Noteworthy and Virtuoso lead bid to lure back US luxury travellers

Led by NoteWorthy, a London-based travel company known for the unique range of experiences it arranges across the country, the 13 London hotels hosted 40 owners, senior managers and top bookers from the US.

Between them, they are said to be responsible for nearly $6 billion in annual travel sales, with the agencies who visited London representing a reach of 4,500 travel advisors.

In 2019, American travellers were the number-one source market for the UK, accounting for £4.2 billion in spend from about 4.5 million visitors, representing 11% of total inbound tourism. Approximately three million of those visitors came to London.

With borders gradually opening and the UK having said at the end of July that it would start to ease restrictions on inbound US travellers, Nicola Butler, owner of NoteWorthy said she’d felt promotional momentum wasn’t keeping up with the news, so decided to “take matters into her own hands”.

In co-ordination with Virtuoso, she then put a plan in action to try and make sure top US advisors – all members of the global luxury network – were still kept interested in what the UK has to offer, organising a fam trip that took place from Friday to Tuesday.

Working closely with hotels such as Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Claridge’s and Rosewood London, the trip ended up being incredibly well timed, with the fortuitous news from the White House breaking on Monday that means the US will now reciprocate and allow fully vaccinated arrivals from the UK and EU from early November.

“London and the rest of the UK is open for business,” said Butler. “Clients who are travelling to the UK now are seeing for themselves how easy it can be and how all our museums, theatres, retail, and restaurants are open. Our experiences provide natural platforms to ensure clients are safely fast-tracked, go behind the scenes, access the inaccessible and are immersed in local life — and locals are looking forward to welcoming back US visitors. We hope this trip showcases that.”

From the US side, the fact finding mission was led by Matthew Upchurch, chairman and chief executive of Virtuoso. Along with one-off experiences around London and at the host hotels, the group held a roundtable at the Apollo Theatre to discuss the recovery of US travel business to the UK and how and where the US consumer is travelling and spending.

“Crises accelerate trends and as we pull through this pandemic, and more destinations open back up to tourism, we’re seeing unprecedented pent-up demand for both travel experiences and the advisors who can help guide the travelling public as they navigate an evolving landscape,” said Upchurch.

The trip’s organisers said affluent Americans were “forecast to be the first to return to travel… and are now even more likely to book their trips through a trusted, personal travel advisor, who will create their entire programme – including hotels, restaurants and experiences”.

“Tourism’s rising recovery, bolstered by vaccinations, is being led by luxury leisure travellers, who are freely spending and planning vacations for the rest of 2021 and beyond. London has always been very popular for our advisors and their clients, and familiar destinations are the first step of a bigger recovery,” added Upchurch.

Participating host hotels included Brown’s Hotel, Corinthia London, The Dorchester, 45 Park Lane, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, The Langham, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley, Rosewood London, Shangri-La The Shard and The Savoy.

With London always a major draw for US affluent travellers, a key focus will now be looking ahead to 2022, with significant upcoming events such as The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, with a number of celebratory events being held in the capital.

“For many luxury hotels, the US is one of our most valuable markets,” said Franck Arnold, managing director of The Savoy. “We’re excited about hosting some of the industry’s very best advisors, who we feel confident will see London is as vibrant, attractive, and diverse as it ever has been. Now is the right time to be talking with their top clients about visiting.”

NoteWorthy also partnered with Expresstest by Cignpost for the trip to highlight how travellers can meet UK protocols; those on the trip underwent testing upon arrival at Heathrow, which equated to the required Day 2 testing at the time, as well as the Fit to Fly testing required to return.