Lessons Learned from the Luxury Travel Industry: Changing the Way You Think about Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service
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The Luxury Marketing Council - New York
Upcoming Breakfast Event
Date:
Thursday, November 8th 2007
Time:
8:00am-9:30am
Location:
The Carlyle,
A Rosewood Hotel
(The Versailles Suite)
35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue
Please RSVP by replying to this e-mail or to rsvp@luxurycouncil.com
Space is limited, please RSVP by November 2nd to avoid disappointment.
Thursday, November 8th 2007
Time:
8:00am-9:30am
Location:
The Carlyle,
A Rosewood Hotel
(The Versailles Suite)
35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue
Please RSVP by replying to this e-mail or to rsvp@luxurycouncil.com
Space is limited, please RSVP by November 2nd to avoid disappointment.
Lessons Learned from the Luxury Travel Industry:
Changing the Way You Think about Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service
Presented by Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso
Co-Hosted by MasterCard® and Virtuoso
The Luxury Marketing Council, in conjunction with Virtuoso and MasterCard, wishes to invite you to a special presentation by one of luxury travel’s leading visionaries, Matthew Upchurch. As founder and CEO of travel’s most prestigious network, Virtuoso, Upchurch has led this industry’s counter-revolution. In the face of the onslaught of on-line travel, Virtuoso agents not only just survived but prevailed by concentrating on the specialization of their skills, client advocacy, and consultative service.
Now, as online sales are either leveling off or declining, travel advisors are prospering. While industry service charges are met with consumer resistance, agents have been adopting a consumer accepted fee-based model. Upchurch draws the parallel between travel retail and the financial services industry, indicating that the future of the travel industry will parallel the development path of the financial services industry, with consumers opting for a range of service deliveries, from “do it yourself-ers,” to a demand for house-calls and “bespoke” travel experiences. Upchurch is confident that his organization will choose the right path.
The concept of editing or advising on consumer choices transcends travel and applies to the luxury sector in general. According to Upchurch, “You’re no longer selling a luxury product, or even your years of experience within an industry. Consumers value personal attention and human interaction, executed through collaboration and affirmation to cut through the complexity. The real products are ideas and customer advocacy - always putting the client first.”
Nowhere is this more apparent than with the elite travel consultants who belong to the Virtuoso network. They are at the forefront of this progression, having seen their profession transition from purveyors of luxury travel to the role of life experience coaches. In the past ten years, travel consultants have regained their original stature by providing their clientele with expertise, world-wide connections and specialization at a time when consumers demand the personalization of luxury.
As the official travel network provider for World Elite™ MasterCard®, a card platform designed for the elite affluent consumer, Virtuoso’s strategic partnership with MasterCard illustrates its advisor philosophy. While Virtuoso’s relationships with more than a thousand of the finest providers in travel certainly contribute to the benefits provided to MasterCard consumers, it is the network’s ability to deliver high-end, high-touch service, counsel and expertise that creates a perfect match between these two organizations.
Now, as online sales are either leveling off or declining, travel advisors are prospering. While industry service charges are met with consumer resistance, agents have been adopting a consumer accepted fee-based model. Upchurch draws the parallel between travel retail and the financial services industry, indicating that the future of the travel industry will parallel the development path of the financial services industry, with consumers opting for a range of service deliveries, from “do it yourself-ers,” to a demand for house-calls and “bespoke” travel experiences. Upchurch is confident that his organization will choose the right path.
The concept of editing or advising on consumer choices transcends travel and applies to the luxury sector in general. According to Upchurch, “You’re no longer selling a luxury product, or even your years of experience within an industry. Consumers value personal attention and human interaction, executed through collaboration and affirmation to cut through the complexity. The real products are ideas and customer advocacy - always putting the client first.”
Nowhere is this more apparent than with the elite travel consultants who belong to the Virtuoso network. They are at the forefront of this progression, having seen their profession transition from purveyors of luxury travel to the role of life experience coaches. In the past ten years, travel consultants have regained their original stature by providing their clientele with expertise, world-wide connections and specialization at a time when consumers demand the personalization of luxury.
As the official travel network provider for World Elite™ MasterCard®, a card platform designed for the elite affluent consumer, Virtuoso’s strategic partnership with MasterCard illustrates its advisor philosophy. While Virtuoso’s relationships with more than a thousand of the finest providers in travel certainly contribute to the benefits provided to MasterCard consumers, it is the network’s ability to deliver high-end, high-touch service, counsel and expertise that creates a perfect match between these two organizations.
ABOUT VIRTUOSO
Virtuoso is the industry’s leading luxury travel network and a founding member of the Luxury Marketing Council. This by-invitation-only organization comprises over 300 independent member agencies with more than 6,000 elite travel advisors in 22 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, as well as 1,000 of the world’s best travel providers and premier destinations. The network’s member agencies generate over $4.2 billion annually in travel sales, making the group the most powerful in the luxury travel segment. Their relationships with the finest travel companies provide the network’s affluent clientele with exclusive amenities, rare experiences and privileged access. Virtuoso serves as the exclusive luxury travel network provider for World Elite™ MasterCard®. For more information, please visit www.virtuoso.com.
ABOUT MATTHEW D. UPCHURCH
Matthew Upchurch, CTC, Chief Executive OfficerVisionary, futurist and entrepreneur, Matthew Upchurch has parlayed his vision of a global travel industry network into Virtuoso, a multi-billion-dollar, by-invitation-only enterprise of exceptional travel consultants and travel providers, all working together to mutually prosper while delivering the world’s most satisfying travel experiences. Upchurch serves as Virtuoso’s chief executive officer, overseeing the sales, marketing and operational systems that have made Virtuoso one of the most respected and successful companies in the luxury travel arena.
While the rest of the world was predicting the downfall of the travel consultant with the onslaught of online booking engines, Upchurch envisioned a back-to-the-future alternative that repositioned true travel specialists into their original role -- knowledgeable counselors versus transaction processors. He saw the Internet as a resource to assist the personal touch. And he perceived the rising Baby Boomer generation as one that prefers to work with experts in the important facets of their lives, including their prized leisure travel.
While the rest of the world was predicting the downfall of the travel consultant with the onslaught of online booking engines, Upchurch envisioned a back-to-the-future alternative that repositioned true travel specialists into their original role -- knowledgeable counselors versus transaction processors. He saw the Internet as a resource to assist the personal touch. And he perceived the rising Baby Boomer generation as one that prefers to work with experts in the important facets of their lives, including their prized leisure travel.
Upchurch’s entrepreneurial perspective grew out of an early love for travel, service and innovation. Two family businesses, Percival Tours and Upchurch Travel, enabled Upchurch to wear the hats of supplier and consultant simultaneously, ultimately leading to his vision of Virtuoso: a virtual corporation of the most powerful upscale travel consultant agencies supported by centralized marketing vehicles and exclusive agreements with the finest travel providers in the world.
The vision for Virtuoso was clear. However, the task of altering the common perception of travel consultants and the commoditization of the industry was, and still is, difficult. Armed with what his friends describe as an “unfailing ability to talk to anyone, anywhere about anything,” Upchurch is revitalizing the retail travel industry. The momentum for the creation of Virtuoso was so strong that top agencies competing against each other in key markets found themselves joining forces as part of this new network.
Inspired by other entrepreneurs who either create new industries or set new rules in stagnant ones, Upchurch is not willing to sit back and rest on his past accomplishments. From space tourism to emerging destinations, Upchurch continues to lead Virtuoso in delivering innovative and rare travel experiences. So stay tuned for new innovations that are sure to make the world a more rewarding and exciting place for travelers, travel advisors and travel providers alike.
The vision for Virtuoso was clear. However, the task of altering the common perception of travel consultants and the commoditization of the industry was, and still is, difficult. Armed with what his friends describe as an “unfailing ability to talk to anyone, anywhere about anything,” Upchurch is revitalizing the retail travel industry. The momentum for the creation of Virtuoso was so strong that top agencies competing against each other in key markets found themselves joining forces as part of this new network.
Inspired by other entrepreneurs who either create new industries or set new rules in stagnant ones, Upchurch is not willing to sit back and rest on his past accomplishments. From space tourism to emerging destinations, Upchurch continues to lead Virtuoso in delivering innovative and rare travel experiences. So stay tuned for new innovations that are sure to make the world a more rewarding and exciting place for travelers, travel advisors and travel providers alike.
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