4,700 travel industry attendees from over 90 countries gathered for Virtuoso Travel Week. Photo by Harrison Shiels
The Las Vegas summer temperatures soared – like an Olympic pole-vaulter – over the 100-degree mark during 2024 Virtuoso Travel Week. The luxury travel network’s unflappable executive Misty Belles revealed data on travel to the Paris Games and why vacation destinations in chillier climes are the new “hot spots.”
“Heat waves in Western Europe sent travelers looking for ‘cool-cations’ in more mild-weather destinations such as Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and Iceland,” said Belles, Virtuoso Travel’s vice-president of global public relations.
The collective “planet” journeyed to Travel Week, though, creating, in the interconnected, air-conditioned Aria, Bellagio and Vdara Hotels, a village of 4,700 Virtuoso travel advisors; hoteliers; cruise directors; CEO’s and executives; and tourism board officials from 97 counties comparing notes and booking trips. Discerning travelers turn to the collective negotiating power of Virtuoso’s collaborative travel network to enhance luxury planning and to book custom, exclusive itineraries.
“Virtuoso is the network for you if travel is important to you and you want to customize your trip with someone who specializes in you. Virtuoso’s advisors provide advice, access, advocacy, accountability, value, time savings and trust,” Belles explained.
Belles, a regular on NBC’s “Today Show,” pointed out the attitudes of travelers have evolved.
“Travel for ‘self-care’ has evolved to booking trips out of ‘self-preservation.’ It is more urgent. There is so much flying at us so quickly these days, so take time to make sure you are worrying about yourself, too. It may be a ‘silver bullet wellness’ concept such as specialized sleep programs at a spa resort. How do I improve my rest? How do I meditate? Or change my diet?”
Belles is glad the post-pandemic phrase “revenge travel” has evolved to the more joyful “revelry travel.” “Fun, joy, awe, and wonder are how you want to feel when you travel. And people who formerly embraced travelling ‘at any cost’ now travel ‘at all costs.’ The ‘bucket list’ has become the ‘F-it List,’” said Belles of the duplicitous rhyming phrases. “It’s the old ‘just do it’ mentality. How do you want to live and celebrate your life and feel alive? Is it bungy jumping in New Zealand? Is it attending a Formula One race? Is it flying to a Taylor Swift concert or the Olympics? It’s passion-led travel: living in the moment and celebrating your life.”
Virtuoso survey data revealed “curiosity and exploration” as an emotional driver of how travelers want to feel, which determines what they want to do. When a traveler shares how they want to feel, a Virtuoso advisor designs an experience.
Gen Z and millennials are outpacing the older generation and significantly increasing travel, according to Virtuoso’s data. “They are twice as likely to seek an adrenaline rush and are prioritizing ultra-luxe hotels, business class seats and luxury cruising,” Belles said.
Allora…andiamo! What are the largest growth areas for travel this fall? The decidedly cooler Canada is hot: up 168%, with Japan not far behind. Visits to St. Barths are up 155%. Globally, the top countries for fall travel are the USA, Italy, France, Mexico and the United Kingdom – a ranking matched almost exactly by U.S. travelers. Greater China is also getting a lot of visitors this fall.
If you are looking for (relative) value, Virtuoso reports the prices in Toarmina, Sicily (home of “The Godfather” and HBO’s “White Lotus,” are down 22%. Napa, California is uncorking wine country visits at 19% less; and Amsterdam’s rates are down 11%. The price of visiting the Aloha State is down 8%.
Costs have risen for holiday travel to the Caribbean; Mexico and Morocco.
Slovenia, Portugal and Croatia, Montenegro and Guatemala are alternate, less crowded destinations.
In between Virtuoso’s rousing receptions, posh presentations, many meetings and international networking, some odds-and-ends statistics spilled out, such as the stat that a U.S. election-year doesn’t decrease travel, but chops growth by 10-percent. And while a woman is running for president, plenty of “wander women” are on the move, too: 71-percent of solo travelers are women, with 47-percent of them divorced or separated. Nothing is stopping them, or Virtuoso travelers, from their “F-it List!’
Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at MShiels@aol.com His new book: Travel Tattler – Not So Torrid Tales, may be purchased via Amazon.com Hear his radio talk show on WJIM AM 1240 in Lansing weekdays from 9 am – noon.
