Destination Management for VIP Clients: How Fixers Earn Trust

When a high-profile guest arrives in a city for a few days, someone has to make the whole place work for them: the house, the food, the schedule and the privacy. That job is destination management, and for VIP clients it rarely starts with a search engine. It starts with a phone number that someone they trust has passed on.

Irene Avogadri, an event and destination consultant based in the Netherlands, has done this work for international artists such as Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, and for corporate groups. She never set out to become a destination manager. She kept fixing what needed fixing until a client gave the work a name, and she added it to her title.

What destination management covers in practice

In her experience, the work begins well before the guest arrives and keeps changing once they are there. The first request for the stay she describes from 2016 came at nine in the evening, after a horrible day at work: could she do a viewing of three villas the next afternoon. She visited the houses together with the head of security. One of them belonged to a friend, so she could explain every detail of it, and that was the house they chose.

Then the gaps appeared. The house had no sauna, and the artist liked to use one after a show, so she brought in a mobile sauna and a jacuzzi. A related article looks at the longevity hotel concept. The chef sent a grocery list, so the best ingredients had to be bought and in the fridge before arrival. Once the guest was there, plans moved by the hour. A wish to play golf within the next hour meant reshuffling every priority, because you cannot simply put a world-famous guest on any golf course.

For any hotel or venue that hosts VIP stays, the lesson is that the property is only the starting point. The guest experiences the whole destination, and someone has to own all of it. The tasks in this one stay give a fair picture of the scope:

• Viewing and selecting accommodation together with the client's head of security
• Adding facilities the house lacks, such as a mobile sauna and a jacuzzi
• Stocking the kitchen from the chef's grocery list before arrival
• Reprioritising the day when the guest asks for something new, such as golf within the hour
• Protecting the guest's privacy at every outside location

Why VIP clients do not search online for a fixer

High-profile clients tend to find help through people they already know. The villa request reached Irene Avogadri through a Dutch friend who lived in New York at the time. When she asked him why he came to her, since villa viewings were not really her line of work, his answer was that if something needs to be fixed, you just call Irene. An international artist had told her the same thing earlier, in other words:

“We all have this Irene button in our phone. It's like when you need help, you just press the Irene button.”

Irene Avogadri, 24:27

That kind of reputation comes from delivering, not from advertising. Years before, MTV in London had called her because they had heard she was the best party planner in the Netherlands. In her view, the reason clients keep her number is simple: she fixes it, even when it seems impossible, and she likes to give them a little extra so the result is more than they expected. At this level, a referral is the main sales channel, and every job is the start of the next one.

Discretion and equal respect as a service standard

Trust with famous clients depends just as much on what you do not do. She rarely works alone and always has a team around her, and the rules for that team are clear. She signs an NDA herself, and her crew signs one for her too. Discretion is one layer of hotel security and guest trust.

“We don't ask for autographs. We don't ask for pictures. We just do the job, and we don't ask for anything.”

Irene Avogadri, 26:26

Her view is that the job is to make people happy, and the rest is not important. Only afterwards, with the work done, does she tell the world how proud she is to have worked for these artists and their teams.

A second habit matters just as much. Someone on a television or music set once told her they liked that she treated the CEO exactly the same way as the camera operator. She was surprised this stood out, because to her it was obvious, and she still counts it among the biggest compliments she has had. For hotels the takeaway is practical: staff who treat the star and the crew with the same respect are the staff a VIP team will trust. Rules any team can adopt from this approach:

• Everyone on the crew signs a confidentiality agreement, not only the lead
• No autographs, no photos and no requests of any kind from staff
• Equal treatment for every member of the client's team
• Public mentions only after the job is finished

How destination management works with a celebrity's team

A common picture of VIP work is one of impossible demands. Irene Avogadri says she has never experienced the famous stories about only wanting blue sweets or breaking down walls. Mostly she works with the client's team rather than one on one with the star, and she describes those teams as really professional, almost a family around the artist. That makes the type of team a deciding factor.

“I think that's another thing that the chemistry works well because they're professionals. I believe I'm a professional.”

Irene Avogadri, 27:54

When both sides are professionals, communication is short: you hear what someone wants, you say you are on it, and you deliver. The lesson for a hotel or planner is that preparation and calm competence count for more than glamour.

Destination management for corporate groups and incentives

Celebrity work is irregular. In her experience, these artists come once every five or maybe even ten years. So she shifted her focus toward the corporate side, which she sees as the same discipline. She takes corporate groups outbound, for example for a weekend in Barcelona or a trip to New York, and she also handles inbound groups coming to Amsterdam.

At the time of the conversation she had two inbound groups lined up: one from the UK, and one for a client in Paris with participants coming in from all over the world. What such groups want sounds modest: two or three really good days, a meeting, a nice dinner in the evening and a boat trip through the canals. Getting that right is the same work as the villa stay, at a different scale. Hotels that host such groups win them with a fast hotel RFP response.

Her closing advice applies to every type of client. If you really see the person in front of you, you understand what they require, what their needs and wishes are, and then you can deliver even more. You can watch the full conversation for the rest of her story, from artist management to starting a high-end event company.

Frequently asked questions

What is destination management?

Destination management is arranging everything a visiting client needs in a place: the accommodation, missing facilities, food, activities, timing and privacy. In the experience of event and destination consultant Irene Avogadri, it covers famous artists on tour as well as corporate groups that come in for a meeting, good dinners and activities such as a boat trip through the canals.

How do celebrities find event and destination planners?

In Irene Avogadri's experience, mostly through people they already trust. A request for a villa viewing reached her through a friend in New York, and an international artist told her they all kept an Irene button in their phone for whenever something needed solving. Reputation travels through teams and friends, and every job delivered well becomes the next referral.

Why do staff who work with VIP guests sign an NDA?

Because discretion is part of the service itself. Irene Avogadri signs an NDA for her clients, and her whole crew signs one for her as well. Her team never asks for autographs or photos, and treats everyone around the client with the same respect, from the CEO to the camera operator. Only after the work is done does she speak about it.