Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #29

ELITE TRAVEL TRENDS
Uxmal
Panama city
at night
© Mexico Tourism Board
Matthew
D. Upchurch
Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer,
Virtuoso
VIRTUOSO’S UPCHURCH:
“THE ROLE OF THE REAL,
TRUE TRAVEL ADVISOR IS
THE HOTTEST THING AND
IT’S NOT GOING AWAY”
Addressing a packed press room at ILTM
2015, Virtuoso Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Matthew D. Upchurch
set a bullish tone not only about the luxury
travel industry in general, but also when it
comes to the role of travel advisors.
With over 2400 new advisors in 2015,
Upchurch stated, “The reality is, it has never
been stronger… The role of the real, true
travel advisor is the hottest thing and it’s not
going away.”
The fact that travel and tourism is growing
more than any almost other industry in
the world is, says Upchurch, due to several
factors. Four generations of people are now
travelling all at same time, and the number of
healthy, active 80 year olds has gone up by a
huge percentage. Mr Upchurch went on to
explain that a shift is occurring, particularly
in the west, towards primary spending from
luxury goods to luxury experiences. This,
he says, is not new but it is accelerating,
evidenced by the fact that luxury travel is
now a bigger market than that of luxury
automobiles.
An interesting fact is that according to
Virtuoso’s research, wealthier millennials
are giving higher loyalty to travel advisers
than older generations: “The theory is that
they are the first generation for whom
the defacto way of booking was online,
so luxury for them means not doing it
themselves. They value personal connections
and great advisors, with a personal contact
and approach”.
According to Mr Upchurch, really “great”
advisors have not changed since the
beginning of the jet age, as they have the
same knowledge, but now just use new
tools. The trend towards people entering
the field of high-end travel advice is, he says,
impressive. The Virtuoso boss smiled as he
told the tale of not just one, but several of
his lawyer friends turning to the career of
travel advisor.
UNPRECEDENTED
GROWTH FOR VIRTUOSO
Virtuoso has analyzed the latest data from
its warehouse of more than $35 billion
in transactions to uncover where wealthy
travellers are heading this winter and
spring. Upscale travellers are seeking exotic
destinations as they escape winter’s hold
on North America.While some perennial
warm-weather favourites remain popular,
Virtuoso’s proprietary data also reveals
a yearning to explore far and wide as it
compares destinations with the most yearover-year
appeal.