The official agenda at Virtuoso Travel Week was packed with presentations and one-on-one meetings. But some of the most revealing conversations happened elsewhere: over cocktails and dinner, in hotel corridors and in chance encounters between the nearly 5,000 travel advisors, suppliers and industry executives gathered for the annual event.
Taken together, those conversations offered a snapshot of where high-end travel is heading. Travelers still want to spend (and at the very top of the market, they’re spending more than ever), but they’re also becoming more deliberate about how, when and where they go. They’re looking to escape crowds, travel more slowly, avoid being nickeled and dimed and find experiences that feel personal rather than engineered for social media.
And while artificial intelligence was never far from the conversation, neither was a recurring reminder of what luxury travel advisors believe clients value most: human relationships, firsthand knowledge and access that an algorithm can’t easily replicate.
Here are eight themes that stood out throughout the week.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Luxury Travel Advisor.
