Catching Up with Classic Vacations CEO Melissa Krueger

When Classic Vacations’s CEO Melissa Krueger took the stage at the Gifted Travel Network Conference last month, she had a clear message for travel advisors: Dream bigger.

“Dream bigger. We’re here to support you,” she told the audience. “Classic [Vacations] is strong, our team is strong, and with TBO behind us, we’re only getting stronger.”

Last month, news broke that India-based global travel distribution company TBO had acquired luxury tour operator Classic Vacations for $125 million—just days before the GTN Conference. This is the third owner Classic has had in the last five years: The Najafi Companies purchased the tour operator from Expedia Group in 2021.

Krueger was quick to reassure her audience that this decision was made strategically to better position Classic Vacations in the market to serve the travel advisor community.

“Every summer, someone comes knocking about an acquisition,” she said. “This time, I made a choice. Once I saw TBO’s technology and met their leadership, I knew it was the right fit. We’re aligned in how we think about advisors and the future of travel distribution.”

Travel Market Report sat down with Krueger for an exclusive interview to talk about the TBO acquisition, how travel advisors will benefit from the deal, and what’s lying ahead in the tour operator’s future.

On the TBO Acquisition: Classic Vacations Remains Classic Vacations

Although the company has a new owner, Krueger emphasized to TMR that Classic Vacations will continue operating as a U.S.-based, advisor-first luxury wholesaler under its existing name and leadership team. As far as travel advisors are concerned, very little will change.

“They haven’t acquired us to change the things that have given us a 47-year history. We retain our leadership, our culture, and our focus on the luxury advisor community,” Keuger told TMR, adding, “You don’t buy a $125 million company and decide to mess it up—you make it stronger.”

What the acquisition will do, however, is empower the luxury tour operator with the new parent company’s industry-leading technology. TBO provides a global travel distribution platform that connects agencies and online travel companies with with suppliers. The company offers various tech-driven solutions for travel advisors specifically, such as a user-friendly booking platform with real-time inventory and white-label services.

While TBO benefits from the Classic Vacations acquisition by getting more access to the North American market, the tour op benefits from the Indian company’s industry-leading technology, which aligns with Classic’s mission to evolve and optimise their online systems and expand globally.

“We’ve been going through a major digital transformation,” she said, explaining that Classic’s goal is to make its booking platform “faster, smarter, and more intuitive” for travel advisors.

“We’re adding business, but we’re also adding efficiencies… Luxury is the human buisness, but we at Classic have layered in automation and convenience, and we will continue to do so without sacrificing the [relationship building] that comes into play,” she explained.

Down the road, Krueger hopes to continue expanding Classic Vacations on a global scale, which she believes is neccessary to keep up with the growth of the travel advisory industry.

“We are very loyal committed to, and part of the consortia ecosystem,” she explained. “The big three—Travel Leaders, Virtuoso, and Signature—have been long-time partners… I’m watching their expansion, and I need my expansion to mirror that… I get to make Classic Vacations a global brand. That’s really exciting for us.”

The Future of Luxury Travel

The luxury travel segment grew in 2025 and that trend is expected to continue. Even amid economic uncertainty and geopolitical tension in the U.S., wealthy travelers are continuing to spend more on trips, booking less often but for higher budgets.

“In America, there’s a lot of economic disparity, but we know that luxury travel is going to become increasingly strong,” the CEO told TMR. “Global demand for luxury travel is projected to expand significantly over the coming decade.”

Krueger is bullish on the future of luxury travel, but warns that as the space becomes more competitive, more and more suppliers will roll out direct-to-consumer capacity.

“Where we’re only B2B, there are other people in our space that own some level of retail travel agency [or] that owns some level of direct to consumer capacity. That’s something for travel advisors to be aware of… I believe that will become increasingly unique and important to the travel advisor because in no way, shape or form do we have our own advisor distribution channel, and we’re certainly not going direct to the consumer.”

Krueger also believes that adopting new technology for travel planning, such as A.I., will be increasingly relevant in the luxury sector.

“I was an early adopter [of A.I.],” Krueger told TMR. “I like to think of it as a force multiplier for human strength. [In the future,] we’ll see the ability to incorporate that technology to support creating tailored experiences for advisor efficiencies,” she predicted.

On Why Travel Advisors Should Use Classic Vacations

Classic Vacations is an award-winning travel company with more than 45 years experience in the industry. The tour operator has carefully fostered its relationships with suppliers around the world, and today, offers a curated portfolio of properties, unique tours, activities, and transportation.

When asked why travel advisors should consider using Classic Vacations for their luxury clients, Krueger cited five pillars: great supplier relationships, the VIP Connect program (personalized on-the-ground service for travelers), competitive and fast-paid commissions, comprehensive training and tools, and a robust business development team.

“We don’t go into a destination and just contract all hotels in a preferred manner. We go into a destination and we choose the right product,” the CEO said.

“We work closely to understand why our advisors work with us. Our advisors consistently say, ‘I know that Classic will always do the right things for my clients,’ [and] ‘I trust the 24/7 help desk. It’s the best in the industry. My res agent is a game changer.'”

“My job is to maximize the the advisor’s time,” Krueger told TMR. The CEO works hard to make sure her sales team can adequately support travel advisors, in order to make sure that “more and more of these extraordinary travel advisors in the industry get to know and experience why their peers say those things.”

In her presentation at the GTN Conference, Krueger was emphatic that Classic Vacations is only successful when travel advisors are successful—and with the changes on the horizon, there will be even more opportunity for success than ever before.

“Everything we’re doing is about making you more efficient, more profitable, and more supported,” she told the audience. “Classic is strong, our team is strong, and with TBO behind us, we’re only getting stronger.”