With more than 2,500 travel industry professionals in attendance — including some 600 first-timers and 43 new preferred partners — Signature Travel Network hosted its 2025 Annual Conference at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas from Nov. 10-13, featuring the theme “Evolve.” This year marked the event’s final Vegas appearance, as the conference will move to Orlando, Florida, for the next three years.
The conference’s theme was chosen to celebrate the network’s growing travel agency membership, partnerships with new suppliers and technology upgrades, all of which were highlighted throughout the event.
Indeed, it’s been another strong year for Signature, according to Karryn Christopher, president of the company.
“Our goal for this year was 10% growth, and right now, we’re tracking about 9%,” she said. “And that’s a substantial accomplishment on top of year-over-year growth for several years. In the last couple of months, we’ve been building for 2025 and building significantly for 2026. Even though prices aren’t coming down, even though it’s not getting any easier to travel, our customers are incredibly resilient.”
Even though prices aren’t coming down, even though it’s not getting any easier to travel, our customers are incredibly resilient.
Here’s more of what we learned at the event.
Priorities for Signature
Signature is putting a strong emphasis on its nonprofit, Travel Elevates, encouraging its travel advisor members to proactively and regularly recommend ways for clients to give back to the destinations and communities they visit. In fact, the network added Travel Elevates to its mission statement this year to highlight its importance from both an impact perspective and as a business builder.
“Customers want to book through people who do good work,” said Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature, of the business case for giving back while traveling.
Another key point highlighted during the conference was advisor specialization, which Signature says increases profitability and builds an advisor’s reputation as an expert. To encourage members to find their niche, the network has expanded its Signature Circles, a program of groups themed to different types of travel (culinary, family, group, wellness and so on). After seeing growth in what Signature refers to as “exploration” travel, it created new, more specific groups for active and adventure travel, expedition cruising and Africa travel.
The event included a tradeshow with advisor-supplier meetings.
Credit: 2025 Joshua Martinez - Hawaii Media Collective“By the nature of how many more offerings there are — the number of cruise lines in the expedition space and the number of ships that have come out over the last decade — more education is necessary for the advisor,” Christopher said of the booming expedition cruise segment.
Sharpe also emphasized that advisors may need to be more proactive about growth moving forward.
“I would argue that our industry got a little lazy the last few years, because business was so good,” Sharpe said. “We have to start marketing ourselves and marketing our value again.”
I would argue that our industry got a little lazy the last few years, because business was so good.
As always, technology remains key to Signature’s current initiatives and upcoming plans, including the rollout of its new Storybook platform. The media tool (which will soft launch in the first quarter of next year with cruise content) will collect and sort videos, images and social media posts that can be shared with clients in real time to help advisors with the “storytelling” aspect of selling travel. The tool will initally replace Signature’s existing cruise search and eventually encompass hotels and land options, as well.
The network will also launch a new social media program, called Inspire Academy, next year, helping members with their content needs. According to Christine Conklin, Signature’s vice president of marketing, the tool is designed to meet advisors wherever they’re at in their social media strategy, as well as to help address a new push by Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) that prioritizes original content and penalizes reposted or recycled material.
Up-and-Coming Destinations
In keeping with his mission of helping advisors “present new destinations to clients and also present new ways of experiencing destinations that are popular,” Ignacio Maza, senior advisor for Signature, presented his annual list of recommended travel spots.
This year, the suggestions included a deeper dive into popular destinations such as Alberta, Canada, for its Lakelands region and Kananaskis Country; the Mexican Caribbean, for Akumal, Coba and Bacalar Lake; and Madrid, Spain, for cultural discovery at the soon-to-reopen Sorolla Museum and the Royal Collections Gallery. In ever-popular Alaska, Maza encouraged having clients spend time in Anchorage (instead of just passing through on the way to a cruise) to experience areas such as Chugach State Park and Punchbowl Glacier.
The Mexican Caribbean sponsored the opening night reception, including cultural performances.
Credit: 2025 Joshua Martinez - Hawaii Media CollectiveThe rest of the list spanned Chile; Swedish Lapland; KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa; Uzbekistan; Sri Lanka; Kyushu, Japan; Tasmania, Australia; and the North Island of New Zealand.
A Look at Luxury Travelers
In a separate conversation, Maza also identified several developments that he says are “strengthening and becoming more prominent” among luxury travelers, first among them being off-season travel.
Specifically, he notes that cruise lines have added winter voyages in the Mediterranean; river cruise lines have debuted winter sailings beyond just Christmas market cruises; and hotels that traditionally closed in early October are staying open later in the year.
“I think it's satisfying demand that is very strong for high season, but also catering to an audience that is looking for options out of season,” he said of what’s driving the development.
When clients are traveling during the high season, he notes that they’re looking for “alternatives” to the “very hot summers in the Mediterranean.”
“We’re seeing very strong growth for Northern Europe,” Maza said. “So, Scandinavia is doing well, as well as Scotland, and Iceland continues to be very popular.”
Maza has also noticed that rising prices have resulted in a more value-conscious luxury consumer.
“People are asking, ‘Why do things cost this much?’ and they put a lot of pressure on the advisor to explain the pricing, and the value of it,” he said. “Coming out of the pandemic, you could charge whatever you wanted, and people were willing to pay for it. But now, that has plateaued and it’s a tougher sell.”
Maza feels that this mindset is boosting the luxury cruise market, where clients can easily see the value of the many inclusions that come with the product.
“You can sail on Silversea or Seabourn, for example, for maybe $700 or $800 per day, per person, but it’s all-inclusive,” he explained. “It’s a great value proposition for the consumer.”
