A Global Travel Collection advisor created a trip that secured rare sunrise access at Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Flickr.com/ Liam Geoghegan)
The Global Travel Collection (GTC), a premier host agency whose advisor community accounts for $2.4 billion in sales, is underscoring the growth of a luxury travel trend that focuses on access and experiences rather than the price tag of a trip.
And, most importantly, affluent travelers are turning to travel advisors whom they believe can deliver experiences that would be nearly impossible to replicate or book online.
“Luxury travel isn’t about how much you spend, it’s about what doors open once you arrive,” said GTC President Angie Licea. “Our advisors trade in access, and that’s the rarest currency there is.”
GTC, which is a unit of Internova Travel Group, said that over the past year, its advisor members “booked 881 trips valued at six figures or more, reflecting a surge in travelers seeking deeply personalized, high-touch experiences.”
Additionally, the average daily rate for preferred hotel partner bookings rose to $1,400 last year, “compared to $1,200 for leisure travel overall and $584 across all travel verticals, signaling strong demand for premium accommodations and expertly curated journeys,” GTC said.
Furthermore, 44% of advisors within the GTC network now “generate more than $1 million in annual travel sales, underscoring the trust clients place in their expertise.”
As a case in point, the host agency noted that GTC advisor Cheri Burns arranged a six-night booking that included a full buyout of Four Seasons Taormina in Italy – the hotel where the second season of “The White Lotus was filmed – transforming one of the world’s most sought-after hotels into a completely private destination experience.
For her part, GTC luxury travel advisor Alyssa Scott created the “Seven Wonders of the World” trip for a high-profile content creator, securing rare, governing-authority approval for private sunrise access at Christ the Redeemer in Brazil,” GTC said.
“The experience included access to the statue’s shoulder – a level of exclusivity denied even to the most famous daytime talk show host – and marked the only instance in which personal drone footage has ever been approved at the monument,” the company added.
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