Almost 3,000 meetings held at Connections UK & Ireland

Connections Luxury UK & Ireland facilitated 2,930 one-to-one meetings for leading luxury travel professionals. 

Held last month, the event brought together a curated community of 215 agents and suppliers from 35 nationalities. The advisors in attendance, of which 75% were from the UK, represented a spending power of $689.5 million. 

The event was organised in partnership with Aspire and was hosted across some of London’s most impressive venues; the welcome reception at 12th Knot at Sea Containers, meetings hosted at 8 Northumberland Avenue and other evening events at historic legal landmark The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn and onboard onboard Thames Luxury Charters’ Dixie Queen.

The event’s partnership with Aspire brought a powerful UK luxury trade dimension to the edition. As the UK’s leading luxury travel trade media brand, Aspire contributed editorial authority, market insight and access to one of the country’s most influential communities of luxury travel professionals. The partnership also helped shape the event’s content and audience engagement, including live insight moments designed to capture what UK luxury advisors are seeing in client demand and supplier relationships. 

During the opening briefing, Aspire’s editor Hollie-Rae Brader welcomed delegates and highlighted the influence of the UK luxury advisor community, whose client relationships and commercial insight sit at the centre of the high-end travel market. 

The live audience pulse reinforced the direction of the market. When asked what is driving the biggest shift in luxury travel demand, delegates pointed first to more personalised travel, followed by private and exclusive access and authentic local connection. A second discussion explored what matters most in a new luxury travel partnership today, including commercial fit, product differentiation, understanding of the end client, ease of working together and trust with long-term relationship potential. 

The supplier community represented a broad cross-section of the global luxury travel sector, including destination partners, hotel groups, independent luxury properties, DMCs, expedition and adventure specialists, wellness destinations, private-island resorts, city hotels and cultural experience providers. Participating brands and destinations included Barcelona Tourism, Catalonia Catalan Tourist Board, Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau, Tourism Australia, Visit Portugal, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, PEARL Resorts of Tahiti, Costa Navarino, Grecotel Hotels & Resorts, Velaa Private Island, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Terme di Saturnia, The Mandrake, The Reykjavik Edition, Arctic Adventures and Resort Life Travel among many others. 

A central feature of the programme was the integration of shared experiences into the meeting format. Delegates were invited to continue business conversations through activities including sensory experiences with Dans Le Noir; deception and polygraphy sessions with Blackreel; Scottish heritage and Highland storytelling with Luxury Scotland and Highland Outfitters; Catalan food and wine tasting; Great Scotland Yard Hotel’s tea, wine and detective-led experiences; wellness treatments; creative workshops; West End-inspired movement sessions and London walking tours. 

Greg Reeves, managing director International at Connections Luxury, said: “Connections Luxury UK & Ireland was built around the same principle that defines our global community: bringing the right people together, in the right setting and at the right pace so that better conversations happen. 

“London gave us an outstanding stage for this edition, but what made it powerful was the quality of the community in the room. Over the course of the programme, delegates were not simply moving through meetings; they were building relationships, sharing insight and discovering where genuine commercial fit exists. 

“Our partnership with Aspire added real strength to the event. Their connection to the UK luxury travel trade, editorial authority and understanding of the advisor community helped make this edition more focused, more relevant and more valuable for both buyers and suppliers.” 

Hollie-Rae Brader, editor at Aspire, said: “Aspire was delighted to partner with Connections Luxury for this UK & Ireland edition. The event created a valuable environment for our luxury advisor community to meet relevant suppliers, discover new product and contribute their perspective on where client demand is moving. 

“What stood out was the quality of the conversations. Agents are looking for partners who understand their clients, can offer meaningful access and make the process of recommending and booking exceptional travel easier. This event gave both sides the opportunity to explore those relationships in a more personal and considered way.” 

 Connections Luxury UK & Ireland will return to London from 19 to 22 September 2027.