Luxury Travel
Virtuoso Travel Week 2026: the full recap of what happened in Las Vegas
The 38th Virtuoso Travel Week drew 4,800 attendees from 105 countries to Las Vegas for 110,000+ one-to-one meetings. Here's the complete recap: the sales numbers, the 'fall is the new summer' data, the AI announcement, the stewardship launch, and every award winner.
Virtuoso Travel Week 2026, the network’s 38th annual gathering, ran from Saturday 8 August to Friday 14 August 2026 across four Las Vegas Strip properties: the Bellagio, ARIA, Vdara and The Cosmopolitan. Virtuoso reported more than 4,800 attendees from 105 countries and more than 110,000 scheduled one-to-one meetings between advisors and preferred partners.
The week produced four things worth an agency’s attention: a projected network sales figure, a substantial release of booking data, the unveiling of an AI-powered intelligence capability built on Virtuoso’s own network data, and the launch of Global Stewardship as the successor to the network’s sustainability programme. This is a straight recap of all of it. What was announced, what the numbers said, who won what, and where the published reporting disagrees with itself.
The format changed, and the change was the story before the event began
For the first time, every networking appointment at Travel Week was matched rather than left to open scheduling. Attendees submitted preferences for who they wanted to meet, and Virtuoso matched against them. The change was previewed ahead of the event alongside several other additions:
- Virtuoso Gives Back, an all-new hands-on volunteer experience supporting the Las Vegas community, scheduled so it didn’t collide with appointment blocks. Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch wrote afterwards on LinkedIn that attendees packed 7,000 snack and hygiene kits.
- Destination & Trend Sessions. New sessions built on Virtuoso Luxe Report insights.
- Braindate peer-to-peer sessions running daily from 10–13 August.
- An expanded Preferred Partner Lounge footprint and a Technology Marketplace.
The anchor events across the week were the Opening Session; the Community Globetrotting Lunch on 8 August at ARIA, which drew 900+ advisors and 100 Virtuoso partners; the Travel Tech Summit on 9 August at the Bellagio; the Under One Sky lunch on 10 August; and the Virtuoso Awards Gala on 13 August at the Bellagio.
Two practical notes from on-site reporting. Las Vegas hit 105°F (40°C) during the week, and with sessions spread across four properties the walking was real. PAX’s Michael Pihach noted that Virtuoso Canada GM Karen Hardie wore white New Balance sneakers in defiance of the dress code, and described the outdoor connector between ARIA and the other hotels as “a brief blast of Mother Nature’s hair dryer.”
The commercial headline: network sales projected up 20.8%
David Kolner, EVP of Strategic Communications, presented the sales picture at the Opening Session. Virtuoso projects 2026 global network sales up 20.8% year over year, a figure Virtuoso’s own trend release later in the week rounded to “nearly 21%.”
Growth by origin region, year over year:
| Region | Sales growth |
|---|---|
| Greater China | +34% |
| UK & Ireland | +26% |
| Middle East & Africa | +24% |
| Continental Europe | +23% |
| United States | +21% |
| Canada | +13.4% |
Growth by product category:
| Category | Sales growth |
|---|---|
| Hotels | +24.5% |
| Cruise | +22.4% |
| On-site (DMC) services | +17.5% |
| Tour operators | +11% |
Kolner attributed the growth to a roughly even split of three factors: higher rates, longer stays, and more bookings, or as he put it, “a third, a third, a third.”
Virtuoso did not publish absolute sales or GMV figures for 2025 or 2026 at the event. The percentages are the whole of the public number.
For context on the network doing the selling, Virtuoso’s published boilerplate as of August 2026 describes 1,200+ travel agency locations, more than 20,000 travel advisors across 58 countries, and 2,800+ preferred hotels, cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and destinations. Upchurch also noted that Travel Week is one of 90 Virtuoso events a year, and that “while Virtuoso Travel Week is our single-largest global event, two thirds of all the networking [happens] in other countries."
"Fall is the new summer” was the biggest data story of the week
The most-repeated statistic set of Travel Week concerned the collapse of the traditional summer peak. Fall 2026 bookings are up 59% and fall sales up 69% year over year. Broken down by month:
- September, sales up 77%, bookings up 55%
- October, bookings up 59%
- November, bookings and sales both up 70%
Kolner told the opening audience that September may outsell August this year, citing European volumes: September has climbed from 79% of August’s volume in 2023 to 92% in 2025, growing nearly three times faster than August. His line for it was “it’s giving main character energy for fall.”
Misty Belles, VP of Global Public Relations, framed the pricing consequence directly: “One of the clearest signals we’re seeing [is] that shoulder season is now peak season.” She added that if you were hoping for a September deal, “that’s probably not going to happen.”
European fall bookings are up 49% even with hotel rates up more than 7%. The top ten fall destinations in Virtuoso’s data: Paris, the Amalfi Coast, the French Riviera, Tuscany, New York, London, Lake Como, Maui, Rome and Hawaii. The top source and destination countries were the U.S., Italy, France, Mexico and Japan.
The festive season is following the same curve (sales up 56%, bookings up 65%) with Hawaii’s Big Island, Los Cabos, Maui, St. Barts and Antigua leading holiday demand.
Rates: the top of the market is where the growth is
Virtuoso’s rate data was among the most quoted of the week, largely because of the 2019 comparison. Average nightly rates for international luxury hotel bookings now stand at $1,653, against $985 in 2019. In the United States, the figure is $1,445, against $790.
“If you feel like you are paying double what you were in 2019 to stay at a nice hotel, you’re not wrong,” Belles said.
Within Virtuoso’s own preferred hotel portfolio, the average rate ran $1,983 in June against $1,632 in January, with June ADR up 11.2% year over year. Critically for how agencies staff and target: bookings at hotels above $1,500 a night grew 37%, roughly twice the growth rate of lower-priced bookings.
Selected European rate spikes reported at the event: the French Riviera up 179%, the Greek Isles up around 130%, and Puglia up 78%. Europe hotel sales were up 39% year-to-date through June.
Booking windows stretched, with a public dissent
Virtuoso reported that global leisure sales for trips one to two years out are up roughly 50% year over year, and that bookings of $50,000 and above are up 47%.
Worth flagging for anyone using these numbers in client conversations: Kyle Stewart, who writes at Live and Let’s Fly and owns a Virtuoso agency, published a dissent days after the event. His own agency data shows close-in bookings rising and the window “closing shorter and shorter,” which he described as “at least in part disagreeing with Virtuoso’s broader conclusions.” His summary of the week was that “luxury travel is having a very good year in a travel market that is potentially struggling.”
How trips themselves are changing
Virtuoso surveyed roughly 800 advisors in July 2026. The rising-request rankings:
| Request type | Advisors reporting an increase |
|---|---|
| Multigenerational and family travel | 69% |
| Premium and luxury ocean cruising | 63% |
| Celebration travel | 60% |
Alongside that: 60% of travellers are prioritising bucket-list trips, and 30% are taking fewer but longer, higher-quality trips. Advisors named safety and security (41%), insider intelligence (40%) and achievement-oriented travel (38%) as the client priorities growing fastest. Hertelier reported that 45% of advisors saw increased UltraLuxe requests, and that 26% of partners reported growth in solo bookings.
Two named trends dominated the trend sessions:
City-maxxing (or destination-maxxing), cramming multiple destinations into one itinerary. Roughly half of multicity itineraries now cross international borders, with France–Italy, France–UK and Italy–Switzerland the most common pairings, and Italy appearing in two of every five multicity routings.
The trend also produced the most-quoted advisor line of the week. Asked which trend she’d eliminate, Josie Turner of 360 Private Travel in the UK said: “City maxing. If you’re not on a cruise ship or a yacht, the request of seeing six different cities in France for a 14-day period is painful.”
FrictionMaxxing and analog escapes, deliberate inefficiency and disconnection as a luxury signal, with roughly half of advisors reporting clients steering away from over-touristed destinations.
Wellness became a segment with its own numbers
Wellness-segmented hotels outperformed the portfolio across the board: bookings up 28%, sales up 44%, ADR up 23%. One in four global luxury travellers now cites health and wellness as a reason for a leisure trip, in a sector growing around 9% annually and forecast to reach $1.4 trillion by 2029.
Virtuoso segmented wellness travellers into three types (performance optimizers, restoration seekers and meaning seekers) with longevity tourism flagged as the breakout sub-segment.
The wealth data underneath the demand
The UHNW population (assets above $30 million) is growing roughly seven times faster than the general population and is projected to grow 34% by 2030, with North America holding more than 40% of it. Virtuoso cited a figure of 89 people per day crossing the $30 million threshold globally.
On generational behaviour: millennials request private aviation at a rate 6% above the global average, and stated preference for sustainable travel choices runs Gen Z 74%, millennials 71%, Gen X 58%, boomers 51%.
The AI story: adoption numbers, then an announcement
Virtuoso’s headline framing for the whole week was human connection in what it called the new epoch of AI, with the operating principle stated as: automate the predictable so that you can humanize the exceptional.
The adoption data behind it: 74% of Virtuoso member advisors and 70% of preferred partners now use AI, against a 59% industry adoption rate from Phocuswright. Members viewed AI as an opportunity rather than a threat by close to two to one.
The intelligence capability
Midweek, Virtuoso unveiled an AI-powered “collective intelligence” capability: a foundational digital layer that aggregates decades of proprietary network data: member and advisor expertise, preferred-partner intelligence, luxury consumer understanding, and accumulated institutional experience.
Three things about it matter for agencies:
- It is positioned as a foundation, not a product. Brad Bourland, elevated to President in April 2026, described it as “adding value to the platforms our members and partners already invest in, nurturing an ecosystem of solution providers who serve the network.” It is not intended to replace the tools agencies already run.
- Delegates previewed it and gave feedback during the week, with the next stage set to blend Virtuoso’s proprietary data with external market, economic and behavioural data.
- No product name, pricing or general-availability date was published in the trade coverage of the announcement.
The quotes:
“AI is at the core of how it works, but what we’re really talking about is Virtuoso collective intelligence, powered by AI.” : Brad Bourland, President, Virtuoso
“What we’ve built is a foundational digital capability that is ever evolving with infinite possibilities.” : Matthew D. Upchurch, Chairman & CEO, Virtuoso
“The future of this organization is not a one-size-fits-all system that flattens the network into sameness.” : Matthew D. Upchurch
The “AI paradox” argument
The substantive technical critique aired from the stage was that because large models draw on heavily overlapping sources, AI-generated itineraries come out repetitive rather than tailored, and that AI is therefore contributing to overtourism by recommending the same destinations to everyone.
Upchurch’s framing of the human side ran through the week:
“This isn’t a tennis match with technology on one side and humanity on the other. It’s more like a dance. But there’s an important rule in our dance. We, humans, lead.”
“What we know is that as AI accelerates, value will change and shift. But we also know that it clusters in moments when trust matters most, decisions feel high stakes, emotions are elevated, and complexity is real. These are the moments that clients remember and pay a premium for, and that’s when authentic human connection becomes a compelling competitive mode.”
“We say we’re in the travel business, but really, I think we’re in the human connection business. We just happen to express it through travel.”
Karen Hardie, GM of Virtuoso Canada, gave the practitioner version: “If you can automate the predictable, you can spend more time on human connection.” And Paul Kearney, SVP of Global Technology, was blunt about the state of underlying travel infrastructure: “It’s still a bit of a mess.”
The advisor-side counterweight came from Canadian advisor Susan Lawson, quoted by Johnny Jet: AI-generated itineraries “usually need to be changed,” and while AI “can be extremely helpful for back-office work, it doesn’t replace an experienced advisor.”
Client-side data supported the positioning: 75% of Virtuoso clients cite advisor hotel and destination expertise as a key benefit, around 60% value tailored experience curation, and 79% of luxury travellers are open to using an advisor.
The Travel Tech Summit
Now in its fifth year and held at the Bellagio on 9 August, the Travel Tech Summit drew more than 700 attendees, up from 500+ in 2025. It was hosted by Virtuoso board member and Brook Bay Capital founder Gilad Berenstein, whose keynote theme was “The Great Commoditization of AI and the Future of Travel.”
Speakers included Janette Roush, Chief AI & Innovation Officer at Brand USA, on the centre stage; Professor Lisa Cain of Florida International University, presenting new research on AI adoption among luxury consumers; and Fora’s Henley Vazquez. A new segment, “Case Studies, Startups and Big Ideas,” debuted alongside the Technology Marketplace.
Global Stewardship replaced the sustainability programme
At the Under One Sky lunch on 10 August, Virtuoso launched Global Stewardship as the evolution of its sustainability work, broadening the remit from environmental impact to communities, cultures and destination resilience.
Jessica Hall Upchurch, Vice Chair and Head of Global Stewardship, put it this way: “Stewardship is really a responsibility, and even more so, it’s an opportunity.” She also described the awards as reflecting “an important shift in how we view our collective impact.”
Stewardship actions tracked across the network have grown from around 3,000 three years ago to 11,000 today. The 2026 Global Stewardship Awards also included the network’s first-ever Destination award.
On climate sentiment: 72% of members say climate is affecting how clients plan travel, and 82% of partners report concern about climate impact.
The keynote and the room
Brené Brown delivered the opening keynote, on leadership, courage, trust and human connection. Reportedly her return to a Virtuoso stage some 15 years after a previous appearance. The opening session also featured Barbara Muckermann, CEO of Kempinski Hotels.
The Awards Gala on 13 August at the Bellagio was hosted by Irish comedian and presenter Patrick Kielty.
Sentiment among the membership, from a poll of roughly 1,900 Virtuoso members: 68% optimistic, down about three points year over year, with 30% neutral or unsure and 2% pessimistic. Optimism among preferred partners ran at 60%.
Advisor and owner voices captured on-site by PAX:
- Kathleen Hardy, G/Hardy Travel: “It’s exhilarating. It’s a crash course and boot camp all at the same time.”
- Cathy Holler, Momenti Travel: “Our business has grown exponentially this year and it’s all referrals… Luxury is the place to be playing right now.”
- Rocky Racco, CEO/Owner, TTI Travel: “Being here at Virtuoso Travel Week is being at the epicentre of luxury travel.” On the Canada–U.S. picture, he added: “since the geopolitical situation between Canada and the U.S. took shape … a lot of Canadians are avoiding the United States. But that’s driven our growth.”
- Zeina Gedeon, CEO, Trevello Canada: “It has been the weirdest year. The price of tickets is huge… The booking part is easy, but as an advisor, you need to know your stuff.”
Two agencies published their own framing of why they attend. Thomas Carpenter of Huckleberry Travel wrote before the event that it is “one week a year that shapes almost everything we’re able to do for our clients for the twelve months that follow,” with the payoff being that every partner conversation “becomes a resource we can call on the next time a client needs something specific.” Randy Yaroch, Owner and CEO of The Travel Society, framed it as procurement: “We like to say we’re going shopping for travel.”
Every award winner
Virtuoso 2026 Global Awards
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Airline | Delta Air Lines |
| Best Brand Hotel | Mauna Lani, Auberge Collection |
| Best Independent Hotel | De L’Europe Amsterdam |
| Best New Hotel | Faena New York |
| Hotelier of the Year | Etienne Petitpez, Airelles Palladio, Venice |
| Best On-Site | Eclectic Greece by Kyvernitis Travel |
| Best Tour Operator | Project Expedition |
| Best Tourism Board | Tourism Australia |
| Best Insurance Partner | Allianz Partners |
Virtuoso 2026 Cruise Awards
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Small Ship Cruise Experience | Aqua Expeditions |
| Best Ocean Luxury Cruise Experience | Explora Journeys |
| Best Contemporary & Premium Ocean Cruise Experience | Oceania Cruises |
| Best River Cruise Experience | AmaWaterways |
| Best Expedition Cruise Experience | National Geographic–Lindblad Expeditions |
| Cruise Ambassador (Advisor) | Grant Holmes, ASMALLWORLD |
| Cruise Ambassador (Partner) | Joe Leon, Silversea |
Virtuoso 2026 Community Awards
Presented at the Community Globetrotting Lunch on 8 August, in advisor / partner pairs:
| Category | Advisor | Partner |
|---|---|---|
| Adventure | Mary Ann Ramsey, Betty Maclean Travel | Backroads |
| Cruise | David & Carol Porter, Roaming Boomers Travel (CADENCE) | AmaWaterways |
| Culinary | Gina Morovati, Northstar Cruises | Il Falconiere Relais & Spa |
| Family & Celebration | Lisa Rubin Reich, Majestic Getaway (Gifted Travel Network) | Family Twist |
| Sustainability | Jessica Griscavage, Runway Travel (Departure Lounge) | The Brando |
| Ultraluxe | Beth Flowers, Brownell | The Brando |
| Wellness | Marissa Grad, travelhappier (SmartFlyer) | Chenot Palace Weggis |
Virtuoso 2026 Global Stewardship Awards
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Advisor | Fernando Cervigon, Knightsbridge Circle |
| Agency | Goya Travel |
| Planet | andBeyond Tanzania |
| Culture | Nomadic Expeditions |
| Economies | Wilderness |
| Destination (inaugural) | Dubrovnik Tourist Board |
Best Agency Culture, by region
Australia/New Zealand FBI Travel · Canada Trevello Travel Group · Continental Europe Lartisien · Greater China ECOLUX · Latin America/Caribbean NUBA · Middle East/Africa Al Faris International · North/Southeast Asia Tourvis Select · UK/Ireland Quintessentially Travel UK · United States Huffman Travel
Most Admired Advisors
Carole Smethurst (Bicton Travel) · Patrick Cullinane (Travel Navigators/Trevello) · Emilien Savary · Ewan Burger · Letty Chomer · Mondher Kamoun · Tang Houying · Carolyn Addison · Melissa Wu
Rising Stars
Tammy Sfeir (Travelcall Sydney) · Sasha McGrath (Terra Travel Club/TTI Travel) · Carlo Schoenke · Alicia Lee · Henrique Oliveira · Alaina Appleman · Florian Pauly · Lora Greene
Special honours
Luminary Award: Rodrigo Esponda, Managing Director, Los Cabos Tourism Board Ruby of Siam. Anthony Goldman, Goldman Travel Corporation, for leaders who “selflessly give their time, effort and wisdom to elevate Virtuoso’s collective reputation.”
What wasn’t announced, and where sources disagree
For accuracy, a few things worth knowing before these figures get reused:
Not published at the event. Virtuoso released no absolute sales or GMV figure for 2025 or 2026, no breakdown of the 4,800 attendees into advisors versus supplier delegates, no count of new member agencies or newly signed preferred suppliers, and no name, price or availability date for the AI intelligence capability. No Wanderlist, Voyager Club or Virtuoso Hotels & Resorts announcements surfaced in the Travel Week coverage.
Figures that conflict across outlets. Attendance was reported as 4,800+ by most outlets but as “4,000+” by one; the 4,800 figure carries far more support and was stated on stage. A widely circulating “107 countries” figure belongs to the 2025 event, not 2026. And at least one trade outlet republished the 2025 Global Awards winners under a 2026 headline: the winners above are corroborated independently by PAX and Travel Monitor.
There is no “Virtuoso Advisor of the Year” award. The nearest equivalents are the regional Most Admired Advisor honours and the advisor side of the Community Awards.
Next year
Virtuoso has confirmed Virtuoso Travel Week 2027 for 7–13 August 2027 in Las Vegas. The 2026 edition marked 25 years of the event being held in the city.
Understanding the basics
What is Virtuoso Travel Week?
Virtuoso Travel Week is the annual gathering of the Virtuoso luxury travel network, held each August in Las Vegas. It combines keynote and education sessions with a large-scale matched appointment programme in which travel advisors meet preferred partners (hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, DMCs and tourism boards) in structured one-to-one meetings. The 2026 edition was the 38th, ran 8–14 August across the Bellagio, ARIA, Vdara and The Cosmopolitan, and hosted more than 110,000 such meetings.
What were the headline numbers from Virtuoso Travel Week 2026?
More than 4,800 attendees from 105 countries; 110,000+ one-to-one meetings; 2026 network sales projected up 20.8% year over year; fall bookings up 59% and fall sales up 69%; average international luxury hotel rates at $1,653 a night against $985 in 2019; and 74% of Virtuoso advisors reporting they now use AI, against a 59% industry benchmark.
What did Virtuoso announce about AI at Travel Week 2026?
Virtuoso unveiled an AI-powered “collective intelligence” capability built on decades of proprietary network data. Advisor and member expertise, partner intelligence and luxury consumer insight. President Brad Bourland positioned it as a foundation that adds value to the platforms members already use rather than a replacement for them. It was previewed to delegates for feedback, with external market and economic data planned for a later stage. No product name, pricing or general-availability date was published.
When is Virtuoso Travel Week 2027?
7–13 August 2027, again in Las Vegas.
Reporting compiled from Virtuoso’s own event materials and coverage by PAX, TravelPress, Open Jaw, Travelweek, Travel Monitor, Luxury Travel Magazine, Hertelier, Johnny Jet and Live and Let’s Fly. Figures are as published by Virtuoso at the event.
