My partner and I recently attended Virtuoso Forum 2017 held in Palm Springs, California at the beautiful La Quinta Resort and Club, a Virtuoso property and renowned desert destination for Hollywood luminaries and world travelers since 1926.

So, what is Virtuoso Forum, you ask? It is an opportunity for owners and managers of Virtuoso agencies to gather in a collaborative setting that promotes learning, sharing, and empowerment. We attended several breakout training sessions on a variety of topics ranging from meeting the challenges of traveling with families to new trends in technology for the travel business to sustainable tourism, and much more.  Not only were we able to network and share ideas with other Virtuoso management teams from here in the USA and around the globe, but we also devoted an entire afternoon to one-on-one partner sessions with representatives from Virtuoso properties and travel suppliers worldwide.  In addition, we heard from Virtuoso leaders about industry trends and future directions for 2017.  I’ve included an entertaining video recapping the year 2016 that was put together by the marketing team at Virtuoso at the end of this article.

Fortunately for us, we were able to attend all of this valuable training in an absolutely stunning oasis-like, desert setting at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains (Thanks, La Quinta and the Waldorf Astoria brand). I forgot how blue those skies are! Although we were busy with meetings and events pretty much from dawn to dusk, we both thoroughly enjoyed the welcome reception and live music on Friday evening (shout out to the Andy Chiles Band!). I’ve posted several pictures of the spectacular grounds at the La Quinta Resort and Club in the image gallery above the article for you to get a glimpse of the La Quinta property. If you see a picture of a pool, don’t think that is the only one — La Quinta boasts 41 pools scattered around the property.

Our partnership with Virtuoso has been great for our business and great for our clients. We deeply appreciate all the support we receive from Virtuoso and the added benefits our clients enjoy through our Virtuoso membership.

Sharon Betts

Co-Owner, Travel Advisor