Top Takeaways From Virtuoso Travel Week 2020
Last week was Virtuoso's annual Travel Week. Every August, luxury travel advisors and representatives from around the globe come together for one of the world's largest luxury travel conferences. Like so many other things in life right now, because of covid, we took the party virtual.
Over the course of the week I met with over 100 different suppliers from all around the world. While I did miss the hallway hugs, the amazing dinners, and the connections over (often too many) cocktails, I still had such a great time reconnecting with my amazing travel partners and getting the most up-to-date information about re-openings, restrictions, and what travel is like moving forward. By the end of the week, my wanderlust was in overload and I felt incredibly enthusiastic and inspired about the future of travel.
Here's my top takeaways from the week:
LUXURY HOTELS ARE GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND TO ENSURE SAFETY
In this weird covid world, I am often asked if it's even "worth it" to stay at a hotel. While this entirely depends on your comfort level, I was very inspired and impressed by the measures that most hotels are taking to keep their guests and staff safe, all while still providing the luxury getaway you are craving. Most hotels are capping occupancy at 50% to ensure that social distancing is easily achievable and that they can have at least 24 between a guest checking out and a new guest checking in. Many properties are looking into getting on-site rapid result testing, having a doctor on-site, and investing in a lot of cool new gadgets like self-sanitizing door handles
However, though most hotels are truly going above and beyond for their guests, expectations for covid travel need to be set. With limited occupancy comes limited staff, and it's hard to promise the usual 5* experience that was expected pre-covid. Things change so constantly it's hard to keep up, and there may be inconsistencies because of it. That said, hotels are open and ready to welcome you!
REMOTE LEARNING TRAVEL PROGRAMS FOR KIDS
Perhaps what I am most excited about are the new family travel opportunities as many luxury properties are working on remote learning programming for kids. With so many schools going virtual for the time being, many families have the opportunity to travel for longer periods of time than ever before. Resorts are creating safe, socially distanced spaces for kids to log in and do their remote learning in the morning, and then they can spend their afternoons learning about local culture, exploring the area, hiking, and more, all supervised with an on-site tutor and camp counselor, Among others, Montage Deer Valley is working on Montage Academy, and The Family Coppola Properties in Belize are working on a Coppola Curriculum. More details to come on these programs as I learn more!
UNDERTOURISM IS A BIG PROBLEM
Overtourism has been an issue for years, leading cities to impose some pretty strict measures to avoid overcrowding and harming the environment further. A silver lining of the pandemic is that overtourism is over, and I for one won't miss it at all. The flip side of this is that undertourism is bringing on a whole new set of problems and really negatively impacting the local economies that rely on tourism. Travel contributes to ten percent of the world’s GDP, and when travel came to a sudden and unexpected halt, it became clear just how important our travel dollars were in keeping many local economies afloat. Going from one hundred to zero is a big, big problem. Which leads me to...
SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
As borders and hotel reopen and guests begin traveling again, finding ways to use travel force for good is paramount. As the travel industry begins to bounce back and rebuild, we all want to make sure we are doing so respectfully. The pandemic has given us all the time to slow down and think about our place in the world and really see how our actions impact the planet. The role the traveler plays in this is more important than ever before. People want to travel better, more wisely, and more sustainably than they have in the past, and hotels are working to address these needs and support their local economy and environment in new ways.
TESTING IS KEY
As we navigate travel in the age of covid, testing will be key. Hotels and airlines are hoping that widely available rapid result covid testing will allow guests to feel comfortable traveling again, and hopefully allow for more borders to reopen to Americans. Some countries and hotels already have this in place. I spoke to one supplier in Mexico that requires all guests take the 15 minute rapid result test upon arrival, and Iceland has already reopened borders to certain countries and are testing all travelers as soon as they arrive in the country and step off the airplane.
So there you have it! I’d love to hear what your current thoughts on travel right now are, so please share in the comments!