After one year of holding Virtuoso Travel Week virtually, the event returns in 2021 with a hybrid approach.

Around 2,000 are expected to attend in person in Las Vegas, while “several thousand” others will join in virtually, Virtuoso said.

The event will be held Aug. 8-13 online and in Las Vegas, spread between the Bellagio Resort & Casino, Aria Resort & Casino and Vdara Hotel & Spa.

Virtuoso Travel Week will continue to focus on its hallmark one-on-one networking appoints, as well as professional development, for both in-person and online attendees.

But “equally important,” Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch said in a statement, “are the ‘meetings after the meeting’ that take place in the hallways of Bellagio, or during dinner or, quite frankly, over a drink at the bar. That relationship-building is crucial to restarting travel in a meaningful way and that leadership by our network in investing in relationships is at the core of our success, professionally and personally.”

David Kolner, Virtuoso’s senior vice president of network products and strategy, said in an interview that planning the hybrid event has led to at least one surprise.

“We are getting some people who are registering for the online event from the United States who aren’t coming, not because of financial challenges, but because they’re so busy,” Kolner said. “They actually feel like they could work the online version in better to their schedule, versus the immersive, being out of the office for five days.”

Virtuoso Travel Week is open to all agencies, advisors and suppliers who belong to Virtuoso. In-person attendance requests should be made by June 10. Virtual attendees will be accepted through July 14.

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