Two years since the establishment of Virtuoso’s North and Southeast Asia team, the global network specialising in luxury and experiential travel has delivered its first event for the region.
Held last week at The Apurva Kempinski Bali in Indonesia, the Virtuoso North and Southeast Asia Forum packed in professional development sessions and B2B meetings between agency members and preferred partners.
According to Raymond Ang, Virtuoso general manager, North and Southeast Asia, the event enjoyed a strong turnout. Out of 27 agency members in the region, 26 attended the forum through 35 representatives.
“I think that was a very impressive turnout for a first-time regional event,” Ang told TTG Asia.
He added that agency members were also delighted with the “quality mix of partners”.
“The forum brought in a good variety of partners (luxury travel suppliers). We had both ocean and river cruises, several DMCs, tourism boards, hotel groups, and independent hotels,” he explained.
Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch told TTG Asia that the regional forum, through the participation of highly-productive specialist agencies, perfectly demonstrated the vast potential of Asia’s luxury travel market.
He said his view of the forum was best summed up by feedback from one of Virtuoso’s loyal preferred partners in Europe.
“She has been attending our European and Latin American events for years, and was at the Virtuoso North and Southeast Asia Forum for the first time. Here, she told us that the Forum gave her goose bumps because of the quantity and quality of the people (agency members) she met. She had heard about the potential of luxury travel in Asia, but got to experience it herself this time. She was also very impressed by the younger generation of agency members, who were so excited, engaging, and eager to learn (about luxury travel experiences and products),” shared Upchurch.
Upchurch emphasised that Virtuoso events “feed a virtuous cycle”, where participants “experience luxury travel opportunities on a very personal level and return to the company inspired to build a long-term business relationship”.
“It is not about the next transaction,” he remarked.
The Virtuoso North and Southeast Asia Forum concluded on April 3 with a gala dinner inspired by a Majapahit Imperial Dining experience at The Apurva Kempinski Bali.
It was the final stop in Virtuoso’s 2026 global Forum series.
