Luxury Travel Sales Are Running 20 Percent Ahead of Last Year, Virtuoso Says

The luxury end of the travel market shows no sign of cooling. Virtuoso, the agency network whose members sell high-end hotels, cruises and tours, reported at its 38th annual Travel Week in Las Vegas this month that overall sales are pacing 20.8 percent ahead of the same point last year, with growth recorded in every global region. That is a striking figure in a year when mass-market airfares have been soft and hotel rate growth has flattened across the wider industry.

The growth is uneven by category. Hotel sales lead at 24.5 percent higher year over year, followed by cruise at 22.4 percent and onsite partner sales at 17.5 percent. Tours trail the pack at 11 percent, still solid but roughly half the network average. The pattern suggests affluent travelers are spending on accommodation and ships rather than structured itineraries, which fits a broader move toward independent trips built around a single anchor property.

Rates tell the same story more bluntly. The average daily rate for a luxury U.S. hotel booked through the network has climbed from $790 in 2019 to $1,445 this year, an increase far outpacing general inflation over the same period. Bookings for rooms above $1,500 a night are growing at 37 percent, more than twice the rate of cheaper rooms, which means the top of the market is pulling away from the merely expensive tier beneath it.

Forward demand looks stronger still. Festive-season sales for late 2026 are pacing 56 percent above last year on booking volume up 65 percent, and reservations one to two years out sit roughly 50 percent ahead of where they were at the same point in 2025. Travelers booking that far ahead are typically locking in scarce inventory at holiday periods, which is a reasonable read on where availability pressure will show up next.

Sources: Travel Weekly, Luxury Travel Report