TORONTO — Virtuoso’s ‘Hot 10’ list for its Canadian clients includes Brazil, Portugal, Greece, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The number of vacations booked from Canada to all of these destinations is growing in leaps and bounds, says Virtuoso’s Senior Vice-President, Consumer Group, David Kolner.

Business to South Africa is up 53%, “and one-third of clients are starting their trip in Cape Town,” said Kolner. Greece is up by 70%. “People had been holding off on travelling to Greece because of the political situation. Now they’re going, and they’re realizing they can save up to 50% in the off-season from January to March.”

Virtuoso’s Hot 10 list showcases the fastest-growing international destinations, in this case from the Canadian market.

The luxury retail travel group’s Top 10 list, meanwhile, shows consistent favourites in the top spots, including the UK, Mexico and Italy. Rounding out the top 10 are France, Israel, Australia, Germany, Jamaica, China and New Zealand. Asked about Israel, Kolner noted the stability in the country and said “people are tired of waiting. They want to see Israel.”

Virtuoso’s Composer Reports completes an overnight sync of all transacted data from Virtuoso agencies. “The reports give us a very good oversight into what was purchased, literally, yesterday, at member agencies in the U.S. and Canada,” he said.

Kolner’s presentation was the highlight of a Virtuoso’s industry trends lunch event this week. The survey results looked at booked vacations from Q2 2013 to Q1 2015.

Virtuoso specializes in upscale, experiential travel and now counts more than 355 members with 700-plus office locations in 26 countries worldwide. In Canada there are 11 members agencies with 29 office locations. Virtuoso agencies represent about 1% of travel agencies worldwide.