Virtuoso’s global network sales have soared to a record high this year to date, up 14% on the same period last year.
Revealing the stellar performance at the 2024 Chairman’s event in Slovenia, EVP David Kolner also shared that future travel booked for 2025 and 2026 was up by 30% compared with bookings made in 2023 for travel one to two years out.
Furthermore, future sales of more than $50,000 for 2025 and 2026 increased by 42% over the same time period, with cruise-specific sales up 46% and safari up 44%.
Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch attributed the group’s strong performance to the network’s ability to adapt in an increasingly competitive environment.
“We work in a great sector; one that is constantly growing and providing opportunities to further strengthen,” he said. “Of course, this kind of growth also means increased competition from traditional forces like start-ups and consolidation, but now also from ‘crossovers,’ like luxury goods and financial companies.
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“That accompanied by today’s rapid pace of change, driven by globalization and technological advancements, makes us continuously adapt in order to remain the leaders in luxury travel.”
The diversity of its advisors was another driver of success, according to Upchurch, matching the diversity of Virtuoso’s clients, in terms of generations, nationalities, interests and more.
“Our network was created to compete with those who could use scale against us,” he said. This is why, from the start, we have grown larger yet smaller at the time, with initiatives like Communities to segment advisors into niches of business based on their passion points, and by ensuring our global expansion with the appointment of regional teams to cater to the differing needs of our members around the world, therefore enhancing our ability to deliver value to luxury travellers everywhere.”
Communities’ efficacy is back up by figures, according to SVP Global Member & Partner Sales Cory Hagopian who said that, based on 2024 year-to-date sales, advisors who participated in communities significantly outpaced general advisors when selling community partners’ products.
For example, advisors in the Cruise Community sold an average of 178 percent more with Cruise Community partners compared with advisors who were not in a community.
