Booking luxury villas is a segment that exploded during the COVID-19 lockdown and continues to expand during the post-pandemic travel boom. To learn more, AGENTatHOME reached out to Steve Lassman, vice president for Villas of Distinction, part of World Travel Holdings.

How was Business in 2022 and How Does it Look in 2023?

Business in 2022 continues to be robust. We are experiencing the same strong trends we saw in 2021 and the latter half of 2020. We continue to see record bookings and departures from our travel advisor partners, and 2023 is looking to surpass 2022. Overall, 2022 and 2023 are record years for Villas of Distinction, thanks to our travel advisor partners.

Why Has the Villa Segment Boomed?

Certainly, the growth in 2020 and even into 2021 was very much a result of COVID. People wanted to vacation at a villa, which was the ultimate social-distancing accommodation. We saw many first-time travel advisors and guests, who had never thought about a villa before COVID, booking with us during the 2020 and 2021 season, and that has continued throughout 2022 and beyond. Travel advisors have now come to trust Villas of Distinction for our quality of products and services.

What Kind of Villas are Most Popular this Year and Next?

We have villas for parties of all sizes, from a one-bedroom apartment in London to a 12-bedroom in Turks & Caicos. The average travel advisor reservation is five to six bedrooms. Europe is back for 2022 and 2023. We’ve seen tremendous business to Italy and Greece, to name two, but the rest of our European villas are also doing well. Of course, the Caribbean and Mexico are performing exceptionally well with Turks & Caicos, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and St Barth’s leading the way. Riviera Maya and Punta Mita, especially for the holiday season, are strong. The holiday season booked sooner this year than it ever has.

What Special Services do you Offer?

The special services include food upon arrival, rental car, chef-catered dinner, etc. We have expanded our personal concierge team threefold in 2022. Our unique and customizable villa vacation experience truly sets our travel advisor partners and us apart from the do-it-yourself rental sites. We personalize vacation itineraries for whatever the guest desires – whether it’s pre-stocking groceries, spa services, all forms of transportation, live music like Reggae bands at the villa, all staffing needs like chefs, personalized waterparks set up at the villa and more. There is almost nothing we can’t arrange for our guests.

How Does Villas of Distinction Work with Travel Advisors?

We are the preferred partner of every major luxury consortium in North America, and these are long-term partnerships that you must earn each and every day. Most of our business is from our travel advisor partners, and we focus on encouraging our guests to use a travel advisor. Our website states on almost every page: “We highly recommend you use a travel advisor.”

Anything You'd Like to Add About the Company?

When people ask me how I can compete with the do-it-yourself sites, I tell them this – we offer a fully vetted and inspected product, we stand behind what we sell, and we are bonded and insured. It is truly about the experience with our concierge services, and we are totally aligned with the travel advisor to accomplish one thing – to provide a unique, personalized and remarkable experience for their guests; it is truly a “Guest First” philosophy at Villas of Distinction.