TORONTO — Virtuoso’s Canadian footprint has expanded to more than 2,200 advisors, up 18% since 2017, with year-over-year sales growth pegged at 26% for a total of US$2.1 billion.
The luxury retail network has seen a meteoric rise in Canada in a short amount of time. Back in 2014, Virtuoso had just 12 member agencies in Canada.
Worldwide Virtuoso now has 1,000+ travel agency partners with 20,000 travel advisors in 50 countries.
Here in Canada some 350 affiliated advisors and preferred partners came out for two Virtuoso Travel Week events in Toronto and Vancouver earlier this month, picking up on the momentum from the high-profile Virtuoso Travel Week event held every year in Las Vegas.
The Toronto and Vancouver events included the fast-paced 7-minute relationship-building sessions between members and partners, just like in Vegas.
Virtuoso’s marketing products, including email opportunities to advisors and direct mail opportunities to consumers, are now available with Canada-specific offers and pricing in Canadian currency.
Virtuoso’s first partner designated for Canada is insurance company Alllianz. A longtime supplier in the U.S., Allianz is now a preferred partner for Canada as well.
Virtuoso also recently debuted a Canadian Member Advisory Board, with eight agency owners and managers providing the network with input to customize programs and initiatives for the Canadian market.
Professional development sessions at both the Toronto and Vancouver events included a look at new network-exclusive initiatives that aim to save advisors time, enhance their organization and provide programs and marketing materials to clients. They include Virtuoso Wanderlist (formerly Virtuoso Orchestrator), the relaunched long-term travel planning tool.
Virtuoso research shows that advisors who use one of the network’s three itinerary management tools grew partner sales by 29%.
Virtuoso’s MyMarketing is a self-service platform geared to enhancing advisor efficiency by increasing usage of marketing offerings. Virtuoso marketing assets are now centrally stored and agents can access real-time reports of client engagement, for follow-up and action.
