Virtuoso hosted its first-ever Global Impact Summit earlier this month at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta, bringing together 105 participants from nearly 20 countries.
Held June 2–5, the by-invitation-only event focused on advancing responsible travel under Virtuoso’s three sustainability pillars: supporting local economies, celebrating culture, and protecting the planet.
Jessica Hall Upchurch, Virtuoso Vice Chair and Sustainability Strategist, opened the event with a message about long-term goals.
“Our efforts to educate advisors and amplify the work of our partners to Virtuoso travelers started 15 years ago,” she said.
“Our principals when it comes to implementing sustainability in travel have always been ‘no shame, no blame’ and ‘start where you are,’ meaning we’d rather see 95 percent of the world take one step forward than five percent trying to get it perfect.”
She added, “This is a space for exchanging ideas, having future-focused discussions and engaging in meaningful collaborations. This event was designed to create stronger connections in our co-created ecosystem and to accelerate and amplify our collective journeys to making the world better.”
The summit kicked off with a carbon-neutral footprint, thanks to the offsetting of 64.6 metric tons of CO₂ via Planetair’s Canada Tree Portfolio project. “Using emissions data gathered from attendee travel and event operations, Virtuoso had offset 64.6 metric tons of CO₂,” said Jennifer Campbell, Senior Vice President, Global Events.
A panel of Virtuoso senior leaders—including COO Brad Bourland, SVP of Global Products Thatcher Brown, SVP of Global Marketing Helen McCabe-Young, and Campbell—discussed how sustainability is embedded across the organization.
The agenda included themed panels aligned with Virtuoso’s sustainability pillars, each followed by interactive ideation sessions. AI technology was used to capture and analyze participant insights, generating hundreds of pages of content to inform future initiatives.
Panel Highlights:
- Supporting Local Economies featured speakers from Intrepid Travel, Entrée Destinations, and Avenue Two Travel, among others.
- Celebrating Culture included representatives from 50 Degrees North, Abercrombie & Kent, and freelance journalist Maryam Siddiqi.
- Protecting the Planet brought together voices from andBeyond South Africa, Accor Hotels, and Aurora Expeditions.
Additional speakers included Gilad Berenstein, who addressed AI’s role in sustainability, and Chris Imbsen from the World Travel and Tourism Council. Virtuoso CEO Matthew D. Upchurch joined WTTC’s Andrea Grisdale to spotlight the importance of small and medium enterprises in sustainable travel.
Media presence included a panel led by Virtuoso VP of Global Public Relations Misty Belles, with contributors discussing how to communicate sustainability more effectively to travelers.
Afternoons were dedicated to “Design Your Day” activities, offering everything from nature hikes and local volunteering to wellness workshops and a tour of Lake Louise’s water treatment plant.
Virtuoso acknowledged sponsors of its inaugural Impact Summit: Abercrombie & Kent, Travel Alberta, Destination Canada, Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, Madrid Tourism, PONANT, Discover Puerto Rico, Visit Rwanda, Singapore Tourism Board and Wilderness.
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