Virtuoso has hosted its first-ever Meet & Greet dinner for member agencies in the Middle East and Africa – at the prestigious Atlantis The Royal in Dubai. The event marks a significant step forward in Virtuoso’s growth strategy for the region, bringing together key luxury travel advisors and influential partners from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Virtuoso is a global network of luxury travel advisors and providers, renowned for its influential role in shaping upscale travel experiences. Its members include carefully selected agencies, hotels, cruise lines, and tour operators, working collaboratively to offer highly personalised itineraries and insider access to discerning clients.
The evening, set against the backdrop of one of Dubai’s most iconic hotels, featured warm welcomes from Brigid McDonnell, Virtuoso’s general manager for the Middle East and Africa, and Kyp Charalambous, vice president of sales at Atlantis The Royal. Representatives from five of Virtuoso’s nine regional member agencies attended the gathering, which is the first in a planned series of quarterly events aimed at fostering stronger connections and collaboration.
“As Virtuoso continues to expand in the Middle East & Africa, our goal is to build a connected and supportive network,” said McDonnell. “By bringing together our esteemed member agencies via these casual gatherings – which we plan to host quarterly with various preferred partners – we are not just facilitating business opportunities but laying the foundation for the Virtuoso community in the region.”
Since establishing the Middle East and Africa as its own standalone region just last year, Virtuoso has already welcomed six new member agencies. This growth underscores the region’s rising importance within the global luxury travel market.
Saudi Arabia: a key driver of Virtuoso’s vision
With Saudi Arabia’s ambitious tourism development plans capturing global attention, Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch, speaking exclusively to sa-fe.org, highlighted the unprecedented scale and ambition of Saudi Arabia’s tourism evolution.
“What Saudi Arabia is accomplishing right now is unprecedented,” said Upchurch. “It’s not merely modernising; it’s rediscovering and restoring its own heritage through tourism. The energy and ambition among the young people I’ve met there is remarkable.”
During his travels across the Kingdom, Upchurch visited key sites including Jeddah’s historic old city and AlUla, where the transformative scale of the projects left a deep impression. He noted that luxury travellers are increasingly drawn to destinations that offer authenticity, meaningful experiences, and the chance to be part of something truly transformative.
“Virtuoso advisors and their clients aren’t just interested in seeing these places—they want to be part of their story,” he added. Recently opened luxury properties on the Red Sea coast are reinforcing Saudi Arabia’s position as a premier global luxury destination, he said.
Leading sustainability and innovation
Upchurch also praised Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainable tourism, citing its pioneering developments at The Red Sea and AlUla. “With substantial resources at their disposal, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to test and scale sustainable solutions that can benefit the entire global tourism industry,” he observed.
Developing local talent
Another critical area Upchurch highlighted is workforce training and development. He emphasised that Saudi Arabia’s approach to tourism involves not just welcoming international visitors, but empowering local communities through job creation and skills development. “When you undertake training at such scale, it sets new standards globally,” he said.
Virtuoso continues to support strong collaboration between private and public sectors, with Upchurch specifically commending recent partnerships between WTTC and UN Tourism at high-profile events in Riyadh.
As Saudi Arabia increasingly becomes central to the global luxury travel conversation, Virtuoso’s Dubai gathering underlines Virtuoso’s long-term commitment to making the Middle East and Africa pivotal regions in the world of luxury travel.
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Read also: Transformative luxury travel: Virtuoso’s key projections for 2025
