What a Millennial travel professional really does at Virtuoso Travel Week

Sure, it’s Vegas at its finest… and sure, there is free booze. But despite the influx of excitement and information, even the youngest attendees come back educated and inspired.

By Chelsea Petre, Marketing Communications Coordinator at Cadence

As a first-timer at Virtuoso Week in Las Vegas, I felt a little like a child on the first day of school. Everything was grand, exciting, new and a little bit scary. Surrounded by seasoned travel advisors and elite industry professionals, my fellow newbies and I definitely stood out. (Was it the wide eyed stares or the comical amount of brochures we steadily crammed into our day bags?) Dubbed the “Next-Gen” group by Cadence CEO Wendy Burk, we all eagerly, and maybe a little too eagerly, scribbled down notes and drooled over the destinations we had not yet visited.

Despite getting lost in the magic of Virtuoso Travel Week, I did manage to do find three things:

1. Education
VAST (Virtuoso’s Active and Specialty Travel) is full-day exhibit of all that is adventurous in the world of travel. Exotic safaris, luxury trains, breathtaking lodges… This is the stuff travel dreams are made of. As I wandered from booth to booth my mental wish list of travel plans became too long to remember. My favorite: Arctic Kingdom's arctic safaris, complete with polar bears and narwhals and the northern lights. The only possible con is the very real possibility that I will smuggle a seal pup home in my suitcase.

2. Inspiration:
You must get a copy (here) of Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Greatest Trips from National Geographic. This coffee table book’s stunning collection of photographs will give you a glimpse of the unforgettable trips planned by National Geographic Expeditions.

3. Vision:
One of my favorite quotes from the week was, “Celebrate the past but imagine the future”. As a travel millennial, I undoubtedly don’t know as much as some of my experienced colleagues, but the future is bright... and the possibilities are endless!

What did you find at Virtuoso Travel Week this year? Tell us in the comments section below!