Virtuoso has added two preferred suppliers to its portfolio: Access Culinary Trips, a culinary tour company, and PrivateFly, a private air booking platform.
“Access Culinary Trips’ concept is a perfect fit with two trends Virtuoso has observed growing of late: culinary travel and the desire to enjoy authentic local experiences,” said Cece Drummond, Virtuoso’s managing director of destinations and experiences. “Partnering with Access Culinary Trips will allow our advisors to offer truly immersive, culinary-inspired journeys that connect their clients to the local people, culture and cuisine on a whole new level.”
The Access Culinary Trips partnership will allow Virtuoso advisors to book culinary-focused small group tours with no more than 12 guests. Itineraries will offer chances to connect with locals, insider access to local cooking styles and ingredients, and demonstrations and tastings from chefs, farmers, wine makers and food producers. The tour operator also works to promote sustainable tourism by leaving a small ecological footprint, as well as to support select community-based efforts that protect local people, wildlife and cultural treasures.
The new partnership with PrivateFly will allow Virtuoso advisors to offer private jet travel to their clients through integration with PrivateFly’s technology platform and 24/7 team. PrivateFly provides access to an accredited global network of over 7,000 private charter aircraft, and the deal follows the company’s takeover of U.S. charter broker Bird Dog Jet in November 2017.
“Private jet charter is fast emerging from its exclusive niche and becoming more integrated in the travel industry through technology; better and more transparent pricing; and a greater awareness of private air options,” said PrivateFly CEO Adam Twidell in a written statement. “At PrivateFly we saw a year-on-year increase of 45 percent in b2b bookings in Q4 of 2017, and we expect this trend to continue, as more and more travel agents turn to private aviation.”
This story originally appeared on www,travelagentcentral.com.
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