Top Travel Agencies' Keys to Success

Image: Customer service agent using a phone headset. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
Image: Customer service agent using a phone headset. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
Patrick Clarke
by Patrick Clarke
Last updated: 12:40 AM ET, Wed May 17, 2017

Virtuoso has completed a comprehensive analysis of its top-producing travel agencies in an effort to uncover the various qualities successful firms have in common.

The luxury travel network singled out the 25 agencies with the highest production per advisor, examined them and interviewed their executives to form a list of common qualities and secrets of success.

Virtuoso found that the agencies outperforming their competitors benefit from experience and an extended presence. On average, the top 25 agencies have 40 years of travel industry experience and just about all of them have independent contractors in other cities outside of their office location.

What's more, a whopping 88 percent of the top 25 agencies have been with Virtuoso for more than 10 years. A majority of the top performers are midsize agencies, and the median advisor count is 19.

Virtuoso's study also shed light on the keys to success shared by the top-producing travel agencies: Engaging in the luxury travel industry, placing an emphasis on training, savvy marketing, a strong digital presence and selling Virtuoso preferred partners ultimately separated the elite agencies from the pack.

According to its research, 90 percent of the top 25 agencies attend Virtuoso Forum and Symposium executive events while 45 percent have representatives serving on Virtuoso committees. Plus, eight out of 10 of the agencies send a minimum of one advisor to a Virtuoso Travel Week On-Tour event.

[READMORE] READ MORE: Virtuoso's 2017 Best of the Best: Who Made the Cut?[/READMORE]

Two-thirds of the advisors at Virtuoso's top agencies also display profiles on Virtuoso.com.

Lastly, Virtuoso found that 73 percent of the top-producing agencies' leisure production is executed with the travel network's preferred suppliers.

The aforementioned insights were revealed at Virtuoso's annual Symposium in Vancouver, British Columbia.


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Patrick Clarke

Patrick Clarke

Senior Editor

A Maryland native and wanderer who has lived across the U.S. from North Carolina to SoCal, Patrick Clarke graduated from Towson University with a B.S. in journalism. He previously worked for Bleacher

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