In our most recent issue, under the title Wooing of Luxury Agents: New Game in Town, we laid out the evidence that wooing and winning the affections of high end agents had gained real momentum among suppliers in luxury travel

Even before the downturn of late '08, there was strong evidence that hotel marketing groups like Leading, SLH, Preferred, and hotel brand clusters around the globe, were working harder to create stronger bonds and benefits for the best luxury producers from the agency sector. But the "new game in town", as we dubbed it, was the seeming rush of some large consumer oriented sites (whose client or member hotels display their offerings), to accommodate luxury agents surfing their sites for good values for their own clients. Read Wooing of Luxury Agents: New Game in Town

And wow! Did we ever get great reader mail -- particularly from high end agents on (1) why luxury hotels are indeed eager to have luxury agents exposed to their deals in this difficult economy, and (2) how luxury properties should treat these ‘tough time' sales to build better long-term relationships with enterprising agents responding to those consumer ads.
I was mindful, as I read my mail, that our coverage of the new value of high end agents being discovered by high end hoteliers in this downturn, was triggered by a conversation with Matthew Upchurch last December on what I labeled The Virtuoso Process in customer relationships, retention, and high reward, plus the incomparable multiplier effect thereby delivered for both agent and supplier.
So, to Coming Attractions: I doubled back to Virtuoso, this time to President Kristi Jones, and had a lively conversation that included opinions expressed by readers of my column. Too good to get clipped by limited space in this Issue. Look for it April 23, please.

Hershel Sarbin

Well, maybe not so new. Think of it this way: How many luxury agencies are there in the United States? Two thousand at most, say the experts we interview, and the top producers almost always are part of consortia like Virtuoso, Signature,  et al.
Wooing and winning top agents is at the core of their surviving and thriving.

And certainly, Hotel Marketing and Management enterprises, like Leading Hotels, Small Luxury Hotels, Relais & Chateaux, are eager to grow the flow of luxury agent bookings from the U.S., including those from the major consortia. Ditto for mega hotel brand clusters around the globe.

Even before the downturn of late '08, there was evidence galore that all these groups were working harder to create stronger bonds and benefits for the best luxury producers from the agency sector.

Of course, building loyalty from high-end agents whose primary loyalties lie with good customers and a good bottom line, is often touch and go. And surely those luxury properties and the stewards of their global marketing would love to have new customers, and old, call direct.
 
But Oh My! That 20-30% of a property's top-rated business via agents is a powerful incentive for high-end wooing---and the ante in building one to one relationships keeps getting raised.

So now for The New Game in Town: Our interviews with leader brands above reflect new energy and investment in building more personalized opportunities for constant connection-via the web and online communication-to show off the tasty deals and packages now pervasive at the high end of the market. Agents are shopping for The Best Deals and The Right Deals for their loyal clients and new ones too.

And these days, agents enjoy a larger playground for such searches than ever before. How about KIWI (see related story this issue), and Indagare, and jgBlack Book of Travel,  and Luxury Link, and Sherman, and more, on the luxury front? Or promised upgrades in servicing agents from top drawer Small Luxury Hotels? 

• "Business centers will be more important than spas in the next ten years" because of the conflation of business and leisure - which Sanderson labels "bleisure."
• The "mix" in how people plan travel "has become muddied." Even as travelers use the Internet more, "in some ways travel agents have become more important than ever because they have the voice of authority."
• The key words in travel will be Truth-Transparency-- Trust.
• Travel is increasingly becoming about the things money cannot buy - experiences and emotions are treasured.
• In a trend that Sanderson calls "Slowtopia," tourism will once again be about the "glamorous departure" and the "languorous, civilized journey".