IRT “Virtuosos” Bond With Luxury Travel Pros in Vegas
Sometimes it pays to be friendly.
One night at the annual Virtuoso Travel Week convention in Las Vegas, IRT Society President Eleanor Hardy was dining with Elizabeth, an old friend and partner from London in the Bellagio’s specialty Italian restaurant.
Admiring the hotel’s famous fountains, Eleanor turned to the next table and, with her usual Southern friendliness, introduced herself to a fellow diner.
As it turned out, he was sales manager for one of Canada’s top hotels, Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac in Quebec — the very hotel she had just booked for two top clients.
And this is where the Virtuoso magic happened.
“That lovely man took out his pad and pen,” Eleanor continued, “made notes about my clients, who were celebrating a milestone birthday, and promised to wow them.”
The result?
Eleanor’s clients received a courtesy upgrade to a fabulous specialty suite, a value of over $1,000, with a fabulous view, fabulous complimentary wine and of course all the usual amenities.
“I feel like a princess in a tower!” the wife exclaimed when she called Eleanor from her room.
Indeed, Eleanor and the entire IRT staff (sans yours truly) are in Las Vegas right now, attending our luxury travel consortium’s annual convention.
They’re meeting with representatives from the world’s top luxury travel providers: cruise lines, hotels, adventure travel companies, safari companies, ground operators and more. (And of course rail companies!)
They’re connecting with the top people in the luxury travel business to make sure you, our customers, get the very best.
And this year, we’re proud to report that The Society of International Railway Travelers is up for a special Virtuoso award.
“We’ve been selected as one of the Virtuoso travel agencies with the highest percentage growth, year over year, in sales and revenue.” Eleanor said. “We are thrilled to be nominated.”
“Also, staff member Nora Elzy has been nominated as a “rising star” for cruise sales,” Eleanor continued. Although we specialize in luxury trains, Eleanor said, “we book cruises for repeat clients, because we know what our customers want.”
In addition, IRT’s Rachel Hardy will be interviewed for a Virtuoso video about our agency’s great relationship with our adventure partners.
And Eleanor herself will be interviewed by Virtuoso for a special video concerning the consortium’s latest planning tool: “Wanderlist.” (She is one of only about 100 advisors in the world specially trained to use this program.)
“Wanderlist is way more than a computer program. It is just one part of a dynamic planning tool we can use — to leverage my 36+ years of travel experience and knowledge and our great personal relationships with our Virtuoso partners around the world to develop a three- to five-year plan for travel. I love that people will be able to plot out which of the World’s Top 25 Trains they will do next — and next, and then next. Our most popular venues sell out so quickly; planning far ahead is a must.”
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Need personal, professional attention when planing your next luxury train trip or other luxury travel?
Want all the fab extras we can get for you through our great Virtuoso personal relationships?
Email us, or call us at (800) 478-4881 (U.S. and Canada), (502) 897-1725 (elsewhere).
And be sure to ask about our new “Wanderlist” long-range trip-planning service. We will be accepting a limited number of Wanderlist clients for the rest of 2019.
