “Return on Life,” explaining that confidence, client advocacy and the collaborative planning process define Virtuoso and its Members.  The ability to inspire clients to travel and to seek out new experiences has been the cornerstone of Virtuoso for 20 years and this commitment to personal relationships assures the network’s future success.  

About Travelwizard.com

TravelWizard.com was launched in 1998 by Robert and Donna McMillen.  A privately owned corporation, TravelWizard.com has grown to be the number one source for luxury travel information on the World Wide Web.  A proud Virtuoso member, they work with the best suppliers in the industry. Their award winning online travel guides attract over a million and a half unique visitors a month, and produce over a million dollars a day in luxury travel requests.  They are one of the largest and most successful web based luxury travel companies in the world and the winner of the 2008 Travel Weekly Magellan Gold Award for excellence in Online Travel Services in the Travel Guides, Ratings and Reviews category. Their phenomenal success is due to forging personal relationships based on trust and integrity with their clients. Travelwizard.com is a well-oiled, successful, virtual corporation that has trained some of the best travel specialists in the industry. 

About Virtuoso

Virtuoso is a by-invitation-only organization comprising over 300 agencies with more than 6,000 elite travel specialists in 22 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, as well as over 1,000 of the world’s best travel providers and premier destinations.  Independent travel agencies receive sales, marketing and technology support, as well as exclusive services and products, as a result of their membership in Virtuoso.  The network’s member agencies generate over $5.1 billion annually in travel sales, making the group the most powerful in the luxury travel segment.  Their relationships with the finest travel companies provide the network’s affluent clientele with exclusive amenities, rare experiences and privileged access.  Virtuoso is the exclusive network of travel related services and benefits provided by MasterCard to World Elite® MasterCard® cardholders.   For more information, please visit www.virtuoso.com or www.travelwizard.com.