Inside GTM Luxury 2026: A Gathering of Elite Travel Advisors and Suppliers

by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 3:50 PM ET, Tue January 27, 2026

Last week, Northstar Travel Group hosted its second-ever Global Travel Marketplace (GTM) Luxury conference at the JW Marriott in Los Angeles, California.

The event included two days of face-to-face networking, educational presentations and impactful meetings attended by an elite group of the nation’s top luxury travel advisors and travel industry suppliers from around the world.

The 100 travel advisors in attendance were required to meet specific criteria to gain entry to the event, including having annual individual sales of at least $1 million and at least two years of sales in the luxury sector.

Advisors who met these qualifications were able to hear firsthand from a wide range of suppliers about the latest experiences, offerings, and developments in the luxury travel industry.

The 120 suppliers that were on hand for the one-on-one appointments this year represented every segment of the industry, from cruise lines to tour operators, airlines and destination management organizations. That included such well-known brands as Audley, Crystal, Cunard, Explora Journeys, Kensington, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn, Qantas, Uniworld and many, many more.

TravelPulse was in attendance as well to witness the networking and educational presentations and to chat with advisors and suppliers about what they were learning and their top takeaways from the event.

Luxury travel is evolving

At a gathering full of luxury travel movers and shakers, you can, of course, expect plenty of discussion about the future of the luxury travel space.

And Nancy Logan, sales strategy leader for ALG Vacations, said there was a great deal of talk at this year's event about how the luxury travel segment has evolved. The big takeaway: The typical luxury client's age and income have changed.

"Luxury clients are different today than what they might have been five or 10 years ago," Logan told TravelPulse during a break from networking. "Younger travelers, younger professionals are leaning more towards luxury in ways they didn't previously. Social media has played into that a lot. People are exposed to luxury a lot more than they were in the past. They're seeing the most incredible hotels of the world and they want to stay at those hotels."

Equally noteworthy is the shift in income among luxury globetrotters. A decade ago, the typical luxury traveler was a high-net-worth or ultra-ultra high-net-worth individual. And they were often a bit older and well-established.

But according to recent studies Logan referenced, by 2028, about 80 percent of luxury travelers will be between 40 and 60 years old and will have a net worth of $100,000 to $1 million. (Translation: a net worth that's less than in years past.) And that fact, says Logan, is changing some of the luxury trends we're seeing.

For instance, individuals at the lower end of the income spectrum who want to experience luxury may opt for a shorter vacation of just a few days (instead of a week or 10 days) so they have the cash to splurge on the luxury hotel they want during their stay. These same travelers may opt to fly coach to have the money available for that hotel splurge.

A boardroom gathering at GTM Luxury 2026 in Los Angeles

Travel advisors learning from each other, deepening supplier knowledge

Peer-to-peer networking is another major focus at GTM, and the advisors were here for it. Many told TravelPulse that one of the most valuable benefits of their attendance (in addition to all they learned from suppliers) was simply the opportunity to glean tips and best practices from other travel advisors.

Ashley Stevens, a travel advisor with Trellis Travel in Liberty, North Carolina, attended GTM Luxury for the first time this year, after having heard great things about Northstar's regional GTM events.

"The luxury GTM event was attractive to me because I'm trying to expand more in that market and really serve my luxury clients in a more varied way," Stevens said. "There's never enough opportunities to offer new things to luxury clients."

Stevens' two big takeaways from the event? That there are luxury suppliers she hadn’t even heard of yet. And the knowledge she absorbed from conversations with other advisors.

“I learned a lot from other travel advisors that are out there doing the same thing as I am,” continued Stevens. “Having access to those more experienced advisors in my boardrooms and learning from their input was very valuable.”

Tywana Minor, owner and lead travel advisor for Live Travel Go LLC, offered similar sentiments. Minor said the "brand awareness and education" provided by GTM Luxury are "essential to business growth and success."

"You go further in partnerships, and that's why this event is so important for luxury travel advisors," said Minor. And like Stevens, engaging with peers and partners was another major value for Minor at the gathering.

“Come prepared to engage with peers and partners. This event is intense and a lot of good things happen over a thoughtfully planned two-and-a-half days,” Minor said. “Use this time to focus, meet new peers and remember to lift as you climb, because there are agents with 25-plus years of experience and those with just a few years. We can all win in this industry.”

Meako Payne, a travel advisor and owner of Stay Gone Travel in Aburndale, Florida, was another first-timer at GTM Luxury this year. She came to expand her knowledge of the luxury travel industry at a time when her luxury clientele is rapidly growing.

Just being in the room with so many different luxury travel suppliers and brands at GTM, Payne said, was an incredibly valuable growing experience. "Learning more about the brands and having access to reach out to them and the connection that is given to us by being here, to have direct access to communicate with these brands, was great for me."

Suppliers making equally valuable connections

Keson Tinker, a regional manager with the Bahamas Tourist Office, was among the dozens of suppliers at GTM Luxury this year. It was Tinker's first time attending (and the first time for the Bahamas as a destination). Tinker told TravelPulse he was there to spread the message that the Bahamas is a viable vacation option even for West Coast travelers.

"Most of the travelers on the West Coast know of Hawaii and Mexico. But I think what's happening is a lot of people are getting fatigued with those destinations," Tinker told TravelPulse.

"We're a new option, we're another option. And we want to make sure that people who want to go to the Bahamas are experiencing the entire destination. Because unlike some of the other neighbors in the Caribbean, we are 700 islands as opposed to just one island. And we market 16 of those islands for tourism purposes," Tinker added.

"So, we want to make sure people see a holistic picture. We want to make sure they experience the entire destination and not just Nassau and Paradise Island."

Making connections and networking with travel advisors at GTM Luxury is critical to spreading that message, Tinker explained.

"Although this is our first time attending, we know what GTM has to offer and we're just so excited to capitalize on some of the opportunities that exist here," Tinker said. "These are definitely the type of travel advisors we want to connect with. We want to tell our story and we want to ensure that they know they are an extension of us."

And one more important note for all of the travel advisors: the Bahamas specialist program has just undergone a complete revamp. There are more perks than ever before, a loyalty program and FAM trips.

"There is so much we have to offer travel advisors right now," Tinker said.

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