More than eight in ten Virtuoso travel advisors thought 2020 was going to have higher sales than 2019. Early on in 2020, agents were seeing double digit growth. Cruise business was up 17% over 2019 levels.

But we all know what happened, and the usual Virtuoso Travel Week extravaganza is taking this year on a virtual platform. Still, there’s no less passion or commitment to the cause, and there are plenty of optimistic signs in the business, speakers and panelists said during Monday’s opening day of business.

Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch said around 4,000 agents and advisors from 96 countries signed up for the virtual show, and that some 78,000 virtual appointments had been booked as of early Monday. Virtuoso also is providing 20 professional development classes and 30 destination and brand training classes; more than double the usual number.

Upchurch said Virtuoso, which has more than 22,000 advisors around the world, did $30 billion USD in business last year.

Speaking on a panel prior to the official opening, Haisley Smith, Vice President Marketing and Development at Brownlee Travel Inc., said agents and advisors “need to be paid more equitably” and need to “make sure we earn for the work we do when we do it.”

Becky Powell, president, Protravel International, said advisors are increasingly being asked to be experts not just about destinations but about rapidly changing health policies around the world.

Powell noted that some agents don’t charge for their services, “but that knowledge is now more important than ever.”

Upchurch agreed.

“I believe the role of advisors will be even more important” in the future, he said.

Powell also said she’s telling clients to add value, not drop their prices.

Speaking with Upchurch at a virtual press conference, Gloria Guevara, head of the World Travel and Tourism Council said, one in 10 jobs in the world are in travel and tourism. That’s a remarkable 330 million jobs in all.

Job losses to date due to COVID-19 so far total more than 121 million around the world, and that could reach nearly 200 million “if we don’t act the right way” and get governments to understand the importance of an industry that’s three times the size of agriculture, she said. .

Guevara said the world needs fewer barriers to travel but also needs more virus testing and contact tracing while people wait for a vaccine. There has been a lot of progress in China, while Iceland, Germany and Greece also have done great jobs.

“We have excellent times ahead,” said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC and Company, which handles tourism for New York City. “We’re going to rebuild this beach one grain of sand at a time.”

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, said Celebrity is in no hurry to get back to cruising.

“When we do get back, we want to to do it the right way,” she said.

When things turn around Lutoff-Perlo said consumers “are going to be so confident in what we’re doing. They’re going to be so confident not only in the protocols but where we’re taking them.

“We know that any concerns people have about cruising will be allayed by what we’re doing.”

Philippe Zuber, COO and incoming CEO of Kerzner International, said villas and places with private pools are very much in demand. Extended stays, sometimes of four weeks, also are more common these days.

Geoffrey Kent, founder and co-chairman of Abercrombie and Kent, said clients are looking for adventure and activities such as trekking, things they can do as a family. Big cities not so popular right now, he said.

There is still plenty of worry in the industry. In a survey undertaken this month, agents around the world were asked to describe their attitude about the industry. Only 3% of respondent said the worst is behind us. Forty three per cent said they’re very concerned and that recovery will be slow, while only 16% said they were confident about the industry’s future and that travel will recover quickly.

Almost 50% said their bookings right now are either none or very few. Of those who are making bookings, adventure and beach/island destinations were doing quite well, especially on a domestic basis.

Asked to name hotel attributes that Virtuoso travellers are looking for, advisors said places specializing in adventure, seclusion, beaches, golf and skiing were all showing increased interest. Interest in hotels with “city life” or “landmarks” attributes were way down.

Asked if they were ready to travel now, a full 100% of those aged 18-25 were ready to do so. That number drops steadily as people get older. Only a quarter of those aged 56 to 76 – prime travelling years – said they were ready to get moving right now.

Virtuoso also recently asked advisors to name the top destinations in the world, and in the U.S. For the world, South Africa came out on top, followed by Italy, Australia, France and Japan. For the U.S., the top five were California, Hawaii, Alaska, Washington and Montana; all places with room for natural adventures and plenty of room to practice social distancing.

David Kolner, Virtuoso’s senior vice president of strategy, said travellers are booking closer to their travel date and also closer to home.

Kolner had some fun as well. At one point he put up a mock slide that purported to ask advisors how often one needs to change one’s sweatpants. About 5% said every day, 14% every two days, 53% said “nothing matters anymore,” and the rest answered, “What are pants?”