Virtuoso Travel Mart 2010 Event in Las Vegas: Part I

I recently returned from my trip to Las Vegas where I had the pleasure of meeting some of the most influential and interesting individuals in the travel industry. This 2010 Virtuoso Travel Mart event, which began on August 14, brought in more than 3,200 attendees traveling to the U.S. from almost 100 countries—making this year the largest gathering for Virtuoso Travel Mart to date. In fact, this event was so large and successful that by the end of the 6-day event, there were a total of 312,000 one-on-one appointments, and 1.25 millions minutes of networking that occurred (which converts to 2 and a half years of networking!).

The 6-day event took place at the gorgeous Bellagio hotel to celebrate the companies that have operated under the Virtuoso status to make a difference in the lives of their clients. The event also served to bring relationships between travel agents to fruition, as well as facilitate the power of connection and communication between agents to help reinforce the Virtuoso difference.

Each year, the Virtuoso Travel Mart has a different theme and this year, it was “Defining Moments,” which “refers to the power of the travel advisor to transform a travel purchase into a defining moment for their client.”

Below is a breakdown of each day:

Saturday, August 14

Today’s big activity was VAST Virtuoso Active & Specialty Travel, which was a fast-pace networking session with 36 different suppliers presenting their services for six minutes each. Once the six minutes were up, we were moved to the next booth. These four hours of non-stop meet and greet was a great intro for Monday's schedule.

During this networking session, my first stop—and the most powerful in my opinion—was Micato Safaris. This year, Micato Safaris focused on the benefits of sending clients on one of their exclusive safaris.

Each safari Micato Safaris sells allows them to send one child to school, which they call their one-for-one program. This exceptional program gives back to a community of over 100,000 children who aren’t attending school. Everything Micato Safaris does supports and embodies the belief that in order to change the future, we must start with the children.

Some of my other favorite suppliers included AuthentEscapes, Epic Private Journeys, Horizon & Co, Cox & Kings, and Greaves. I enjoyed hearing about these companies’ level of services and their unique offerings.

During the night, Travel Experts celebrated their 21^st birthday Las Vegas style with a Cher entertainer and some Las Vegas-inspired decorations.  This exciting event, sponsored by Silversea Cruises, brought together over 200 independent contractors from all across the U.S. to meet and mingle for the first time and be able to match a name and personality with a face.

Sunday, August 15

Today, there were some heavy and highly informative professional development sessions from morning until early afternoon. My favorite speakers were Helen Nodland and Anne Scully who provided excellent and helpful tips on the direction of business practices.

But the highlight of the entire day was the General Opening Session where people shared stories of their biggest defining moments. The keynote speaker of this session was Simon Sinek, a highly charismatic speaker, who shared his thoughts from his latest book, “Start with Why,” which focuses on attracting likeminded people to your business. He told a great story that focused on the brand, Apple. Specifically he walked through the steps of “what” Apple does, “how” they do it, and ended with “why” they do what they do. He then illustrated that when you think in terms of “why” you do what you do as the core belief behind your business, then the "how" and the "what" naturally follow. And in the end, the why is the main driving force behind your company’s success.

I have not read Simon’s book yet but I plan on purchasing it, and based on his presentation of the book, I strongly urge anyone who owns a business to purchase it as well.

After the session, I had the pleasure of meeting with some wonderful Twitter friends at a pre-cocktail tweet up: @elitetravelgal  @paulomeara  @epsteintravels  @bethlovestravel  @jillsetgo  @fullersloane  @customtravel  and @luxetiffany.

Several parties followed that evening.

Check back for part II of this blog post.