Vegas, and Virtuoso Travel Week

Next week, I will join the most influential voices in luxury travel, meeting up in Las Vegas to explore new ways to elevate experiences for my discerning clients and guests.

Stay tuned for exclusive insights and updates from the event.

I've attended Virtuoso Travel Week for 13 years in the past now. And this year marks number 14 for attendance, or 12 in person (with the two pandemic virtual attendance.) I return year after year to network with the best travel suppliers, colleagues, and friends from around the world; to learn what is new in the world of luxury travel; to keep abreast of emerging trends, and to shop for my clients' bucket list travel experiences.

And, I'm thrilled that for Virtuoso Travel Week 2024, I'll be attending as a newly minted Virtuoso Cruise Icon - which is an honour bestowed upon the top 1% of cruise advisors in the global network.

I'm also flattered to have been nominated as a 2024 Virtuoso top advisor for sustainability.

Sustainability is really important to me as a travel advisor. I have a vested interest in protecting the product I sell - the world!

And, of course, I work to encourage my clients celebrate culture, support local economies, and protect the planet when they travel.

Travel can and should be a force for good!

You should leave a destination better for having travelled there.

I'm happy to return to Vegas with my Virtuoso travel colleagues from around the world, and yes, we will be striving to make the place better for our visit.

Returning to Vegas in person for Virtuoso Travel Week is the most important week of my year for building my business. I find the energy of meeting with travel supplier partners and friends from across the globe palpable. It's incredible to be around the best-of-the-best travel advisors, cruise partners, hotelier partners, tour operators and destination manager companies, and specialty partners.

I've been alternating my stays between the 3 major hotels that Virtuoso tends to take over for the world's largest luxury travel conference. Think of it as fashion week for luxury travel - we all gather at the Bellagio, the Aria, and Vdara for networking, meetings, business breakfasts/ lunches/ and dinners, and the occasional cocktail too. I tend to refer to my annual stay as "networking on crack" - it's intense, but it can be both exhausting and exhilarating.

This year, I'll move from the Vdara to stay once more at the Aria again. (I've stayed at the Bellagio probably 9 times.) Most of my scheduled meetings and events will take place in the Aria and Bellagio hotels this year, but I'll also be going to networking lounges and meetings at Vdara, as well as events and dinners at the Cosmopolitan and more.

After last year's Virtuoso Travel Week, I was interviewed by Pax. You can get a sense of what I'll be getting into next week by having a look at this article - I'm cutting and pasting the quotes, and provide the article url below.

“What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas,” said Sheila Gallant-Halloran, owner of Lush Life Travel, speaking on the invaluable relationships and business plans that form at #VirtuosoTravelWeek in #LasVegas. PAX attended this year’s 5,000-plus-person event, where a more inclusive, Canada-focused #Virtuoso made waves in the #luxurytravel space. Virtuoso Travel

“The whole week is wonderful, but my favourite part is Saturday’s ‘Globetrotting,’ which involves visiting supplier partners in elaborately-designed booths, organized by pavilion for adventure, cruise, wellness, family and celebration, and ultraluxe travel,” Gallant-Halloran said.

And the Toronto-based travel pro got her steps in – between Monday and Thursday last week, Gallant-Halloran attended 26 six-minute “speed dating” meetings each day, 10 ten-minute matched appointments, as well as additional meetings with suppliers in booths at the “Cruise Café”?and “Preferred Partner Lounge.”

That doesn’t even include each day’s luncheons, dinners, cocktails and afterparties.

She said the event both acknowledges sales accomplishments (last year, Gallant-Halloran was honoured for being a top Wellness advisor) and helps advisors make important connections.

This year, Gallant-Halloran met with top executives from AmaWaterways and Uniworld, the latter of whom she is working with to build a women’s-themed cruise that will also cater to solo female travellers.

“Virtuoso Travel Week is where serious work intersects with fun while building relationships,” Gallant-Halloran told PAX. “What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas.”

?Meanwhile, Virtuoso’s growing team in Canada, with its monthly sales updates and business development channels, is a “huge bonus to us,” Gallant-Halloran said.

See https://news.paxeditions.com/news/buzz/location-huge-opportunities-growing-virtuoso-canada-brings-talent-strategy-vegas

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Let me know if you have any questions about Virtuoso Travel Week - or if you'd like me to do some shopping for you when I meet with the top travel suppliers from around the globe. #AskSheila [email protected]

#VirtuosoTravelWeek #SoVirtuoso #Wanderlist #lushlife #BucketList #TravelAdvisor #LuxuryTravel #CruiseIcon #TravelAuthority #sustainabletourism #wellnesstravel #adventuretravel #rivercruise #expeditioncruise