Virtuoso Travel Week

World Travel Business Elite sent a team of agents to Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel. This is a week long annual gathering of all Virtuoso (our consortium) travel agencies and travel suppliers. Our company World Travel Bureau has attended each year for the past twenty years.

On Saturday and Sunday, our corporate and leisure agents took various classes and workshops for Professional Development, including subjects such as Cruise Academy, Destination Specialist Training, Communication, and Sales Development Skills.

What makes Virtuoso Travel Week unique is what happens from Monday through Thursday. Approximately 1900 agents from all over the world will meet with over 1800 travel suppliers for 4 minute meetings. The Bellagio ballrooms are configured with rows and rows of four foot diameter round tables which will seat four people. Each table is manned by one or two agents. Every four minutes representatives from the cruise suppliers, tour suppliers and hotel properties meet with each table. Then the bell rings and the travel representatives move to the next table in that row. This continues from 8:15 am to 4:15 pm each day. It is estimated that there will be 350,000 four minute appointments or 1.6 million minutes of meetings and relationship building.

You may not think that much can be done in a four minute meeting, but in fact, a lot is accomplished. Our agents collect business cards from individual hoteliers and sales representatives from all over the world. The sales rep has four minutes to show photos of their properties (on iPads or notebooks) and describe what makes their property, tour, or vessel unique. The agent has a chance to get valuable contact information which can help them to directly contact that property on behalf of their client, in order to secure VIP treatment or problem resolution for their clients.

When I participated in Virtuoso Travel Week two years ago, I’d make notes on the back of the business cards I had collected. I was so stimulated by these meetings; I wanted to go everywhere the reps described.

Our World Travel Business Elite agents have the knowledge about their clients’ desires and preferences, so when they see a match of a property to the client they can reach out to their clients upon their return, so they may continue to work on each of their client’s respective bucket lists or their next Destination Business Meeting.

Each day at Virtuoso Travel Week there are breakfasts, lunches and dinners sponsored by various organizations, so not a moment is wasted. There’s hardly any time for gambling!

It used to be that attendees would come back home with loads and loads of brochures and papers to file, but this is the seventh year that the Virtuoso Travel Week has practiced environmentally friendly techniques to avoid using paper and brochures. Most all presentations are on small notebook computers or laptops, and the reps offer to email our agents with links to their presentation materials.

At the end of Virtuoso Travel Week there is a big Gala awards event, with photo contest awards,  etc. You can imagine how exhausting this week must be, but the rewards and knowledge gained and relationship building make it all worthwhile.

Learn more about what World Travel Business Elite can do for your company and all your business travel needs.

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