Virtuoso has unveiled details of a travel recruitment program the luxury travel network says will assist members sourcing experienced and soon, fresh-to-the-industry, staff for their agencies. The new solution was rolled out in North America last month and is beginning to be introduced to other Virtuoso markets now.

Revealed at Virtuoso Owner-Managers Forum Australia & New Zealand in Fiji yesterday , the new proprietary tool will offer Virtuoso agencies with access to a pool of pre-qualified travel sellers. It aims to appeal to non-aligned Virtuoso advisors, and more so, those returning to the travel industry after the pandemic years, who are looking for an entry point into the network.

Fiona Dalton, Virtuoso General Manager AU/NZ told LATTE recruitment is “clearly the number one priority and number one challenge that’s currently impacting agency success right now”.

Dalton said the database of talent will be comprised of candidates who have previous experience selling travel and understand the value proposition of Virtuoso, and are committed to a successful career “through professional development and engagement” with the network.

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Interested candidates apply via a link on Virtuoso’s homepage, where they are vetted to determine if the network is the right alignment, based also on their career preferences.

“The advisor survey seeks to understand what type of position the prospective advisor is looking for, whether salaried, or as IC (independent consultant), how much experience they have, how they like to work, and whether they can consider an initial position as a travel advisor’s assistant,” Dalton explained.

Other factors are based on if the advisor has an existing client list, where the advisor is located and their availability to work (within 3 weeks).

Virtuoso Owner-Managers wishing to participate in the program submit a checklist of criteria to determine the type of advisor they seek, which is facilitated by a two-part matching system for the lead.

“If the candidate matches the member criteria in

type, experience, location and availability, and following that sales experience, travel experience, career stage, and their education certification… the member will receive the lead,” Dalton explained.

“We now have a chance more broadly to bring together all the Virtuosos for whom this is of interest, and be able to deliver this in-market in a collaborative way,” she told LATTE.

Those Virtuoso owner-managers looking for the same search criteria will receive the same lead, ” which intentionally will prioritis response times for the candidate,” Dalton said.

Interested owner-managers in the region are invited to “co-invest” a small amount of money in a regional fund in the first six-month launch period of the program, with that support used to boost awareness of the tool.

Australia/New Zealand is the second global market where the solution is trialled.

“In time, we’ll turn our attention to new-to-industry as well,” Dalton said.