Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew Upchurch and Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)

TORONTO Virtuosos July travel consumer research shows that while only one-quarter to one-third of Baby Boomer and older clients are ready to travel in these unprecedented times, a strong majority of Millennial, Generation Z and Generation X clients are ready to travel post-pandemic.

The update came as part of Virtuoso Travel Week 2020, taking place virtually this week in place of the popular in-person event normally held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Presiding over the opening ceremony for Virtuoso Travel Week 2020 this morning were Virtuosos Chairman and CEO, Matthew D. Upchurch, and David Kolner, Senior VP, Strategy.

An original song and performance by Virtuoso agents helped open the virtually streamed Virtuoso Travel Week 2020, taking place this week with training sessions and plenty of networking opportunities. More than 78,000 virtual networking appointments have been booked so far for the week, says Virtuosos Chairman and CEO, Matthew D. Upchurch

Kolner presented the latest stats from Virtuosos research, conducted just last month.

Major travel trends include, not surprisingly, clients looking to stay close to home for their next vacation. Virtuosos client poll shows that 32.5% will opt for a domestic destination a short flight away, 23.4% will choose a multi-day road trip and 13.8% are considering a day trip within a couple hours of home.

That said, almost a third of respondents (30.3%) said their next vacation will be an international destination. Another bright spot? While cruising for 2020 is understandably down, Virtuosos cruise bookings for 2021 are just 6% under historical levels.

Virtuoso Travel Week 2020 continues all this week, complete with opening and closing ceremonies, training sessions and of course, networking. Participants this year can take advantage of up to 106 sessions, 10 minutes each, with industry partners theyre looking to connect with.

While many of the usual highlights at Virtuoso Travel Week will be present in a virtual format, the luxury retail travel group wont be handing out awards this year. We are pausing awards this year. Instead we want to thank all of you for your hard work, with everything youre doing to survive, said Jennifer Campbell, Virtuosos Product Manager, Network Engagements,

Campbell, who was instrumental in making this years virtual event happen, joked with participants this morning: I know were all experiencing more change this year than we planned. Sometimes theres a good side to change. At least were not all freezing in the ballroom at the Bellagio.

This mornings opening ceremony also included a discussion between Upchurch and Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).

The pandemic arrived just as travel and tourism was heading into an incredibly strong 10th year, says Guevara. Over the past nine years the growth of travel and tourism has outpaced the growth of the world economy, she told Upchurch.

In the wake of the pandemics devastation on the travel industry, she said governments are finally starting to understand the impact on this industry.

Travellers are grappling not just with fears of the virus, but also with concerns about getting stranded in destination, and mandatory and unexpected quarantines. The worlds travellers are losing confidence in travel, and what can the industry do about it?

Four things, says Guevara. We need to have a coordinated approach with countries opening their borders. We need coordinated protocols thats something we learned after 9/11. From SARS, MERS and Ebola we learned the importance of testing and contact tracing. And we need support for the travel sector.

Guevara adds: We need to be together to get out of this. Otherwise its going to be very painful and take a lot longer.

Watch for more coverage from Virtuoso Travel Week in tomorrows edition of Travelweek Daily.

Editor at Travelweek

Kathryn is Editor at Travelweek and has worked for the company since 1995. She has travelled to more than 50 countries and counts Hong Kong, Jerusalem, the Swiss Alps and the Galapagos Islands among her favourite destinations.

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Younger clients ready to travel, and more from Virtuoso's Travel Week virtual event - Travelweek