Virtuoso has concluded a series of three, cross-Canada networking and professional development events in APR for its Canadian member agencies, advisors and preferred partners. The events in Vancouver, Montreal and a third in Toronto, which Open Jaw attended, brought together a total of 221 advisors and 179 partners, resulting in approximately 13,700 one-to-one connections, the luxury consortium says in its wrap-up release.
Virtuoso's On Tour Canada included discussions of traveller trends and insights, with good news for luxury travel agencies and advisors.
Attendees heard about Canadian outbound leisure spending projections for the next four years: Tourism Economics predicts outbound travel will reach 100 per cent of 2019 levels in the second quarter of 2024 and climb steadily to 156 per cent by the end of 2026.
Virtuoso advisors and preferred partners said they were particularly optimistic about the year-over-year growth projections of 27.2 per cent in 2023, 21.8 per cent in 2024, and 18 per cent in 2025, respectively.
Denise Harper, Virtuoso Canada’s Director, Partner Relations, indicated that the first quarter of 2023 has already shown considerable increases over 2019’s numbers. “Hotel sales are 68 per cent higher than first quarter results in 2019. Ancillary services such as insurance and car rentals are not far behind at 60 per cent, and on-site and cruise sales are also strong at 50 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively,” she said.
Not only is Canadian leisure travel overall seemingly back on track, the luxury segment shows great opportunity.
Virtuoso’s General Manager, Canada, Úna O'Leary, explained. “Based on a global consumer survey completed by YouGov, Virtuoso-advised travellers plan to spend 3.4 times more than do-it-yourself travellers and 2.7 times more than other advised travellers.
"Two-week cruises are 150 percent more popular among Virtuoso travellers than non-Virtuoso travellers, and average hotel stays are 50 percent longer,” added O'Leary.
More information on Virtuoso is available here.
