We’ve just returned home from Virtuoso Travel Week held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Virtuoso Travel Week 2013 was a massive gathering of more than 4,100 luxury travel advisors, luxury travel destinations, and luxury travel suppliers, all present to learn and share with each other through more than 350,000 one-on-one, four-minute speed dates.

For four long days, Carol and I sat at two different tables while more than 600 luxury travel destinations and providers shared the benefits of visiting their particular destinations from all around the world.

We learned a lot from this experience, and there are quite a few things that we thought worthy of sharing with you, our loyal readers.

Travel News From Virtuoso Travel Week 2013

1. Luxury travel advisors are alive and well – luxury travelers are overwhelmed and fed up with trying to find and book fabulous travel experiences on the Internet.  Because of this, the pendulum is swinging back to where luxury travelers are again turning to expert travel advisors to help them.  For example, last year, over $10 billion of luxury travel services were provided through Virtuoso travel advisors, and nearly 20% of the attendees in the audience were first-time attendees.  This is a massive shift from just a few years ago.
2. 

   Arctic Polar Expedition

   Adventure is huge for luxury travelers – for many, when one thinks of luxury travel, the picture in the mind is more of a luxury resort on a fabulous beach.  Surprising to us, a full day at Virtuoso Travel Week was dedicated to Virtuoso Active & Specialty Travel (VAST).  For a full day, we were seated in over 40 booths for short ten-minute introductions to some of the remarkable active and specialty luxury products available for today’s travelers.  We witnessed everything from luxury yurt camps in Mongolia, to African safaris, biking expeditions in the Swiss Alps, polar expeditions, luxury train adventures, Antarctic expeditions, small-ship Galapagos Islands tours, photography tours with National Geographic Expeditions, hiking tours in Machu Picchu, polar bear expeditions; to booking world-class sporting events like the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby, or even the Masters Golf Tournament.

3. Unique experiences are important to luxury travelers – many American luxury travelers love visiting European countries, but countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Cuba, and Cambodia are enticing luxury travelers with the road less traveled.
4. Exclusive experiences are important to luxury travelers – Carol and I will never forget having to stand in line for nearly six hours to view the Vatican Museum a few years back.  What a waste of time.  In response, luxury travel providers have negotiated special behind-the-velvet-rope experiences.  Here, you completely bypass the lines and witness fabulous sites in very small, exclusive groups.  If you like, you can even get private viewings nowadays.  When Carol and I recently toured Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Família, we walked by the line of folks waiting five-hours to get in, and toured this fabulous structure in a small group of eight.  How wonderful!
5. Luxurious perks are important to luxury travelers – to be a part of the Virtuoso Network, luxury destinations and providers are required to offer exclusive luxury perks that are not available to folks on the Internet.  Common perks include free room upgrades, free breakfast for two, and even resort credits that can be used in the spa.  The free room upgrades alone generally amount to hundreds of dollars of value, and can provide an excellent view room, or even a suite.

Virtuoso travel advisors bill themselves as specialists in the art of travel.  Well, we’re completely convinced and now proud to be a part of the group.

If you would like to chat about the art of luxury travel with The Roaming Boomers, CLICK HERE