Virtuoso goes ‘truly global’ with imminent US GM appointment

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Virtuoso’s decision to appoint a US General Manager by the end of the year aligns with the luxury travel network’s goal to create a “truly global” operation, according to Chairman and CEO Matthew Upchurch. Speaking to LATTE at the recent Virtuoso ANZ Forum in Perth, Upchurch explained that the move would ensure the critical US market continued to receive the dedicated attention it requires while maintaining a cohesive global strategy. “It really was Australia and New Zealand that really helped us kind of develop the infrastructure and the framework for being truly global, which is having real teams on the ground and so on,” he said. However, as the US market is so substantial, the leadership team faced a challenge in prioritising efforts. “You wake up and go, ‘Okay, I’ve got two things to do today. One’s worth $30,000, one’s worth $3 million’ – which one are you going to prioritise?” he explained, illustrating the difficulty of balancing multiple regions while focusing on the US. “We’ve been reconstituting the way our team’s set up, what I call our global operating system, we’ve been extricating people and so we knew that the final step to making us fully global was when everybody’s role had been changed. And now we have the US GM.” While the appointment is yet to be made, Upchurch confirmed that he already has someone in mind for the role. This structural change is not just procedural but also a shift in mindset. “My job is to create tools and products that could be plugged and played into all the different regions,” he said, highlighting the role of global executives in supporting regional leaders. With the appointment of a US GM, the company aims to empower local leadership to address market dynamics effectively, while the core executives focus on creating scalable solutions for all regions.

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