Sandy Cutrone is just like any
other meeting and incentive planner, except her requests are
handled faster than other planners’, and her attendees are treated
with more care than other attendees.
No, she’s not bribing every hotelier and destination management
company in her path. She simply has access to a tool, known mostly
to carriage-trade travel agents, called Virtuoso.
“Over and over again, we hear from guests that they felt as if
they were visiting royalty,” says Cutrone, president of European
Connection, a Roslyn Heights, N.Y.-based agency for individual and
group travel to Europe, and a Virtuoso member for seven years. “I
regret that I didn’t join sooner.”
Virtuoso, a Fort Worth, Texas-based consortium designed to help
travel agents book luxury vacations, isn’t meant for meeting
planners, but some agents who plan group travel, Cutrone included,
have quietly put Virtuoso to work in their meetings. With their
help, so can you.
What is Virtuoso?
Known variously over the past 50 years as Allied Travel
and API, Virtuoso is a consortium of travel agents, hotels,
airlines, cruise lines and DMCs (referred to as “On Sites”), all of
whom specialize in luxury travel. The agents agree to work with the
preferred suppliers, and in return, their customers are treated
like heads of state. Individual travel is booked based on bulk
rates, and a plush amenity, such as a room upgrade, massage or
shore excursion (for cruises) is provided gratis.
Virtuoso also is the country club of travel alliances,
according to its members. Just 331 travel agencies in North
America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand
belong, and any new applicant must either be invited or laudatorily
referenced by current members. It’s rumored that the group accepts
only one of every 300 applications. Dues vary but are said to be
substantial. In addition, members must commit to buying a large
amount of travel from certified suppliers. They say it’s worth
it.
“It’s the premier organization in the travel industry, hands
down,” says Gerard Bellino, executive vice president of Raleigh,
N.C.-based TQ3Navigant Vacations. “There’s no other relationship
we’re interested in.”
Exquisite perquisites
Over the past few years, a number of travel agents have begun to
buy meetings just as they would purchase travel. Some of these
hybrid agents work in Virtuoso-affiliated firms and have applied
the perks to their meetings clientele.
“When we do such a good job with someone’s leisure travel, they
might ask, ‘Could you help us with an incentive?’” says
Cutrone.
The trend hasn’t gone unnoticed at Virtuoso headquarters, but
the company has not planned any initiatives specifically to benefit
meetings.
“Virtuoso specializes in luxury leisure travel, and we
negotiate benefits for the network with that in mind,” says a
spokesperson. “Some agents have been able to take advantage of
those benefits and parlay them into meeting and incentive travel as
well.”
Among the benefits:
Rapidity. With a typical property, a request
for proposal might take several days sometimes weeks to garner a
response, but when the Virtuoso name appears on the e-mail,
availability and pricing information often come back within an
hour.
“When you send an e-mail or initiate a contract, it’s almost as
if you can hear the click of the heels of the salute on the other
end,” says Dallyce Macas, a longtime Virtuoso devotee and the vice
president and general manager of the Canadian branch of Navigant
Performance Group, based in Toronto. “I always envision a little
man in a top hat, saying, ‘Yes, madam.’”
Reliability. The On Sites are excellent,
according to members. Not all have experience with groups, but when
planning in an unfamiliar country, contacting them can be an
intelligent first step.
“If an On Site is not up to par in the Virtuoso world,” says
Macas, “you’ll know quickly from disgruntled members.”
Confidence. Because the On Sites are all
highly qualified, secure companies, using them mollifies some of
the hazards of planning abroad. “I don’t have to worry about where
we’re putting our clients’ money,” says Bellino. “That provides a
huge comfort level.”
Miracles. The Virtuoso name helps in a crunch,
too. Not long ago, Dallyce Macas was tasked with planning a board
meeting in Bermuda during a sold-out period. When she spoke the
magic word (“Virtuoso!”), the space appeared.
Ease. Virtuoso’s intranet allows members to
sort through affiliated properties, easing site selection. Though
the list contains many of the finest hotels in the world, most
belong to luxury-class chains, notes Kevin Loveless, president of
Global Travel in Boise, Idaho. For a group that uses mostly
Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels, it’s a perfect fit, but if
travelers wants a bit more variation, they might not find it
there.
Culture. Malaka Hilton, owner of Admiral
Travel in Sarasota, Fla., credits Virtuoso in part for helping pull
off an intimate dinner with Dr. Jehan Sadat (widow of Anwar Sadat)
in Egypt, a luncheon in Italy with Salvatore Ferragamo, a cooking
demonstration by noted chef Roy Yamaguchi and a wine tasting with
South African vintner Neil Ellis. “Your everyday meeting planner
isn’t going to be able to do all that,” Hilton says.
A planner’s guide
Clearly, a meeting planner can’t just dash off an application,
remit the fee and hop aboard the Virtuoso carriage. However,
nonmembers can find ways to reap Virtuoso’s privileges.
One is to hire a Virtuoso travel agent/meeting planner for help
in planning an itinerary. These pros can bring their staff on site
to coordinate transfers, set up tours and troubleshoot. Of course,
attendees are treated with Virtuoso panache.
Perhaps more appealing, Malaka Hilton’s Admiral Travel will buy
a meeting planner’s travel and co-plan the trip, but then allow the
planner to get the recognition, while Hilton gets credit within
Virtuoso for the booking. “It just makes the meeting planner look
that much better,” she says.
One caveat: For meetings of more than about 50 guests, a
planner will need to negotiate the package rather than simply buy
through Virtuoso.