What We Learned at Virtuoso Travel Week 2026

I just spent five nights in Las Vegas for Virtuoso Travel Week with around 4,800 other people in the hospitality and travel industry. This year, I qualified for the executive registration, so my experience looked a bit different than it did ten years ago when I last attended.

Virtuoso Travel Week is a commitment. It’s an utterly exhausting series of meetings, coffees, lunches, cocktail parties, dinners, and suite invitations spread between the Bellagio, Aria, and Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. I have managed to avoid going for the past few years, but with the rapid growth of our new agency, Alpenglow Travel, I thought it was time to make a return trip to the air conditioned halls of the Bellagio.

Travel advisors typically spend a few hours each day participating in “tracks,” which are a series of 8-10 minute long speed dating appointments with hotel sales directors, DMCs (destination management companies), wholesalers, representative groups, and tourism boards.

In between, we are invited to hosted events by hotels and suppliers that we hustle to, regretting wearing heels and wondering when we will have time to actually answer our clients’ emails in between it all. My days began with coffee meetings at 7am and ended with hosted dinners around 11pm.

Why do we put ourselves through this?

The short answer is that industry is changing.

We have advisors widely adopting AI, and some that are eschewing it completely. We have clients utilizing AI, agencies using it for booking support, general concern about whether it will impact our careers in a negative way, host agencies developing their own technology, and new entrants to our tech stack every day.

We are seeing the rise of a new class of celebrity advisor, with those running Reddit forums and growing massive social media platforms on TikTok and Instagram, like TravelWithLivii, outpacing legacy advisors and driving sales volume the industry has never seen before.

We have disrupters like Fora adding thousands of new advisors to the mix at a record pace, a travel economy that is driving rates to the moon, and capital structures that are changing the mix of what makes sense for a new hotel.

The conversations that take place over the week of VTW events are where we can gain a grasp of how hotels, advisors, and executives are thinking about what comes next.

Additionally, there is also absolutely no shortage of new hotels (and old ones) that I want to learn about. Being a hospitality obsessive, I feel like a kid in a candy store collecting a rolodex of hotels to add to my list. I geek out over planned renovations, new openings, and offers to share.

This week, I’m sharing my takeaways from the discussions shaping the luxury travel industry, what we are concerned about, what we are seeing, as well as hotels I have on my list of places I need to visit.

On the revenue side

The luxury travel industry shows no sign of slowing down. Virtuoso reports sales pacing 20%+ higher YoY, hotel rates climbing, and forward bookings surging one to two years out.

People are wondering where the price ceiling is. According to Doug Gollan from Forbes reporting on the conference, hotel rates now average over $1,600/night per Virtuoso data, up 37% YoY for $1,500+ nightly bookings, with 47% growth in future bookings by clients spending $50,000+ per trip. (forbes.com/sites/douggo…)

Travelers still think pricing is the same as 2019.

$20,000 is now table stakes for a four-star week for two in most European cities. $2,000 is the new entry level room ADR for luxury hotels. However, we are still receiving requests for a five star trip at a 3 star budget.

Many advisors are raising their minimum spend threshold.DMCs and advisors are turning away requests that are less than $1,000 per person, per night. Many advisors are moving to a hotel-booking only model as DMC rates become less competitive, and our margins become squeezed.

Travel planning fees have been widely adopted across the industry, when they were still a hot topic the last time I came.

On the cost side

Ghosting from clients has become a massive problem. Seriously, where is the decency to let an advisor know you aren’t going to move forward after receiving a proposal?

DMCs (destination management companies), particularly in Europe and South America, are becoming more and more expensive.

We are seeing more of them willing to offer price transparency or at least list pricing by category (hotels, transfers, activities), but in the age of AI, transparency is key for clients. DMCs that are not offering price transparency are losing advisors.

More advisors are piecemealing itineraries without the help of a DMC across multiple countries, as clients spend 3 weeks or more visiting multiple locations in the face of higher airfares.

Threats and opportunities

Clients are becoming advisors to self book.

Advisors are reporting their clients choosing to become advisors themselves under certain agencies, leading to concern about what makes a user vs an advisor in our industry, and whether those agencies are undercutting the business of others.

Everyone is talking about the impact of AI on our business

Clients are fighting advisors on price quotes that AI tells them should be lower, routes that don’t exist, and hotel rates that are hallucinated.

Virtuoso unveiled a new proprietary AI tool. Chairman/CEO of Virtuoso, Matthew Upchurch, marked 40 years of the network with a new AI capability built on Virtuoso’s own data, saying: “It’s more like a dance, but in our dance there’s one important rule: we, the humans, lead.”

Advisors frequently asked each other how we are using Claude to process quotes or streamline our business processes.

I sat next to some older agency owners in their 70’s who said they are not comfortable with their advisors using AI in their business, and in the same breath, wondered why they were losing younger advisors to other agencies.

Amanvari and the impact of social media influencers are top of mind.

Just about every advisor I talked to said, “Did you see the Amanvari thing? What do you think happened?”

It’s driving discussion around the increasingly blurred line between social media personalities and advisors, particularly the advisor role representing hotels accurately and fairly, while also providing our honest feedback and inspiring our clients to book.

The broad sense was that there may be more to the story than we are all privy to, and that Aman will likely never make a statement addressing it. However, the general consensus was that no matter what happened prior to Ryan Walker’s arrival, there was a serious breakdown in communication between the hotel management, Ryan, the gate guards, and whoever Ryan was emailing with.

I honestly don’t think there was anything nefarious going on from either side, but rather complete confusion from all parties.

Regardless of what was communicated to Ryan in advance, I maintain that the follow through was fumbled by the hotel.

They should have invited him in, had the GM meet with him to explain the situation, and followed up with a phone call.

Industry reactions to the Ryan Walker situation

The Wall Street Journal’s article seems to take the hotel’s side, and legacy advisors like Hao Tang and Sarah Lee (who runs the FATtravel subreddit), took a lot of blowback when they posited online that there may be more to the story justifying Aman’s actions.

The fact is, we will likely never know what the hotel was thinking, but it’s a good lesson in PR, being ready for opening, treating guests with kindness, and how it’s important to handle these situations with kid gloves whether the cameras are rolling or not.

The situation has raised larger questions around the role of influencers and hotel reviewers vs advisors.

Back in the day, hotels used to hold “soft openings” and invite advisors to test out their properties at lower rates, providing feedback before opening to the general public. With development costs for luxury properties reaching $2M per key, the money backing luxury hotels is becoming more dispersed. As the capital structure behind properties has placed increasing pressure on hotels to open as soon as possible, those soft openings are more rare. The fact of the matter is that no hotel is really ready to be reviewed the first week it opens. That’s why a soft opening used to be standard. It’s my own rule of thumb that I don’t send clients to a new hotel until they’ve been open for a year if I can help it, six months before I go myself.

Some of the other industry reactions raised in this Forbes article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/douggollan/2026/08/11/how-are-youtubers-and-influencers-impacting-your-luxury-vacation/?streamIndex=0

• Jack Ezon of Embark Beyond: “It is very hard in 2026 to have privacy, and privacy is something people are willing to pay for.”
• Jim Strong of Strong Travel Services described a client whose Riviera pool day was ruined by an influencer photo shoot, and who now refuses to return.
• Consultant Peter Bates says hotels need clear global filming policies, “No guests should be included unless they are prepared to be included”, while Departure Lounge’s Keith Waldon notes clients are reacting by booking pricier, more private options: “True privacy is going for a premium.”

Our primary competition is not each other, but rather credit card booking portals.

I met with a couple of executives from Fora to craft a follow up article to my article here. They made an interesting point as I raised concerns about cannibalization of other agencies, and whether their plan is to go direct to consumer with their AI model. They responded that our true competition isn’t each other, but rather credit card companies. Although I’m not completely sure I agree with them that they don’t pose a threat to other host agencies, I do think the point about credit card companies is a solid point.

Advisors I spoke to throughout the week noted that they have sent hundreds of hotel quotes and done the research for a client, only to have that client turn around and book the hotel using an Amex portal or utilize points.

More advisors are becoming points gurus and charging fees to help their clients navigating the points game instead of refusing to service the request.

With Bilt purchasing Sion (commission tracking software) earlier this year, the question seems to be how Bilt envisions a world in which travel advisors and credit card companies work together rather than competing for booking channels.

Technology

The tech stack for advisors is still highly fragmented. Fora still seems to have the only system that is wholistic between CRM, booking portal, commission tracking, itinerary creation, and advisor statistics.

Other advisors are using a mix of Sion, Tern, TravelJoy, individual booking portals, and SafariPro. No one is fully satisfied with the processes they have, although the advent of Claude to pull everything together is helping.

Hotel Openings and Renovations

To book any of these properties (or others), please e-mail us at [email protected]

I met with the following hotel brands during the four nights I was in Las Vegas:

• Rosewood - really expanding a ton, I’ve listed openings below. My clients just stayed at Miramar and loved it.
• Auberge - lots of great openings listed below. I’m excited about Calistoga Ranch.
• Rocco Forte - I’m going to try to stop by for a site visit at Browns and Balmoral this fall when I’m heading to the UK for a poetry retreat.
• Oetker - I forever love the Lanesbourgh. If you’ve been following the Upgrade for a while, you will know this is arguably my favorite hotel in London.
• Four Seasons - so many new openings on the horizon! Mykonos has opened strong.
• IHG - threw a great party for Coastline advisors at VTW where I got to meet some interesting hotels, outlined below
• Grand Velas - I have to say their spring break rates are really incredible right now. My client just booked a week for $7k.

A handful of individual hotels I met with:

• The Brando – My brother had the best stay of his life here a few years ago. They have put a lot of work into solving their operational issues, and post-trip surveys have been strong recently. They do note that pre-arrival response times are still 72 hours on average, so just keep a modicum of patience while you are waiting to hear from them after booking.
• Villa Cosy (Saint Tropez) – one of the only family owned and operated hotels in Saint Tropez, I had the pleasure of sitting next to the owner at dinner. It’s a sweet little boutique hotel open year round, which is rare for the French Riviera.
• Corinthia Grand Hotel Astoria – I love the Corinitha brand. I had a few clients stay in their London property this week, and they raved about it.
• IHG Hotel Amstel Amsterdam – I really need to schedule a visit back to Amsterdam to visit our old au pair and stay here. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and very much the grande dame style I favor in hotels.
• IHG Fiji
• The Ritz London – undergoing a large renovation, but have a few rooms open.

I also met with a few DMCs and rep groups.

This is the news I came away with

Rosewood

• Rosewood Amaala is now live and book able for arrivals from October 1st onwards.
• Rosewood Calistoga slated for March 2027 (I’m very excited about this one). 96 rooms with private residences. This is a brand new site, not the former Calistoga location.
• Rosewood Raleigh and Exuma are now slated for 2028.
• Mexico City is likely slated for 2028.

In Europe

• Rosewood Blue Palace in Crete pushed to Spring 2027.
• Rosewood Blue Palace in Crete is April 2027.
• Rosewood Rome was pushed to Summer of 2027.
• Rosewood Courchevel opened last ski season and ran at 90% occupancy with strong rates, which tells you the demand is there.

Asia and Middle East

• Amala in Saudi Arabia launches this year. Maldives (Rava) is next year.
• Greater China has three properties coming in Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

And unpublished but signed:

Puerto Rico, Punta Cana, Milan, Sardinia, Seychelles, Kyoto, Tokyo, Seoul, Mexico City, and Costa Rica.

Auberge (offers for booking through Alpenglow Travel as a preferred partner, and events)

• Etéreo: Etéreo will be offering kosher-certified dining options throughout the Sukkot holiday to thoughtfully accommodate guests celebrating this special time. | September 24 – October 5
• Goldener Hirsch: Summer Solstice Dinner Series – Seasonal menus, live music, and open-air dining, Next Up - Salzburg Alps Arrive in Deer Valley with Chef Andreas Herbst | September 5th
• Mayflower Inn & Spa: Explore Café Boulud, an exclusive culinary residency with renowned chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud, now welcoming guests through the end of 2026.
• Mauna Lani: New exclusive dining experience launching this season for our Francis Brown Club guests. Chef Rhoda’s Table is a new culinary series led by Executive Chef Rhoda Magbitang, winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 23. Seating is limited to 30 guests per dinner at $395 per person. | September - December
• The Lodge at Blue Sky: A Weekend with Multi-Platinum Country Star HARDY | Saturday, November 21
• White Barn Inn: Celebrate the magic of autumn on the Maine coast with Oktoberfest Weekend at White Barn Inn, a beloved seasonal tradition filled with festive flair and coastal charm. | October 8 - 11
• Bishop’s Lodge: Stay Longer, Save More – Enjoy up to 30% off stays of four or more nights (valid through May 2027, guestrooms only)
• Collegio alla Querce: Third night on Us | Enjoy a third night free when booking a 2-night stay. Available until December 18th
• Goldener Hirsch: 3rd Night Complimentary – Available for travel through December 13, 2026
• The Dunlin: Guaranteed view upgrade at time of booking for stays now to Labor Day, which is combinable with any other promotions, including 3NF and partner amenities. (Dunlin to Riverfront Views)
• Collegio alla Querce: Featured in Robb Report’s The 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth & No. 1 City Hotel in Florence in Travel + Leisure’s 2026 World’s Best Awards
• Susurros del Corazón: The resort will be closed August 16 – September 30 for exciting enhancements, including refreshed beach furniture, a restaurant refresh, a brand-new beach bar, and a new game room.
• White Barn Inn: Discover refreshed Garden Rooms, nestled among lush gardens and reimagined with timeless grace, these intimate retreats embody the effortless luxury that has made White Barn a beloved coastal landmark for generations.Francis Brown Club guests. Chef Rhoda’s Table is a new culinary series led by Executive Chef Rhoda Magbitang, winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 23. Seating is limited to 30 guests per dinner at $395 per person. | September - December
• The Lodge at Blue Sky: A Weekend with Multi-Platinum Country Star HARDY | Saturday, November 21
• White Barn Inn: Celebrate the magic of autumn on the Maine coast with Oktoberfest Weekend at White Barn Inn, a beloved seasonal tradition filled with festive flair and coastal charm. | October 8 - 11
• Bishop’s Lodge: Stay Longer, Save More – Enjoy up to 30% off stays of four or more nights (valid through May 2027, guestrooms only)
• Collegio alla Querce: Third night on Us | Enjoy a third night free when booking a 2-night stay. Available until December 18th
• Goldener Hirsch: 3rd Night Complimentary – Available for travel through December 13, 2026
• The Dunlin: Guaranteed view upgrade at time of booking for stays now to Labor Day, which is combinable with any other promotions, including 3NF and partner amenities. (Dunlin to Riverfront Views)
• Collegio alla Querce: Featured in Robb Report’s The 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth & No. 1 City Hotel in Florence in Travel + Leisure’s 2026 World’s Best Awards
• Susurros del Corazón: The resort will be closed August 16 – September 30 for exciting enhancements, including refreshed beach furniture, a restaurant refresh, a brand-new beach bar, and a new game room.
• White Barn Inn: Discover refreshed Garden Rooms, nestled among lush gardens and reimagined with timeless grace, these intimate retreats embody the effortless luxury that has made White Barn a beloved coastal landmark for generations.