Connections That Move Travel Forward: Andavo at Virtuoso Travel Week 2026
There are few places where the power of relationships in luxury travel is more visible than Virtuoso Travel Week.
This August, the Andavo team joined many of our independent travel advisors in Las Vegas for Virtuoso Travel Week 2026—one of the most important gatherings of the global luxury travel community and a week filled with meaningful conversations, new ideas, professional development and, of course, a little fun along the way.
Virtuoso Travel Week brings together thousands of leading luxury travel professionals and providers from more than 100 countries for a week designed around connection, learning and business growth. Through one-on-one appointments, professional development, destination and trend sessions, technology discussions and countless informal conversations, the event creates opportunities that extend far beyond the week itself.
For Andavo, that is exactly what makes being there so valuable.
Strengthening the Relationships Behind Extraordinary Travel
Throughout the week, our advisors participated in an incredible number of individual table meetings and networking appointments with hotels, resorts, cruise lines, tour operators, destination partners and other luxury travel providers from around the world.
These face-to-face conversations are an important part of what allows a travel advisor to provide such extraordinary value to clients.
A relationship strengthened in Las Vegas might become the connection that helps secure a special experience for a honeymoon couple, creates an unforgettable welcome at a hotel, or gives an advisor the right person to call when a client’s plans unexpectedly change.
Virtuoso describes these relationships as one of the most important differentiators of a Virtuoso advisor, and Travel Week provides access to more than 1,000 hotels, resorts, tour operators and other travel providers.
The Andavo team also held strategic meetings with key preferred partners throughout the week. These conversations allowed us to look beyond today’s business and begin discussing how we can strengthen partnerships, create more meaningful marketing opportunities for our advisors and develop collaborative plans as we head into the coming year.
The meetings may happen during Travel Week, but the real work begins when we return home—following up, continuing conversations and turning those connections and ideas into opportunities for our advisors and their clients.
Learning From Some of the Best
Virtuoso Travel Week is equally valuable for its professional development.
Our team and advisors had opportunities to hear from industry leaders and thought-provoking speakers, including actor, director and award-winning travel writer Andrew McCarthy, whose own journey from Hollywood’s “Brat Pack” to acclaimed travel writing offered a distinctive perspective on exploration, storytelling and the transformative nature of travel.
The week’s Opening General Session also provided an important look at the state of Virtuoso and the luxury travel industry.
And the outlook remains strong. Virtuoso reported that overall sales are pacing more than 20 percent ahead of last year, including significant year-over-year growth across hotels, cruises, tours and onsite partners.
At the same time, technology—and particularly artificial intelligence—continues to transform the way our industry operates. Yet one message remained clear throughout the week: as technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, human relationships become more valuable, not less.
That made this year’s keynote speaker especially fitting.
Brené Brown Returns to the Virtuoso Stage
Researcher and bestselling author Brené Brown returned to Virtuoso Travel Week this year, 15 years after her first appearance before the network.
Known for bringing humor, candor and research together in conversations about courage, vulnerability, leadership and human connection, Brown has long been a favorite among audiences for her ability to make big ideas feel remarkably human.
Her return also created a meaningful full-circle moment.
When Brown addressed Virtuoso 15 years ago, she spoke about something that feels even more relevant today: as technology becomes more deeply embedded in our lives, people will increasingly crave authentic human connection.
For an industry built upon trust, relationships and deeply personal experiences, that message couldn’t feel more timely.
Technology may continue to change how we work, but understanding a traveler, building trust, nurturing relationships around the world and being there when someone needs us remain fundamentally human.
Time Together as Team Andavo
Of course, some of the week’s most memorable connections happened outside the meeting rooms.
Our Andavo advisors and team gathered for a private lunch with our new CEO, Josh Cameron, members of our executive leadership team and colleagues from across the Andavo community.
With busy schedules and advisors located throughout the country, having so many members of our community together in one room was something worth celebrating. It gave us an opportunity to reconnect with longtime friends, welcome newer faces and spend time together away from the fast pace of Travel Week appointments.
And then there was Western Night!
Virtuoso’s themed casual evening—officially A Night on Rodeo Drive this year—gave everyone an opportunity to trade business attire for boots, hats and Western style and simply enjoy being together.
Our Andavo team and advisors spent the evening laughing, connecting and strengthening the friendships that make this network feel like much more than a collection of independent businesses.
Those moments matter, too.
Why Virtuoso Travel Week Matters
It’s easy to describe Virtuoso Travel Week by the numbers: thousands of attendees, more than 100 countries represented and an extraordinary concentration of the world’s leading luxury travel partners.
But its real value is much harder to quantify.
It’s an advisor discovering the perfect new property for a longtime client.
It’s a supplier relationship becoming a friendship.
It’s an unexpected conversation that sparks a new business idea.
It’s learning what’s changing in luxury travel before those changes become obvious.
And it’s strengthening the global relationships that ultimately allow our advisors to create better experiences for the travelers who trust them.
That is why showing up matters.
We returned from Las Vegas inspired, energized and incredibly grateful for the advisors, partners and colleagues who spent the week with us.
Now comes the most important part: taking those conversations home, nurturing the relationships we strengthened, putting new ideas into action and continuing to grow together.
Until next year, Virtuoso Travel Week. 🤠
Andavo is proud to be part of a global luxury travel community that continues to prove something we believe deeply ourselves:
Great travel begins with great relationships.