S1E7: Luxury Escapes Down Under
Listen to full episode :
Join us for an engaging discussion on luxury escapes in the “Down Under” region with our host Dan Christian and Fiona Dalton, the esteemed GM for Australia and New Zealand at Virtuoso. Prepare to explore the core of the latest travel trends emerging in Australia, understand the nuances of the strong resurgence of travel with a focus on luxurious experiences, and gain valuable perspectives from Fiona's impressive journey as a highly respected veteran in the travel industry, including her passion for mentorship and leadership roles at luxury brands like Uniworld River Cruises Australia and Virtuoso.
Fiona, a highly respected figure in the travel industry, shares her wealth of experience and insights gained from leading prominent luxury brands. She highlights the significant comeback of travel in Australia and the notable trend of travelers opting for more luxurious experiences. Her expert perspectives are sure to spark both envy and curiosity among listeners seeking travel inspiration. For those looking to fuel their wanderlust, Fiona's Instagram is highly recommended.
Curious to explore the luxurious travel trends in Australia and New Zealand?
Don't forget to show your support by hitting the like button and subscribing to the Travel Trends Podcast for a wealth of industry knowledge and expert guidance on your favourite Podcast App!
Connect with Our Guest: https://www.virtuoso.com/
0:15
Hello and welcome to Travel Trends. This is Dan Christian, and our guest today is Fiona Dalton. Fiona is the general manager of Virtuoso Australia and New Zealand, and she's just arrived back from her first trip to Montreal. Welcome, Fiona. Great to have you here.
Fiona: 0:28
Hey, Dan. Well thank you f first of all, thank you very much for inviting me to be on your show. It's really quite an honor. I am, yes, back in Sydney this morning. As you can see, it's still dark outside. Which probably explains my jet lag would probably explain why I'm up so early. I was in Montreal last week in Canada for about seven days, and I am almost embarrassed to confess to you after nearly 30 years in the travel industry, that was my first trip ever to Canada, my first time on Canadian soil, and I absolutely loved it. It's an amazing country you have, and I think it's just the beginning of what's gonna be many visits for me over to Canada, and certainly we enjoyed it very much. What a wonderful place.
Dan: 1:15
Oh, that's terrific. I'm so pleased to hear that. And when we connected about your trip, I didn't realize it was only your first time coming to Canada. As you know we've worked together for many years and we've seen each other in many places in the world. I was in LA of course, the last time we caught up, but Toronto was home for me, and that's where I hope you get to come to next. But Montreal is a great. Place to start and experience Canada. So tell us just a couple of things that stood out to you on that trip with the Virtuoso team.
Fiona: 1:41
So, Oh, look, first of all the people, I think we have a real synergy Canadians and Australians in terms of our values and the way we operate and, you know, the way we think. And, and so I just absolutely loved connecting with the Canadian people. I think the city itself is so unique and with so much history and culture and. Obviously the foodie scene was extraordinary in Montreal. I love the fact that it's an island itself. I love the fact that there's such a diverse population base in Montreal. I loved all the street art. We really got an opportunity to see some of that and some of our touring as well. It's a really beautiful city and of course we were totally spoiled with some of the, the great activations and dinners and experiences we had while they were, we were there. So much to look forward to. And I, and I certainly also enjoyed, I had a, a day in Vancouver on my way home transiting to come back to Sydney on Qantas, on I think it was Monday night, and that opportunity to spend some time walking around the waterfront in Vancouver. Again, just a taster, but I can't wait to get back.
Dan: 2:50
Yeah, well we lived in Vancouver before we moved to Australia, and Vancouver is very similar to Sydney in the sense that it's a stunningly beautiful city, like aesthetically. The setting and the scenery is spectacular, whereas Toronto and Melbourne are more closely aligned in that. It's really a city of neighborhoods. And so you'll
Fiona: 3:08
Yeah, I could see that. That's true.
Dan: 3:10
Yeah. And Montreal to an extent as well. But and I have built out some, built in some questions to the trivia based on your recent travel. So that's your, that's your one hint. We, we'll get to that. I'd actually like to start at the beginning because I know when we worked together which I was fortunate to have that opportunity and hearing your story It was clear to me that your, you had a really interesting background before you came into travel. You were working in finance, you're working in high finance, you were living overseas. So I think that would be actually a great place to start to give everyone some context of how you actually decided to get into travel industry. Cuz there's no question you love travel, but you've been able to marry your passion with your business and professional interests. But that's not where your journey started. So why don't you tell everyone where it did start and how you actually made your way into this wonderful industry that we're both fortunate to be a part of.
Fiona: 4:04
Yeah, sure. I think mine's probably one of the the more unique backgrounds in terms of my entrance into travel. When I left school, Dan, I was at school here in Sydney. And look, the short version of a long story is that I really wanted to go to university, but my, my parents wanted me to go to university back in our hometown up in Newcastle, but I wanted to stay in Sydney, so, Being the quite stubborn and you know, quite ambitious person I was at the time. I just decided to get a job. So for me I was very fortunate. I had some contacts. I got into a stock breaking company here in Australia and that one thing led to another. And within a couple of years I found myself working in the financial markets and working in the money markets and then moving over to trade the Australian dollar in the foreign exchange market. I joined a, a company called Rothchild, who were head officed out of the uk. Rothchild were probably one of the best bullion bankers in the world. And through Rothschild I was exposed to trading precious metals and had an opportunity to work on the, the spot desk for the Silver book here in Australia. And one thing led to another. I found myself in London. I was employed by Rothschild in London and worked on the trading desk over there for a year and a half. And it was an extraordinary experience. We traded through the Gulf War back in those days. At one point I was on what they call the graveyard shift, where I started at 3:00 AM and finished at sort of midday you know, in Australia working the New York close through to. You know, the, the, the end of the Tokyo session. So it was a really extraordinary time, but it wasn't my passion as you rightly pointed out. And after I came back from or, or rather as I was leaving London, I'd started to get a taste for travel and I was really fortunate to spend about six months in Africa on my way home from living in London. And it was at that time that things started to click for me. I think I had my 25th birthday in Kenya. And you know, working, not working, but living in these really incredible places for a short period of time and meeting people who had. So much less than I had, but was so happy. You know, meeting people, living in villages where, you know, running water was a luxury. And by the time I'd spent this incredible period of time in, in Africa, I came back to Australia and was again, reemployed in financial markets. I actually went to work for Macquarie Bank in those days, which is a, a big Australian success story on the global scene now. And I had this incredible job, but it a, again, my heart was somewhere else. And at that point I realized I had to make a really conscious and deliberate decision to finally take the plunge and change industries. And so moving out of investment banking was pretty tough for someone who was doing quite well and starting again in travel right at the very bottom. Was what I knew I had to do. But at the end of the day you know, if you're ever gonna make your mark, you have to know your craft. And so I, I joined Flight Center in those days, learned fairs and ticketing one and two, learned how to be a, a travel consultant back in those days, but was very focused on one goal. And that was how I could work hard enough and learn enough to be a, to be our value. To the national Airline and to get a job with Qantas. That was what I really wanted to do, and I did that. I ended up working in their wholesale business, which became Qantas holidays, and that propelled me into the next stage of my career. And then I, I, you know, the rest is history. I was able to move through. I. Qantas holidays, I moved into hotels and resorts with Le Meridian. From from there, I worked again with Macquarie Bank to run their travel program globally for them. So I went back to Macquarie in a very different capacity with a, a very different skillset. And from there I went back and, and spent some time honing my leadership skills as the general manager of sales for Qantas holidays. Which led to my meeting with you when I was the managing director of Uniworld. One of the world's best boutique luxury river cruise lines at the Travel Corporation. And that was back in about 2016, I think, when we first met Dan.
Dan: 8:22
Yeah, that's right. No, that's, I think your story's inspiring, but also very interesting, especially when you meet people, as you do now, when you mentor and people are getting into the travel industry. You don't enter this business for money. That's for sure. And, and it's difficult sometimes for people to transition not only from other industries, by virtue of the financial compensation, which clearly you made that decision. And ultimately it can work out, but it's certainly not where you start. And then the other aspect of that, of course, is the the culture, the work culture which. Working in, in finance, but working in banks. And whenever I'd interview people and I'd look to see w will they fit in this culture? You know, will, can they move from a very highly structured corporate environment to a very often dynamic, entrepreneurial, fast changing, you just mentioned the Gulf War and. There's no shortage of crisis that we manage in the travel industry. I liken it sometimes when people say it feels like it's working at a hospital, even though it's not life or death, but in sometimes it feels like it is with the intensity that people put into their holidays and how stressful it can be at certain times, but, Did the world, did the world of finance prepare you then, well, for the world of travel? And what would you highlight as the cultural shift and change once you's got into a business like Qantas? And just to set the stage for those people who are looking to enter our industry or, or come back to our, our industry. Yeah. What, what really stands out about the culture of, of the travel industry?
Fiona: 9:46
Well, I think the first point I'd make is that working in finance made me realize that my analytical, my financial skills were much stronger than I ever believed them to be. And as I transitioned back into general business, if you like, in the travel industry, it made me realize that whilst I was strong in the, in the sales arena, I had really good, capable strategic relationship management skills. But I also had the financial discipline to go with them, and I found that that was quite unique and certainly from my point of view gave me a really a competitive edge in the workplace. Typically, salespeople aren't so great with numbers and typically numbers. People aren't so great with sales functions and you know, that's a broad generalization I know, but I just felt very fortunate that I had the ability to Transition across both those disciplines to some degree. So I, I'm grateful to my finance background for giving me that. In terms of culture, I think it was really interesting because in investment banking in, in financial markets, you're really valued for the for your, your, your remunerated for the value that you can bring an organization. And, you know, the top traders earn an enormous amount of money regardless of what kind of cultural fit in they are. That, that they are in those organizations. But in our industry culture is everything and making sure that, you know, you can work as part of a team, making sure that you're collaborative working with like-minded people who are, as you say nimble and quick thinkers with an entrepreneurial spirit. We don't always see that a lot in our industry, but when you can get a group of those people together, great things can happen. And I think working in Macquarie Bank not just once, but on both occasions taught me some of those skills and gave me the ability from a cultural point of view to apply them in the environments I've been in, in in, in travel. So I really feel very fortunate. I always say, and people ask me about, From a mentoring point of view about whether they should apply for a certain job or, you know, what pathway talk to me about what pathway they wanna take. Dan. I always say simply that you, you can't do the next job if you haven't done the last, and I think everything prepares you for the next game in life. And certainly for my point of view, I would not have changed. One piece of my, his, my working career. I could not be doing the things I do today if I hadn't done the quite diverse things I've done in my background.
Dan: 12:24
Yeah, it's very interesting you point that out cuz so many people that I speak to that are interested in getting into our industry are trying to figure out what skills are transferable, how do I learn travel? As you know, many people that come up in travel, they start off as a travel agent or they start off in a contact center and many of the people we've had the. Privilege to work with have made their way up in travel, but many people try and cross over at a certain point, and what you pointed out I think is very value, valuable information for those people listening to it, which is that what you've learned that you can apply. For myself, it was business and computer science and really understanding digital marketing. And having worked on a startup that when I got into a corporate travel management company was very clear how I could have a real impact with developing e-commerce solutions and handling online marketing activities. So, You find out what skills are transferable and then you find a new industry and you excel in that. So the one other question I just wanted to ask you on this topic is the mentorship. Since we're covering a a similar ground now, just tell us a little bit more about how you approach mentorship. Clearly, I. Learning and education and growth has been very important to you. As you mentioned, your experience at university and even most more recently doing your mba, which you didn't have to do, you chose to do that. And I remember seeing you in Sydney and you were preparing for an exam and these are, you know, this is personal development and growth, and it's something you chose to do for yourself, whether it had a a benefit to the workplace. Clearly it does, but in terms of, you weren't after it for the title, you're after it very clearly for the knowledge. So when you're mentoring people Yeah. What, how do you approach that and who do you, who do you decide to mentor?
Fiona: 13:50
Well, I think just on the MBA first that for me was about circling back and closing out something that I should have done years ago after school. I think I mentioned I didn't get to go to university because I wanted to stay in Sydney. So the MBA for me was a very personal mission to complete something that I, I'd always believe that I might have been capable of, but never given myself the time to try. In the end I graduated with an mba specializing in people and leadership. So it was a, a really great experience for me and that was a specific stream that I chose, particularly because of my background, but also because of the mentoring aspect that you just spoke about and my passion for. Really helping to lift the next generation of leaders up through the travel industry in Australia. And I've been involved in formal mentoring here in the travel industry now, probably for about, I. Six or seven years I think we have a wonderful program in Australia called Time, which stands for the Travel Industry Mentor Experience. And through time we match mentees up and coming. Mentees with formal mentors who are already in or have been in leadership positions across the. Australia, it's a six month formal program. There's a fee around it, typically pre pandemic the corporations that the mentees worked for, paid for those fees. But now that it, it, you know, working through the pandemic, we found a lot of individuals were investing in themselves and paying that mentoring fee themselves to come through the time program. So I've been very fortunate to have three or four mentors. Through time who of course I've continued to support in their careers and it's been just a joy to watch them blossom and grow. I also have a number of informal mentors that I work with as well, and I think what I've learnt about mentoring is that most people will throughout their lives have more than one. A mentor is somebody who's not a teacher. They're there to support you to really understand and develop your own skillset. And I think that, you know, the onus on mentoring if you're a mentee for anyone listening, is to remember that the responsibility for what you get out of the mentor and mentee relationship sits with you. Certainly as a mentor, I probably learnt more from my mentees than. You know, I could have ever imagined, and it's just such a privilege to have that, that role. But I always say to them, be very clear what it is that we are looking to achieve together and help me understand what your goals and objectives are. And together we'll map out a way over the next six to 12 months for you to reach those. But. You know, if you're a marketer, I'm not gonna be able to teach you better marketing. If you're a salesperson, I'm not gonna be able to teach you how to be a better salesperson. That's not what mentoring is. It's really about developing you as an individual in the workplace. It's about developing your values. It's about developing your personal brand. It's an, and it's about really developing your relationships that I can support you with. And from there, having someone who's your mentor, be your advocate. In the marketplace, I think is also a really helpful outcome from the mentoring relationship.
Dan: 17:08
Yeah. That's excellent. All very good points. One thing I do wanna highlight, Highlight too, is that having worked with Fiona and see the, that dynamic you have with your team and how well respected you are and the fact that you keep in touch with so many people within the industry that you've mentored and that it's very clear that you have a attracted, a, a solid following that's very well deserved by virtue of the fact that people really do enjoy working with you and people follow you. And and that's clearly a sign of a great leader because you, you invest the time and you get the best outta people. And and so One of the, one of the big reasons I wanted to speak to you and have this conversation with you because it's certainly part of the reason you've been able to navigate the industry as successfully as you have. And I even realized the opportunity that, that you now have with Virtuoso. So I, I'd love to talk about that transition because clearly you had excelled at the Travel Corporation. We worked together in many different capacities, but you chose to go to Virtuoso, which is a. Excellent decision as far as I'm concerned with respect to that business, the model, how well suited you are for it. But tell us how you decided to make that transition. I know you finished your b a and you were doing some traveling, but h how did the Virtuoso opportunity to come out come about and how did you decide to make that your next chapter?
Fiona: 18:26
Well, I think Dan I finished my MBA at the end of 2020 and At that time, I'd, I'd taken a year off to if you like, a study sabbatical to complete that project. And I'd gone back to work and was very fortunate during that period to be promoted into a more senior role at the Travel Corporation as the CEO for Australia. And so I'd gone back into that role in August, September. But in truth, we are in a very difficult, dark place in Australia in those days. You know, we were right in the middle of our very severe lockdowns. Our country was closed to travel, and I could see as I sort of. Embarked on the Christmas break of 2020, I think coming into 2021, actually, I could see that this was going to last for at least another 12 months or longer. Insofar as the Australian government had absolutely no intention of opening our borders here to international tourism for some time. In fact, all our state borders were closed as well. Domestic tourism proved incredibly challenging. We had green light, green zones and red zones, and you could fly to. One state one day, but not the next. It was a very complicated, difficult period and revenues really right across the industry, had had dwindled to almost zero. So my decision at that point was really one about. Taking some more time out to reflect on where we were in the travel industry, and I decided to resign from my post. Knowing that the travel corporation at the time had some very strong functional leadership in the building across their brands, and that I would just take some time to work on some other projects. Until such time as Borders reopened. And I felt that I could be of more value to the business at that time. But in doing that, I was able to do some consulting work over the next 12 months for some other clients. And one of those clients was Virtuoso. And as it turned out, the organization at Virtuoso was going through quite an evolution at that period as they realized that. Pre pandemic, some 40% of their revenue had been generated actually outside of North America, which was really quite extraordinary when you consider that it was such a North American centric organization. Virtuoso is a collection of the, the best of the best travel advisors around the world and the best of the best travel experiences from around the world. And it turned out that with some 40% of revenue actually emerging from outside North America virtuoso very much wanted coming out of the pandemic to begin a, a globalization project to really capitalize on the opportunity to build formal regions around the world. And the person who'd been running Australia, Michael Lundrigan. Had been promoted into a role as SVP of global operations to really lead that charge and is now responsible for all markets outside North America. And that left an opening for me to come in and give him some support from a leadership and management perspective to run Australia. And of course, as the borders did reopen. That led to the opportunity to step in as the GM for Australia and New Zealand, and that's the role I occupy now. It's a, a very different business to, to the businesses that I've worked in, in travel over the, the many years I've been in the industry. It's a wonderful community of, of like-minded people, both on the member side and on the partner side. These are extraordinary professionals who are incredibly passionate. About the advocacy for advisory in the professional services space, space for luxury travel, and working with partners who truly believe I think in the, in the, the relationship, the, the triangle relationship that exists between the advisor, the client, and the. The partner themselves. And so we've been able to build something really special here in the Virtuoso membership and partnership community in Australia. And I'm, I'm just so proud to lead that. I've got a very small team of nine. But we work with, as I say, the best of the best in, in terms of member businesses across Australia and New Zealand, and the most extraordinary partners delivering the most incredible experiences right around the world.
Dan: 22:39
That's really fascinating. Fiona. It's really interestingto hear your journey and the transition that you made from c e o of the Travel Corporation to now General manager of Virtuoso. I think the one thing that would be worth just. Giving a bit more detail to is Virtuoso as an organization, because you and I clearly have worked in travel a long time, we're very familiar with all the subject matter and sometimes we might use terminology that my wife gives me a hard time every once in a while you, for using ota. She's like, what is that again? It's an online travel agency, but for us, we just use terminology that is so familiar. What, what I wanted to ask you is just if you can give a bit of an overview of Virtuoso as an organization. Some of the things we'll be talking about travel trends in a moment relate to that. So if you could just give us an overview, I think that would be helpful for the listeners.
Fiona: 23:20
Yeah, for sure. Dan virtuoso has been in existence for over 30 years. Our mission is to enrich lives through human connection. And so Virtuoso is a. A community that's really built on bringing the very best of the best of the travel advisors that support high net worth travelers around the world and the travel, the luxury travel experiences that are open and available to those high net worth travelers. And really, I. What you're looking at. And Matthew Upchurch talks about this a lot. And I think that where we're at in terms of the evolution of Virtuoso, what you're really looking at is an organization that's entirely focused to quote Matthew on automating the predictable so that we can humanize the exceptional. And I think a really great example of that is the way in which our travel advisors build really strategic relationships. With their clients. These are people who have been in the industry for usually many, many years who operate at a very strategic level with their client base. They are people that sit on the same side of the desk as their client, and what they're doing is mapping out, as Matthew calls it, their return on life. So what they're doing is really looking at not just the next trip, but what, what. Plans does this particular individual have, or what are their desires and goals for the next 12 months, two years, three years and four years for travel experiences and really that often these advisors have a team of people under them who are operationally enabling these experiences, but they are extraordinary individuals who then tap into the virtuoso community of partners to deliver those experiences. Does that help bring that to life for you?
Dan: 25:20
Absolutely. That's very clear. No, absolutely. So let's get into the, the trends that you're seeing at Virtuoso. And please, obviously by all means, you can speak to some of the trends that you're just seeing across the industry. Doesn't have to apply to your professional role because sometimes personal travel experiences lead to insights. So that trends that you're seeing that you bring back to work. But specifically at Virtuoso, what are some of the trends that you're seeing at the moment, whether it's specific to Australia, New Zealand, or even some of the global trends?
Fiona: 25:50
Yeah, sure. Well look, in the luxury end of the market, the comeback has been extraordinarily strong. You will know that I think there was a quite a divergence that happened during the pandemic where businesses spent that time either deciding. Whether to invest in the luxury end of the market and invest in personal connection, which of course is where Virtuoso excels or to invest in technology and scale. Which to your previous example is where the OTAs obviously drive market share, but. You know, potentially at the expense of of, of personal touch and human connections. So in our end of the market, and there was a lot of work done to prepare for the recovery of travel and of course throughout the pandemic, certainly in Australia and New Zealand. Asset prices rose and the economic conditions at that time were surprisingly positive and that meant that there was a lot of pent up demand of out of this market over the last 12 months. And we are still seeing This situation, Dan, where there is no abatement for demand in the luxury segment of the market, particularly in the outbound sense. And we are month on month breaking pre pandemic, 2019 sales records. Cruz has been one of the biggest categories to come back and in fact, I looked some, at some statistics at symposium in Montreal last week. That shows in fact that the two categories of cruise that have. Come back stronger than all of the other categories are expedition, cruises, and river cruising. I think partly because expedition really taps into that desire for many to have more active and immersive holidays these days. And I think river. Had a a real competitive advantage in the cruise segment because of its smaller nature and the ability to holiday with a smaller number of people in a really exceptionally in, in an exceptional lap of quality if you like. Coming out of the pandemic, we're also seeing the hotel sector Trade very strongly post pandemic. In Australia, the outbound international ADRs or average daily rates are up 44% on pre pandemic levels and domestic was trading. Very strongly as well. I am starting to see a little bit of softening in the domestic market here in Australia as Australians head out on more international outbound trips than they're perhaps taking domestically over the winter to come. And in fact the, the top destinations for luxury travelers out of Australia, the. Probably will be no surprise. Absolutely. Italy and France, we have Greece up there as well. We have Japan trading strongly with the reopening of Japan. Those countries are particularly doing well, but also Hawaii's been very strong for Australians and coming into the USA as well. So that's just a snapshot of what's happening. The current. Economic headwinds and geopolitical tensions around the world is something we're watching really closely. It doesn't seem to be the economic headwinds certainly don't seem to be making too much of a dent in the luxury segment of the market, and that's probably driven by two things. Firstly, the fact that interest rates are at their highest levels in well over a decade in Australia, and that is stabilizing. Income for a lot of self-funded retirees and high net worth individuals in Australia, but also we're now 30 years into compulsory superannuation in Australia. We're one of the only governments or countries in the world where the government has mandated that. Some 10% of our annual salary must be saved into superannuation, formal superannuation. So we now have people in their fifties and sixties retiring with very significant sums of lump sums of money that they can take into their retirement to support them with an income stream that is going to allow them the benefit to travel. Comfortably for many years into their retirement. And as a result, we have nearly five generations of, of Australians back out there traveling for the first time. Now that we're, you know, we well and truly emerged from the pandemic in 2023.
Dan: 30:30
Yeah, it's interesting you mentioned the superannuation. That was a concept I was not familiar with until I lived in Australia, and I think it's brilliant and I think most other. Countries should follow suit with that. But which for those people listening is retirement savings force, retirement savings that your employer actually has to contribute to. So it's actually over and above what you earn, that your employer is paying you an additional amount that automatically goes into retirement savings. So brilliant idea. You've mentioned a number of really fascinating travel trends. I just wanted to do one follow up on, and then I'm very keen to make sure we have time for the trivia questions of course, as well. But one of the things I wanted to ask you, clearly, you pointed out some travel trends that highlight. Your knowledge and expertise about forecasting future business, talking about that superannuation example of people in their fifties and sixties, having that disposable income and that security to be able to know that they're gonna be able to travel. And you highlighted a number of really interesting stats about the luxury sector and the pent up demand that is continuing to Be unabated despite those geopolitical concerns you mentioned as well. The other thing I wanted to ask you, you highlighted when you talked about river cruising being a winning category because of the small ship nature, and I know Australia as a destination, when we used to look at the stats and compare when we were trying to sell more tours, We would look at the ocean numbers and they were astounding. Like Australians by and large do take ocean cruises in very significant numbers. Right. So what I wanted to ask you is that in terms of behavioral shift of what types of trips that people are taking, so you've, you've called out river cruising. Is there any other ways, like the experiential travel, I think you mentioned as well, that people are interested in, especially in the luxury and is there any other behavioral changes that you're noticing? About Australians or New Zealanders for that matter, as the travel is coming back, that they're traveling differently than they did before.
Fiona: 32:21
Yes. I think the number one difference that I am seeing, Dan, is that Australian consumers, certainly in the luxury end of the market care more, and I. I feel that, that we've had a lot of time to think deeply about the impact of over tourism in the world, about the impact of what we're really leaving our children and grandchildren in terms of the impact on the planet. And all of the research that we've done in Virtuoso supports this, that some 80% of. Pre-qualified virtuoso travelers are actually willing to spend more, to travel more sustainably and more responsibly. And so I'm seeing this absolute conscious decision making process in conjunction, I might add with their trusted travel advisor to identify experiences that allow them to travel. More responsibly and more sustainably, and to really look at experiences that focus on their ability to tap into. Protecting some of the local traditions and cultures, experiencing those by investing in local com. Economies by working with operators or traveling with operators who have a clear mandate around their wildlife policies and what they will and won't support as part of protecting the. Animals rights across the world these days. These are all really important changes that have gone from being an afterthought to a forethought in the way that Australian New Zealand travelers embrace the world. And I do believe, I speak on behalf of the whole industry when I say that that is a phenomenon that exists across perhaps the rest of the market, more so now than ever before.
Dan: 34:30
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing those insights with us. I'm sure people will have more questions after they've listened to this, so we'll make sure that where it's appropriate, they can follow up with any questions they may have in the, the comments. But but I wanna make sure we hit the five trivia questions with the time that we have, and I think you're gonna do great at this. But I've tried to customize them for you, but I've not given you any softball Australia questions. I've very intentionally tried to make them a bit more unique and interesting. So the first one, first question, number one, what is the second largest French speaking city in the world after Paris
Fiona: 35:09
Mm. Well, it would have to be Montreal, wouldn't it?
Dan: 35:12
Well done. Very impressed. It is, yeah.
Fiona: 35:15
I had to think about it for a moment.
Dan: 35:17
Yeah. It's a question that, you know, being Canadian and being raised in this country where it is bilingual and we all learn French in school. And Montreal, of course being a very large urban center, but very few people know the answer to that one, so I'm impressed you got it. And obviously, having been there last week, you got to experience it firsthand.
Fiona: 35:36
Whew. Lucky I didn't get that wrong after last week's visit.
Dan: 35:39
No. As a follow up question to that what is the name of the world renowned smoked meat restaurant in Montreal? And you may have tasted it last week because I'm pretty sure that,
Fiona: 35:55
I feel like I, we drove past it. There was a queue out the door of about 400 people and I can't, it was an American name, Dan. That's all I can remember. Help me out here,
Dan: 36:08
No, of course it's Schwartz's. Schwartz's Deli.
Fiona: 36:12
Schwartz. Yes,
Dan: 36:14
Yeah, Schwartz's Deli. Cuz I had seen in some of the pictures from the event that they had catered Schwartz's smoked meat. And it was one of my recommendations to you to say, don't forget to have Montreal smoked meat and make sure to have Montreal Bagels as well. Two great Jewish traditions.
Fiona: 36:28
You're right, you're right. I did both to be honest, but I, I, I'm
Dan: 36:33
Good. Good. Okay. So I'll give you half a point there for at least experiencing the cuisine. Next question, question number three blue Ave. The Blue Ave plant, which is grown in Central Mexico, is known for making this alcoholic beverage. I'll get blank Sunrise,
Fiona: 36:52
Blank Sunrise. Is it, is it Blue Cure or something?
Dan: 36:57
That's the name of a cocktail. Oh, I'm gonna give you one more. It starts with a T.
Fiona: 37:00
Oh, tequila Sunrise.
Dan: 37:02
Yeah. Tequila Sunrise. Well done. Yeah. Tequila.
Fiona: 37:04
Is it so, so it's, it's, it makes tequila. Okay.
Dan: 37:08
It did, yeah. One of the brands I had a chance to work with last year, spirited Stories, which is was introduced by Purino Ricard. We organized some trips so people could actually experience how tequila is made and, and mezcal in particular.
Fiona: 37:20
I'm going out to buy it today.
Dan: 37:22
Okay. Make it your Friday treat. All right. Here's another one that is a travel question in the sense that it's not related to places you've necessarily been, but just what country, and there's gonna be three options here. What country has the highest number of UNESCO heritage sites? Is it Italy, China, or Mexico?
Fiona: 37:46
Oh, these are hard. Dan.
Dan: 37:47
That's a tough one. That's not. The next one, I'll bring closer to home for you as we wrap up.
Fiona: 37:55
Look, my first thought would've been Italy. So I'm gonna stick with my first thought.
Dan: 37:59
Well done. You got it. So there you go. You're doing great, Italy. Yes. Now getting a little bit closer to home, I'm keen to know if you are familiar with the Maori name for New Zealand.
Fiona: 38:12
A tower.
Dan: 38:13
Well done. There you go. I think that gets you four out of five 80.
Fiona: 38:16
I couldn't, I couldn't let my Kiwi friends down on that one.
Dan: 38:20
You passed your mba, you passed the travel. Travel trivia. Well done.
Fiona: 38:23
Woo that yes, that had me sweating for a bit.
Dan: 38:27
Thank you so much for being here.
Fiona: 38:28
It's absolutely my pleasure.
Dan: 38:29
I've so enjoyed our conversation.
Fiona: 38:31
It was great to chat Dan. Thank you so much for the invitation.
38:34
Thanks again to Fiona for joining this episode of Travel Trends and thanks to all of you for taking the time to listen. I hope you enjoyed our conversation and look forward to you joining us next time. Thanks so much.
