LAS VEGAS — It resembles nothing so much as a massive speed-dating event.
Earlier this month, nearly 3,700 suppliers and travel agents gathered at the Bellagio here, then paired off 300,000 times over four days, in four-minute spurts, at Virtuoso’s Travel Mart conference.
These one-on-one sessions have become the heart of Travel Mart, which this month achieved the best turnout in its 23-year history: 1,680 travel agents and 1,605 suppliers.
The one-on-one appointments have been part of Travel Mart since its inception. They started as 20 minutes, but as the network grew, they were cut to four minutes to enable all parties to meet.
“By pre-scheduling the appointments, participants don’t have to choose; they know they’ll see everyone at our conference,” said Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch.
Travel Mart is open only to Virtuoso members and preferred suppliers.
“When someone attends Travel Mart, they know the vetting process has taken place on both sides,” Upchurch said. “The committee votes on every preferred supplier, and when that company comes to Travel Mart, they do so with a stamp of approval from a member-led committee.”
For suppliers, the Virtuoso method represents a break from the mold of most travel conferences, where suppliers buy booth space on trade-show floors or talk to agents as panelists but are left to set up individual meetings with agencies on their own or at one of many events.
To underscore the importance of face-to-face engagement, Travel Mart enforces a “no-brochure” policy.
“Travel Mart is about building connections and relationships, not a brochure exchange,” Upchurch said. “The traditional trade show floor is not something Virtuoso believes in, because our focus is on eye-to-eye, person-to-person contact.”
The “speed dating” concept is based on the premise that “it’s not only what you know, it’s who you know,” Upchurch said. “Our members have a chance to meet hotel owners, general managers, concierges, destination specialists — the people who will personally greet their clients and who will make a difference in how their clients experience it.”
Suppliers here extolled the value of the guaranteed exposure the meetings offer.
Kamia Kinchlow, a transient sales manager for the Island Hotel in Newport Beach, also sees value for suppliers. “In most conferences with trade show booths, suppliers receive minimal attention,” she said.
Kinchlow and other suppliers said trade show booths can be effective but often attract agents who are already aware of the product being touted or are enticed by giveaways.
“With the Travel Mart conference, suppliers are destined to see each agency represented,” she said. “As a result, suppliers receive more exposure to those agents who are not familiar with your product. … You get the opportunity to connect to agents around the world without spending tons of money on airfare, hotel accommodations and transportation.”
Most importantly, the suppliers say, the meetings lead to increased business.
Karin Salinas, director of marketing for the Rosewood Mayakoba hotel on the Riviera Maya, who has attended six Travel Marts, said production by Virtuoso agents has grown year after year.
Kinchlow, who was attending her first Travel Mart, said she received several leads for future individual and group bookings.
“We know Travel Mart leads to sales,” Upchurch said. “It’s obvious in the way the show continues to grow each year.”
Betty Jo Currie of Atlanta-based Currie & Co., found Travel Mart valuable enough to bring seven of her nine agents to the event.
“It’s not only the best way to learn about new properties and destinations, but critical to meeting the right people for each adviser’s type of clients and business,” she said. “Who you know is vital; that is how we make things happen.”
Curry said the string of domestic hotels whose representatives she met with one morning represented new territory for the agency, which focuses mostly on Africa and does 50% exotic travel.
At Travel Mart, the team made a conscious decision to see and learn more about domestic properties because that business has grown. The Travel Mart appointments, she said, enabled them to meet with far more of those products’ representatives than they could have on their own.
“We try not to do things we don’t know well,” Currie said. “We tend to know intimately what we are talking about. … This gets you started.”
Ansley Thomas, a Currie & Co. agent, added: “Suppliers try to come and see you wherever you are, but it’s impossible to see everyone, and this is the one chance. … The longer you are in the industry, the more clients you have that become loyal and repeat. Maybe they want Africa at first, but the more you work with them, stuff like this enables you to say, ‘This would be perfect for you’. ”
Some suppliers said four minutes is not enough time, especially with agents who have the potential to become major producers.
But as Alex Herrmann, the director of Switzerland Tourism in the Americas, said, with Virtuoso, suppliers know they are reaching their target audience.
“For Switzerland as a travel and vacation destination, the affluent market segment is very important,” he said. “The conference allows us to meet a great number of travel advisers who cater to exactly this segment, not just from the U.S. and Canada but also from markets which produce considerable growth rates with regards to travel to Switzerland, such as Brazil and Australia.”
The onus at the meetings is on the suppliers, who in those four minutes, need to stand out among the 1,600 high-end products trying to attract attention over four days of meetings that start at 8:30 a.m., and end at 5 p.m.
Making an enduring pitch was clearly a challenge for some representatives. Watching several spend those minutes talking about a property while showing photos, without the agent making even a scratch in a notebook, made it clear that the supplier had not enticed the agent in any way.
“Virtuoso Travel Mart is a great exercise in narrowing down your key messages to a few important points,” Herrmann said. “Of course, it’s not possible to make an impact with each [travel adviser]. As many travel advisers come each year, it’s possible to build relationships over the years. And of course, leaving some delicious Swiss chocolate and a Ricola candy with herbs from the Swiss Alps help to be remembered.”
Kinchlow observed: “The key is to keep your message short, yet direct to their business needs. First, seek what the agency specializes in. Second, give the agents three of your product’s best values/key selling messages. Last, it is always important to have visual aids for those agents who have not been able to view or experience your product firsthand.”
Simple but important details, new products and great hooks seemed to make the agents’ pens move.
Julie Baker from the Encantado resort, a new Auberge property on the outskirts of Santa Fe, N.M., piqued Currie’s interest when she mentioned that the hotel provides free Mercedes shuttle service to Santa Fe’s center, where a concierge was based for the guests.
“Fabulous!” Currie said.
She was also impressed by the Encantado’s bringing guests to the Santa Fe opera through the back entrance. “That opera experience is as fine as anywhere in the world,” Currie gushed.
“If you go again, ask for the backstage tour,” Baker suggested, prompting Currie to scribble notes.
Later, Currie explained that “Santa Fe is one of those destinations that an informed travel person has to know about.”
When Michael Snyder from the Four Seasons in Dallas sat down with Currie, he faced an uphill battle. When he asked whether she booked much Dallas business, Currie was honest.
“We don’t,” she said. “Give me a reason to tell people to come.”
Snyder explained that the property offered the “amazing Four Seasons experience” at a great value. He then talked up the property’s golf course, which brings in professionals to play with guests.
Currie immediately thought of bachelor-party groups.
Debby Denham of Betty Maclean Travel in Naples, Fla., told suppliers to tell her what was new or what unusual experiences they could offer her clients.
When Denham sat down with the team from the Rosewood Mayakoba, a property she was familiar with, they told her about several new features she found noteworthy, especially new meal plans.
“Those updates were helpful,” Denham said. “The meal plans especially, because so many resorts are all-inclusive, but very few Virtuoso properties are.”
Denham had never heard of Las Alamandas in Mexico, but when its representative told her that the resort had only 17 villas over 1,500 acres, she immediately thought of honeymooners.
Denham said suppliers make an impression by giving her something to bring back to the home office. “It’s our way to keep our agents updated,” she said.
She said interesting descriptions of products stood out, citing Aqua Expeditions calling its Amazon cruises “water safaris.”
“I’d never thought of describing it that way, and it’s great,” Denham said. “These are things we can take back to our clients.”
She described the meetings as a first step in determining if a product is suitable for her clients. “This is opening the door and making connections,” she said.
Upchurch considers that connection the core purpose of the meetings.
“When people who are passionate about their industry and their products meet, magic happens,” he said. “They inspire each other, and it sparks an idea.”
He recalled one particular example: “Last year, one of our advisers was meeting with the owner of a stunning European chateau. Midway through the four-minute presentation, the adviser stopped her, pulled out her iPhone, snapped a photo of them together and sent it off to her client. The adviser [told the client] she had found the perfect spot for [the client’s] next vacation and had just personally met with the owner, who was ready to welcome them.
“Nothing can replace that personal contact and the relationships that are formed at Travel Mart. And for people who question what you can possibly accomplish in four minutes, we say, ‘Plenty.’ ”
