Virtuoso is heading to Australia for its 2019 Symposium. The luxury travel event will be held in Melbourne May 7 – 11, and will mark the second time Australia has played host to the Virtuoso Symposium, the first being in Sydney in 2009. Only Hong Kong and Spain have also hosted the event on two different occasions, Virtuoso said.
The event will bring approximately 500 luxury travel advisors and executives to Australia for a week-long conference that includes business meetings, networking events and experiences that highlight the destination. Approximately 50 percent of the Symposium attendees will be travel agency owners or managers.
Tourism Australia, along with Visit Victoria, are sponsoring the event. In a written statement John O’Sullivan, managing director, Tourism Australia, said the event will allow Australian tourism operators to show off the destination to travel advisors first-hand.
Virtuoso Chairman and CEO Matthew D. Upchurch said that, since the organization began operating in Australia in 2004, it has grown to 89 travel agency locations in the country, and that Virtuoso is expecting further growth.
Tourism Australia has worked with Virtuoso in North America since 2015 with the aim of building a greater connection between the international luxury market and Australia’s luxury offering, Virtuoso said.
Virtuoso’s most recent Symposium took place March 17-22, in an event aboard seven competing river cruise ships on the Rhine River.
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