Virtuoso announced it will welcome industry leaders to Vienna next year for its 2020 Virtuoso Symposium, taking place March 17-21. The event is returning to the Austrian city for the second time in celebration of a significant milestone: At the event in 2000, in Vienna, the former API Travel Consultants rebranded as Virtuoso.
The strong relationship between Virtuoso, the Austrian Tourist Office and the Vienna Tourist Board was a key factor in securing Symposium for the city. The high-level business event gathers the most influential decision makers in up-market travel for networking and experiences as well as discussions on industry trends, challenges and opportunities. Throughout the conference, the spotlight is on the host destination and its highly desirable luxury offerings.
With approximately half of the anticipated 500 Symposium attendees being travel agency owners or managers spanning the globe, Vienna will have the opportunity to display its upscale offerings to the group. Austria is a destination on the rise; in 2018 it welcomed 45 million hotel arrivals and 150 million overnight visitors from around the world. That marked a 4.1 percent increase in hotel arrivals and 3.5 percent increase in overnights year over year. Travel and tourism accounts for 15.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, totalling $66.4 billion.
The Austrian Tourist Office and the Vienna Tourist Board are sponsoring the event with additional support from the following Virtuoso-preferred partners:
- Hotel Bristol, A Luxury Collection Hotel
- Hotel Imperial, A Luxury Collection Hotel
- The Ritz-Carlton, Vienna
- Park Hyatt Vienna
- Palais Hansen Kempinski
- Hotel Sacher Wien
- Palais Coburg Residenz
- Mondial Destination Management
“Austria holds a special place in Virtuoso’s history and there is nowhere more appropriate to mark the 20th anniversary of our brand than where is all started,” said Matthew D. Upchurch, Virtuoso Chairman and CEO.
Vienna will join Hong Kong and Cape Town to host the event twice. The network’s latest Symposium was held May 7-11 in Melbourne, Australia.
Virtuoso has over 1,000 travel agency locations in more than 50 countries throughout North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Its 20,000 elite travel advisors are responsible for $26.4 billion in sales annually.
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