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? 

Without question, smart web brands that cut their teeth on "direct-to-consumer-to-us- or-hotel" economics know how powerful ‘the trusted advisor' concept is in today's marketplace. They are the new suitors in the luxury agent universe, and sometimes -only sometimes--the payoff is just to bond better with the hotels they serve.

In our next column we address the same topic, with further insights and color commentary from Kristi Jones, President of Virtuoso. Meanwhile, this thought from Kristi on the "travel professional as customer advocate" in the new marketing environment:

Read our interview with Matthew Upchurch.