At a press conference held in Las Vegas on Monday as part of the 33rd annual Virtuoso Travel Week event, Misty Belles, Virtuoso’s vice president of global public relations, praised the resilience and “forward momentum” of the travel industry.
“Given where we were a year ago, there is absolutely progress,” Belles told Virtuoso Travel Week attendees. “That is not to say that our agencies, consultants and partners are not affected because they absolutely have it. They are all in various stages of recovery. But as a network we have remained stable.”
Belles cited Virtuoso data which indicated that the consortium’s bookings in January this year were down 82.2% over the same period in 2019. However, by June this gap had closed significantly, with bookings falling 45.6% from 2019 levels.
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Although a preliminary measurement of Virtuoso’s booking numbers in July reflected “slight effects” of the uncertainty surrounding the Covid Delta variant, Belles claimed that any Delta-related withdrawal so far has been “minimal.”
Bullish about cruise comeback
Broken down by category, hotels have led the recovery, with Virtuoso hotel sales approaching normal 2019 levels through Q2 2021, thanks to continued growth in domestic bookings in the local area.
However, Belles was optimistic about a cruise comeback in the coming year.
“It’s the cruise that has big history in 2022,” said Belles. “Because when we look at where we have been [for] From 2019 to 2020, compared to where we are now, to 2022, we are at 79% of the current level. So we’re not quite there yet, but we’re making very, very strong progress. “
Improved consultant prospects
The prospects for consultants have also improved significantly. A Virtuoso network survey conducted in July found that 51% of respondents said they are already confident in their business or expect to be confident in their business in the next six months, compared with just 33% of respondents who reported during a survey conducted in January was carried out above similar confidence levels.
Additionally, 77% of respondents in July said bookings either increased or increased significantly in the most recent quarter. For comparison: In January, only 32% of respondents said that their bookings had increased or increased significantly in the last quarter.
Virtuoso continues to expand
Meanwhile, Belles reported that the Virtuoso network continued to grow, with the company adding 26 new agencies since January, while increasing its preferred partner portfolio by 10%.
“The level of trust has increased absolutely,” said Belles. “Since January we have seen more gains than declines, and we are clearly seeing a recovery in certain markets, especially here in the US, rather than transfers. And that is again a sign of this recovery, cancellations and rebooking are on the decline. The signs are that travel is making a comeback. “
According to Virtuoso, this year’s Hybrid Travel Week conference is well on the way to bringing together 1,500 personal attendees as well as 1,800 remote attendees from August 8-13.
In order to participate, the participants had to be fully vaccinated on site.
