Travel Trends with Dan Christian
#1 B2B Travel Podcast. If you are looking to stay ahead in the travel industry, this new podcast hits all the highlights! The Travel Trends Podcast is where industry leaders converge to share & shape the future. Whether you're an emerging entrepreneur, a seasoned industry executive, or a dedicated travel professional, you’ll be able to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
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Travel Trends with Dan Christian
Spotlight Episode: Travel Weekly with Editor in Chief, Arnie Weissmann
When millennials rediscovered travel advisors, they revived a profession many had written off too soon. “Millennials’ expertise is knowing who the experts are,” says Arnie Weissmann, editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly. With more than 25 years leading the travel industry’s most influential trade publication, Arnie has chronicled - and shaped - some of the most pivotal transformations in travel.
His own path from passionate explorer to industry leader is as compelling as it is instructive. Arnie’s love for discovery began on a 10-country camping trip through Africa, a journey fueled by curiosity and wanderlust. Frustrated by the lack of meaningful pre-trip resources, he launched a destination information service that later became part of Travel 42. That entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a deep empathy for traveler needs, made him the perfect fit to take the helm at Travel Weekly - a role he stepped into just after the seismic events of 9/11. Today, as part of Northstar Media’s global portfolio - which also includes Phocuswright and Business Travel News, Arnie oversees an unparalleled network of travel industry intelligence.
For those eager to make their mark in travel, his advice is both simple and timeless: stand apart. “What are you going to do that isn’t being done right now, that nobody else is doing, and that people truly need?” It’s a guiding principle that has shaped Arnie’s extraordinary career and continues to serve as a compass for innovation in a constantly evolving industry.
As travel undergoes yet another era of change, Arnie’s insights remind us that clarity of purpose and a willingness to innovate are the keys to thriving. We’re deeply grateful to Arnie for sharing his journey and wisdom - this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. Season 6 launches in September.
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/
The key with millennials is millennials expertise is knowing who the experts are, and I think that you know that generation really kind of revived things when things were looking questionable. To be honest, you know, and now no one's looked back. I mean, the travel advisor business is thriving.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome to a special spotlight edition of Travel Trends. This is your host, Dan Christian, and today we're going to be speaking to the editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly, arnie Weissman. Now, I have the privilege to see Arnie throughout the year and I was so keen to bring his voice to the Travel Trends podcast, as we have become the number one B2B podcast globally. Arnie Weissman leads the way in travel trade media on a global level, and he not only speaks to the widest possible audience in the biggest market in the US. Travel Weekly has over 2 million visits a month and Northstar Media is the largest B2B travel media business in North America and Europe and Asia. And, of course, we work really closely with our friends over at Focusrite. We love their conferences and we have a great partnership with them.
Speaker 2:Well, arnie himself is a true legend in this industry and really sets the stage for our Captains of Industry conversations in season six. So I was very keen to bring this standalone episode together for this extraordinary individual that has given so much to our travel industry. To give you an idea, not only has he had nearly 25 years in this role, he is a journalist, a photojournalist. He's won more than 60 awards for things, including video as well. He's been on PBS's True Detective. He actually started the very first B2B destination information service, which was quoted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN. He speaks at conferences around the world, not just in travel. He's also spoken at the World Economic Forum and CES. So who better to talk to about the latest trends in travel than Arnie Weissman? So it is a huge pleasure to introduce you all to one of my heroes in the industry and one of the leaders in this space, arnie Weissman. Arnie, it's so great to have you on Travel Trends. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1:I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2:This is a huge honor for me. You are a legend in this industry. You and I have seen each other many times over the past year and have planned to get this opportunity together. We saw each other at the Forbes Travel Guide Conference, at the Summit. We see each other, of course, at the Focusrite Conferences, and so you have. From that introduction, of course, people heard what an impressive background you have in the industry, and I guess the first thing I wanted to start with is actually to finally have the opportunity to ask you, arnie, about your background and how you ended up in the travel industry and, ultimately, the role that you have at Travel Weekly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, I mean I had a lot of pent-up demand. My parents went nowhere. I mean we went, took a couple driving trips, so I don't think I got on an airplane until I was about 16. And when I was in school I, after one year, I mean I was taking things like organic gardening, japanese tea ceremony, oil painting, voice, it was just I had, I was undirected, I think that would be the way to say it. And so after a year, my stepfather, when he looked at the report card, said what? No ping pong? So he missed the square dancing.
Speaker 1:But I took a year off after that because after my freshman year I just thought I'm wasting time and money and spent half a year saving money to travel, the second half of the year traveling and boy was I hooked. It was just a whole nother world. I was really excited. And so when I graduated, I saved with single-mindedly to take off again and my goal was to take an open-ended trip around the world, and I knew that would take some money. So I saved until I was about 29, quit my job, sold everything, took off, started with a 10-country camping trip through Africa, from Nairobi to Tangier, and ended up traveling for about a year and a half. So the one thing that struck me as I was planning to take this trip and this is pre-internet so I went into and out of about a dozen travel agencies because I was very interested in going off the beaten path I was really interested in starting in Africa and I told them I want information but I really don't want to go on a tour. And one after another said are you sure you don't want to do a tour? And they'd give me brochures and I wouldn't come back. And I finally found a travel advisor who himself was very, very well-traveled. He was the son of a wealthy man and he got me started and that was terrific. And when I got back we had dinner and I said, you know, it has been in the back of my mind how come travel advisors can't just open a book and find out how to help someone like me? And he said there is no such book. So I said, well, why don't we write it? But looking into it, we were going to do essentially a guidebook for the whole world for the travel industry, but we realized by the time we got it together it would be out of date. So we started instead a subscription service that had information on every country in the world, regularly updated. It's now part of Travel 42. It started out as the Fuller Weissman Report. It became the Weissman Report and we did this for about 12 years.
Speaker 1:And when the internet did come along, we provided AOL with their core content of destination information. We licensed to everybody content of destination information we license to everybody. So sold the company to what is now North Star Travel Media in the mid 90s and I did a couple of things. I was a group publisher there for a little while. There were some hotel directories, some things in the UK, and when the job of travel weekly editor opened up and is uh 23 years ago, uh, they offered it to me and uh, I accepted it on the day after 9, 11 and uh, I have been there ever since and uh, what a fantastic perch to watch, uh, the world in the travel industry absolutely what extraordinary 25 years it has been really since that time, and it's interesting you mentioned that because that is exactly when I arrived on the scene in the travel industry, was literally just after 9-11, graduating university with marketing and computer science background and started working at Carlson Wagonly building out e-commerce booking platforms.
Speaker 2:And the reason I mentioned this is to the interesting point of connectivity between us, because one of the things I love about your background, arnie, is that you experienced travel pre-internet. You've gone through that whole dot-com boom and here we are in 2025 talking about things like AI, and so you have wisdom from all of those years. You also know what it was like to travel at those different times and I never want to ever be one of those people, and I'm sure you feel the same way where you say you know way back when it was great to travel because. But actually I do think that today's generation missed out on an opportunity to travel pre internet. I at least had that opportunity. I didn't get the internet really until I was in university, and I think this is where it defines different generations right.
Speaker 2:Did you grow up with TVs, radio, internet, social media?
Speaker 2:Because it certainly changes your behavior, outlook on the world, and so I only reference that to our listeners, because you have so many things I want to ask you today, and I just think it is a unique context when someone has come up as a journalist, someone who's traveled the world like you have, and has that passion for the subject matter and also just the you know, an American with a global perspective.
Speaker 2:But also you have seen this industry evolve over time and I think that you know we constantly go from crisis to crisis, and we're in certainly another one now, and we're definitely going to talk about that today. But you've seen us through things like 911, when everyone thought, you know that it took a long time for the travel industry to come back. So, anyway, there's so much, arnie, I want to talk to you about today, but I guess, just to make sure that all of our listeners understand Travel Weekly and North Star Media, since you mentioned those two, and clearly those are very well known to me, but would you mind just giving a bit of an overview of North Star Media and Travel Weekly today? So so we bring all our listeners along with the journey.
Speaker 1:Sure. So Northstar is the parent company of Travel Weekly, but also the parent company of Focusrite, the research company and conference company at the intersection of tech and travel. There's a number of meetings, publications, meetings and conventions, successful meetings, meeting news that are part of Northstar. My old company is now part of Travel 42, which is part of Northstar, which is destination information. We also have business travel news, Focus Wire, Travel Age West. So we're the largest B2B publishing company that focuses exclusively on travel.
Speaker 1:We don't have anything in the portfolio that isn't travel related, and I'm sure anyone who has been in any sort of corporate environment has heard the word synergy thrust upon them. Find synergy with this group or that and I'll tell you I think that North Star works as well as it does because we actually have true synergy. If I have a question about something in the corporate travel world, I'll call up an editor over at Business Travel News or technology. I can call Focus Wire, Likewise they'll call me, and so that sort of synergy actually works. Nothing is forced. We actually like each other and find out lots of information from one another. Leading travel media, B2B travel media publication that is focused initially kind of on travel advisors. We've kind of broadened it a little bit more to the entire travel industry. But having these other publications in North Star makes our job a lot easier because we have this expertise really at our fingertips.
Speaker 2:That's great. I appreciate giving that context, and I think people would have listened to Pete Como, who's been on our show before as a standalone episode Of course. He's actually been on a spotlight episode quite recently as we were preparing for Focusrite in Barcelona, the European edition, and obviously that team and those colleagues of yours I highly admire as well. And Pete kindly mentioned that you're part of the extended family and so I love the dynamic and I just wanted to actually just underscore your point because I've seen it firsthand at my experience of the conferences and getting to know you and many members of the extended North Star family, and it really is that dynamic. You guys have a wonderful team and everyone gets along really well and you have so many complimentary initiatives.
Speaker 2:And I guess that's where you know with today's conversation, one of the things I really wanted to get into is this concept of trade media, and so, as you mentioned, with Travel Weekly being around since the 1950s and when I entered this space in the early 2000s, it became clear to me just how important these publications were to these travel advisors that I was working with. So when I was going into the lunchroom they were all reading the latest weekly publication, which ultimately, then, many of them became digital versions or as well as the print version, and then they were getting faxes, still from suppliers with special offers, and this was the way that the world worked for many, many years and, incredibly, still today there's many aspects of that world that still exist, and so the world of trade media has never been more important, because the travel media, as we know, and the trade side of this business continues to grow despite its predicted demise over the last 20 or 30 years. So would you mind, arnie, how would you describe trade media for our audience, because I think you and I both know what trade means and you already started to mention about it's travel agents but also, so, when you think about trade media and B2B, how would you describe that to our listeners? Who is the audience for Travel Weekly? And tell me, because I'm so keen to get your perspective on this, is that?
Speaker 2:What do you think the purpose of trade media is compared to B2C, consumer media?
Speaker 1:Sure, so travel weekly, when we look at our audiences, perhaps in 80 plus percent are travel advisors.
Speaker 1:The remainder work for suppliers, cruise lines, tour operators, hotels and resorts, as well as travel technology companies where people do bookings airlines Any component of a trip that can be booked ahead of time is who is in our audience. So we have the marketers, we have the salespeople, we have the CEOs, are all readers of Travel Weekly and what is a primary difference is our focus is to make our readers' businesses more successful, to help them grow. So when we look for what information to put in because I can tell you I get over 200 press releases a day you know we're looking at what are the stories that are the most important for our readers to understand and how will that help their business either by letting them know that they need to watch out for something, or it's just a development or an announcement. So we'll put up roughly 10 to 12 stories a day and these are ones that we feel are really ones that are going to help the businesses of our reader in our audience.
Speaker 2:Got it Now. That's helpful context, I think, for all of our listeners, because, overwhelmingly, travel trends is a B2B podcast. We are seeing more and more listeners coming in that are looking to enter the industry. That was part of the intention as we launched this post-pandemic is to welcome people into our industry or back to our industry, and make sure they had the information about what was happening in this space. And I think this is where you know clearly, you've got the finger on the pulse of what's happening in the travel industry. So people have been looking to you and continue to look to you as the thought leader and also the person that is going to be best positioned to advise them on what they should know today or this week that will have an impact on their business. And I guess that's where just to dive in that one a little bit further, because again, this is where I finally get the chance to ask you these questions.
Speaker 2:Like, I see Travel Weekly as a vital resource in the travel industry and I hear it all the time from I work with Global Journeys as a good example.
Speaker 2:They're an Australian-based company, they've launched a North American office and whenever we catch up, I mean they're always talking about what's on travel industry publications, and most of my colleagues they all retravel weekly, all of my colleagues in the US. I lived in the US for many years, and so tell us from your perspective, though, why you think it continues to be such a vital resource and, to your point there, about the number of articles you're sharing, how you continue to make sure that it's relevant, it's contemporary, because, again, I just you've been able to navigate this and I'm sure there's a clear strategy around it, so I just love to give you the opportunity to answer that question. I'm very keen to know how, how you continue to make travel weekly such a relevant form of media today for the for the trade that question I'm very keen to know how you continue to make Travel Weekly such a relevant form of media today for the trade.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I mean, unless it's a very, very straightforward announcement, we look at a press release as the beginning, not as the story. So we're always on the lookout for trends. When we begin to see things that you know, for example, like solo travel, this big rise in solo travel and a large rise in women traveling alone you know, when we see these things starting, one of our writers, one of our senior editors, will put together an in-depth look at that trend with multiple sources. See where it's going.
Speaker 1:Every week we do a cover story, but we also do analysis pieces every week in addition to those. So there's a million ways you can get straightforward information and we have to add value. If we don't add value, then the barrier to entry is gone. So I believe we have the largest editorial staff of any trade publication in travel and these are people whose experience our news editor comes from the New York Times. A vast majority have come from consumer media and are really solid journalists and good thinkers and they see what is happening. In a way, you know, if you're a reader, if you're a travel advisor, you're busy all day. I mean, you are getting, you're booking trips, you're talking with clients, with potential clients. You don't have the luxury of sort of sitting back and analyzing and thinking about all the different things that have come across your desk, so we see that as a big part of our role.
Speaker 2:And one of the things I wanted to ask you too when people are looking up Travel Weekly and of course it's travelweeklycom for any of our listeners that are just joining this journey with us and are multitasking as they're listening to our interview here, which many people do, whether you're folding laundry on the exercise treadmill, but some people are in front of their computers or on their phone, so you can when people look up Travel Weekly, now there are Travel Weeklies in other markets. There's a Travel Week in Canada, there's a Travel Weekly UK how do you, with Travel Weekly when it comes to your business, with Travel Weekly when it comes to your business, your audience? I mean, america is the largest market for many travel brands, and so how does it work on, I guess, a global scale in terms of Travel Weekly attracting a global audience?
Speaker 1:And how do you manage when there is similar names in other regions? Yeah, so once upon a time we were all part of Reed Elsevier, which is a Dutch-British conglomerate in Europe, and they decided to focus exclusively on events, so things like. They're now called RX Global and they had a world travel market, as when all their other world travel markets are their properties as our ILTM and all the various ILTMs. So when that happened and this was right around 2001,. They just kind of got rid of all their publications and they usually went to the publishers. The publishers of them just figured out how to acquire them and we have acquired, reacquired, I should say, travel Weekly Asia and Travel Weekly China. Travel Weekly China is on hold right now, but Travel Weekly Asia is functioning quite well.
Speaker 1:And you know Travel Weekly UK. We know those people really well, we really like them. You know it's one of the good things about these Travel Weeklies. That'd be pretty good. I mean, I would worry about the brand if there was one that was really off. You know, in Canada, interestingly, we have Northstar, has Travel Pulse Canada, which is our property there. But yes, there are some travel weeklies that are not ours but Asia, china and the US are, and I have had some hand in and responsibility for those ones in Asia Less so, as it's matured, got it.
Speaker 2:I was keen to understand that for myself, but also for our listeners as well, to just dispel any misunderstanding or confusion.
Speaker 2:So I appreciate clarifying that.
Speaker 2:And then the other thing I wanted to get into you were mentioning about you get press releases and it starts there and your team does their research, and I think many news organizations have been kind of under attack and under siege for the last decade or more, given the rise of digital channels and social media and declining revenue, as Google and Meta and these companies have, and so this doesn't just apply to travel trade media, but so it's reassuring to hear about the size of the team and the efforts, the efforts, and I guess one of the things I wanted to ask you along those lines is that, when we think about editorial content compared to advertorial, clearly all publications need to generate revenue and a key component and our podcast is a great example of that too we have great sponsors, great partners, but I always try and separate the two.
Speaker 2:Obviously, the focus is putting great content together and then having great commerce relationships where our audience can, or partners can, benefit from connecting with our audience. So the thing I'm keen to ask you is how do you approach that at Travel Weekly, where you know you need to be an advocate for the travel industry but you have to balance objective journalism with you know brands constantly bombarding you with you know get their story into the media. They've bought a new ship or they're launching a new travel style, and so I'm sure you get bombarded. When you're launching 12 articles a day, I'm sure you could publish 200. So how do you approach balancing objective journalism with you know helping just to promote this industry that clearly we both love?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's pretty, it's actually pretty straightforward. So we believe that an objective journalistic news enterprise and we don't say newspaper anymore, most of our revenue does not come from our print publication that it will succeed best when there is a separation between the commercial side and the editorial side. So we certainly know who you know, we have friendly relations on a personal basis, but they are very aware that their success is dependent upon our independence and objectivity independence and objectivity. So we take that approach and it does result. Sometimes people get unhappy and they cancel their advertising and things like that. But the publisher and the commercial side are aware that the formula of where objectivity is the ultimate guiding principle is in their best interest too.
Speaker 1:I mean, travel Weekly has been number one for a reason, and you know a lot of our competitors. You know the covers for sale and that's not. You know it's pop. I would say that's publishing. It's not necessarily journalism as I understand it, but you know they can. They can do what they want and if it works for them that's publishing. It's not necessarily journalism as I understand it, but you know they can do what they want and if it works for them, that's great. But it's just not the way we go.
Speaker 2:Now the other thing I wanted to ask you, too, is the challenges, and then I want to get into some of the things that we're both seeing in 2025, but specifically your perspective more where the industry is today for travel, trade media and where it's headed. But I just wanted to cover some of the challenges that we've seen to get us to where we are today, and you started to reference this, of course, about moving away from newspapers and also with the rise of digital channels. But I'm keen to hear from your vantage point how you would define the main challenges for trade media today, given that you do need to still produce a print publication. You've got the digital platforms. You're constantly updating the articles on your website, and then you've got all of these. You know content creators out there now that are also putting out their updates and their posts, especially on the social channels. So tell me, if you wouldn't mind, like what? What do you see as the biggest challenges for trade media today?
Speaker 1:What do you see as the biggest challenges for trade media today? Sure, so, I mean we're much. Most people who consume information from Travel Weekly do it digitally. We get two million page views every month, which, for a B2B publication, is a monster. I mean, it's really we get a lot of traffic. We had a lot of traffic and the B2B space is kind of funny.
Speaker 1:When I first started the job, the consumer media editors and writers were sort of the desirable let's say more desirable place to be, and I have been listening to them sing the blues now for more than a decade and the challenges that they're having, whereas we're kind of moving from strength to strength. And a lot of it is because a couple of reasons, I think. One our information really does help people in their business. It's not just entertaining, we try to make it entertaining, but it is because the news is essential to them. So we also, when you think about it, the consumer publications, and I'm believing that, not in consumer publications, but they have a lot of competition from influencers and from bloggers.
Speaker 1:And if you look up France, I mean Condé Nast, traveler and Travel and Leisure, and AFAR, national Geographic they may be the first four that are listed. But then there's a whole lot of people who all they do is focus on France. You know, they are real, these influencers are really experts but they really can go much deeper in some ways than the traditional publications can. In the B2B side much less of that sort of competition there are some people who are doing great work with blogs and things like that. Blogs and things like that, but we kind of, I feel, have the depth and breadth that we're I don't want to say one-stop shopping, but you can, you know we will show up. We or other North Star brands will certainly dominate most searches that have anything to do with B2B.
Speaker 2:Right. Yeah, it's interesting that when you think about travel advisors, too, today, I mean, it's one of the things that keeps coming up when you think about AI and we'll talk about AI, of course, in our conversation as well but one of the things that has stood out to me startups always talk about having a moat and this idea that you have a competitive advantage and one of the certainly with travel advisors, even in the face of all this technology having a personal relationship with a client, and I've seen so many examples of this where the client just trusts the travel advisor and they're not necessarily going to use the online tools that are available to them, even with AI, because they have a deep personal relationship with a travel advisor and they actually just take their recommendation, and that recommendation is they don't even I've heard examples where they don't even know what cruise line they were on. They just know that they booked with their travel advisor and took exactly what they suggested, and so that to me, in many ways in startup languages, is a moat, because you, you know no-transcript and that is the advantage you have is that if you're going to promote that cruise line or if you're going to feature an article I should say about that cruise line, that travel advisor is going to read, that, they're going to promote it to their client and they're going to book that trip. And that's sort of, I guess, the positive feedback loop or the virtuous cycle that occurs in our space when you have a trusted brand like yours, that they know that the content you're going to publish is exactly the information they need to know. So let me get the AI question out of the way, then.
Speaker 2:Right now, arnie, when you look at generative AI and what a massive impact that's having in society and specifically on travel, how are you harnessing any of that at travel weekly? How are you viewing that? Especially when it comes to writing articles, do you have a policy around? You know how much of the content has to be 100% written by staff. How are you seeing those tools? How are you using them? And, I guess, what are the threats that you see to the trade media by the introduction of generative AI?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's been very interesting, and so we do not publish articles that are generated by AI. There are other titles in North Star's stable Travel H West, for instance, will take a press release, have it more or less rewritten for the audience with very specific prompts with AI, but it's always always transparent that this was an AI written article. Travel Weekly never. We look at AI as a tool, much like a thesaurus. There are times, but I can tell you it is still far from accurate enough to rely on. I used it personally and asked about something and it said well, because one half cup is larger than two thirds cup. You know this is the answer. I was like well, that seemedini, you know, on Google, so it is nothing that we would use to gather information. The other really critical thing, and the reason that is probably less of a threat to travel weekly than most people might even assume, is because generative AI needs us more than we need it. They can't tell anybody anything until it's somewhere and we're one of the source. We are a source for generative AI, so without it, without us, it's got nothing, and so I reassured my staff they're not going to take your job. You know. They need you to do what they do. So that's one part of it, you know, but AI it's.
Speaker 1:I'm perhaps more worried in one regard for travel advisors. And on the other hand, I think travel advisors have some real advantages. And, going to what you said you know, in terms of the relationships with the clients, that's one half of the relationship circle. The other half is with suppliers. So if a really good travel advisor knows the names of the GM, not just the names of the GMs, they've met the GM, the general manager of a hotel or a property, and so that relationship saying, hey, I've got a really important client coming your way. I need you to take really good care of her that is really a huge advantage for the advisors. There's a wonderful advisor named Ann Scully, a luxury advisor, and she was having a client saying to her what can you do for me that Expedia can't do? And she replied well, I don't think Expedia can tell the general manager that you're God.
Speaker 1:You know and as much as you want to say to people I'm a VIP, you know. If they've never heard of you, good luck. But if you have a travel advisor who's been sending clients to this hotel for years, has a good relationship and says this client is God, that client will be well taken care of.
Speaker 2:That's a great example. And just to add to that, we had Ellie Wagner, who runs a company called Wagner Bespoke Travel. She's based in Santa Monica. She ended up on our podcast a year ago at the Forbes Travel Guy Conference in Las Vegas and, to her credit, she kind of pushed her way in to say I'd like to be interviewed on the podcast, and she was a great interview and it actually got a lot of attention. I learned quite a bit from her because she was a former lawyer, entertainment lawyer working on like Jeopardy, and she loved travel and switched into becoming a travel advisor and she literally built her business by doing exactly what you described is that she got to know the hotel GMs, develop personal relationships with them and then was better positioned to be able to serve her clients because they gave them that incredible VIP treatment. And this is in the age of AI and technology and like. So here's an individual that breaks into our space at a later stage. She's like a young mom and I was just like it was a fascinating story to me and to share her journey. And obviously there's many other individuals that have come into the industry that have started to now understand exactly what you described and are building successful businesses in 2025 and beyond. So I love that because, clearly, you and I attend a number of these conferences together and are surrounded by those types of individuals that have those inspiring stories. Expedia can't tell you're God. I like that line a lot.
Speaker 2:But the other thing I wanted to ask you too, on this topic, Arnie, is that when we think about the travel advisors and you started to allude to this but I want to ask you this direct question because I had the opportunity to ask Matthew Upchurch and I certainly have my views we did a deep dive into travel advisors in season four and really it was about the renaissance of travel advisors, and I've spoken about this on the show because, as much as that industry has been predicted its demise, the reality is is that it's had a massive resurgence post pandemic and if you look at some of the trends where you know people are searching three times as many websites now as they did prior to the pandemic. The complexity has only increased and therefore the tendency to rely on a travel advisor that can cut through the clutter, make personalized recommendations, and this is not just for the 50 or 60 plus. This is now 20 and 30-somethings are also using travel advisors and there's companies like Fora that are coming along that are giving opportunities for people to become travel advisors. So in many ways I see it as an exciting time to be in this space. An exciting time to be in this space.
Speaker 2:So I had the opportunity to ask Matthew Upchurch and I did see him get hit with a real hardball question from a journalist at the virtual conference last year about the future of B2B when everything's going to go B2C indirect.
Speaker 2:I was shocked that someone asked him such a direct question and kind of tried to put him on the spot. Matthew is such an excellent storyteller and such a pro he obviously just like he lined it right up. That was a fastball right down the middle for Matthew Uptures to turn around and actually give all the points as to why trade has never been more and travel advisors have never been more relevant and more important, and talked about suppliers, savvy suppliers, and he used Intrepid as the example in his response as being the ones that actually serve both that they do direct marketing and they do brand marketing, but they get a ton of business from trade and that's why they're at Virtuoso and they belong to that network. So I want to give you the opportunity to answer that same question was that, as we sit here together in 2025 and we ask ourselves what does the role of travel advisors look like and what the future is for them? What is your take on that?
Speaker 1:what the future is for them. What is your take on that? Yeah, it's interesting. You mentioned that somebody went to from being a lawyer to a travel advisor. It's about the third one I've heard of recently.
Speaker 1:It used to be that a travel advisor, you know, thought a terrific luck to be hired by a supplier. These days it's the other way around. Suppliers are leaving the supplier side and becoming advisors, and it wasn't that long ago that the supply side was really worried that there wasn't a pipeline of new travel advisors coming in. And the reason they were worried and we've done research that backs this up reason they were worried and we've done research that backs this up that clients of travel advisors take more trips per year, longer trips per trip and spend more money per day. So these are the highest margin travelers, these are the ones in the front of the plane, these are the ones staying at the five-star plus resorts. So the advisor position is right now very, very good, almost as good as I've ever seen it.
Speaker 1:And the millennials sort of saved things in a way, because they were the original digital nomads who also found they could work and travel at the same time. They could be travel advisors, not stuck in an office in a strip mall, but they could be on travel at the same time. They could be travel advisors, not stuck in an office in a strip mall, but they could be on a beach in Bali and provide good service for the clients. So young people and I'm saying young people, now millennials aren't the youngest anymore but they kind of saved it and one way that they saw this as an attractive thing this is so interesting Destination weddings. So travel advisors are really good in the destination wedding space and so a millennial would get married and it was a fantastic experience at a destination.
Speaker 1:They say how did you do this? They say, well, use the travel advisor, and that kind of spread out. I heard actually you mentioned Matthew Uptridge at Virtuoso Travel Week. They had one of the producers of the show, the Bachelor, was on and he said he was a travel advisor. And he said you know, the key with millennials is millennials' expertise, is knowing who the experts are. And I think that you know that generation really kind of revived things when things were looking questionable. To be honest, you know, and and now no one's looked back I mean the travel advisor business is thriving.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm sure many of our listeners who are travel advisors were thrilled to hear that answer to that question because, you know, constantly people do position them in such a way that, like, the industry is under siege, and clearly the ones that have embraced this space and are seeing the booking results they know. The answer to that is that. So, despite the perception that has been around for so long, it's never been, as you said, a more exciting time to be in that space, and I'm certainly seeing that as well. So I'd like to get into this is. This is where, for me, as we've been discussing you know, your background, what you've been working on, one of the big things that I always love to discuss on the show hence the name is the big trends that are happening. And now I have the opportunity to ask someone that has, you know, reported on countless industry shifts over the years, so someone that has that wisdom and experience but also is very contemporary. And this is where, when I see you at everything and the number of people that gravitate towards you, arnie and I was like so it's always a delight to see you in person, but also just to know that you are that person that people go to to ask these types of questions, and now we have this opportunity together.
Speaker 2:So, when you think about the trends that are shaping travel, especially here in 2025, I know we need one that we definitely need to address, which is the American market and what's happening domestically and internationally. That's obviously top of mind for a lot of our listeners, so we definitely need to dive into that. But I'm also keen to get your take on the travel trade and what the next few years look like. But maybe let's start with the American market, since that is obviously something that you are so very close to the American traveler and the inbound tourism market. But I'm keen to take this in any direction you want to Arnie in terms of the things that you're going to be able to share with myself and our listeners. So I guess what are the big trends that you're paying attention to?
Speaker 1:listeners. So, guess what? What are the big trends that you're paying attention to? Yeah, so, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, solo travel, women travel are really, you know, there's always been there and there's always been, you know, programs especially to serve that market. But now I don't know one tour operator that hasn't jumped in with both feet. Now I don't know one tour operator that hasn't jumped in with both feet. And I know people you know, who are friends, women, who say what do you recommend? I want to go somewhere. You know I'm not traveling with anybody. It really seems that there's I guess it's a baby boomer kind of age that they're ready to go, a baby boomer kind of age that they're ready to go, and they you know the husband maybe for years has been saying I don't want to do it, and they've kind of gone along with it and they're like screw it. I'm, you know, I'm at a point in my life I want to do what I want to do, and so that is a really interesting development.
Speaker 1:It's interesting to see how the market has responded with very, very specific programs. You know, you're seeing, still a lot of these trends have been going on for a while, but they have legs, things like doing a buyout on a hotel. This is something that you know it's not going to happen at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but some very nice five star 60 room properties will be just taken over by a family or for an occasion. That's still really going strong. The multi-gen travel is still going very, very strong and again the market responds. You see every cruise line, what they would call contemporary cruise line, which is another word for mass market All of them have really really exceptional suites that are even kind of closed off. You have to be in those suites to get into that area. So the grandkids are downstairs, they're going to the water slide all the time. So the grandkids are downstairs, they're, you know, going to the water slide all the time and the grandparents are having a really nice sophisticated time up in their area. So these sorts of things you know trends the market really does react well to kind of seeing these patterns and they have so much data they can sort of see it before most other people can, before most other people can. You know, kind of looking ahead, I am very concerned with the stories that come out about people getting detained when they're coming into the US because their visa isn't exactly in order.
Speaker 1:You know, in the past they would just be turned around, said no, you can't come in.
Speaker 1:They'd be on the next flight out or turned around at the border in Canada or Mexico. Now they're being detained and the stories coming out are really disturbing. You know people being held for three weeks, 45 days even for you know the one that really got to me. There was a Welsh woman coming from Canada into the US and she had arranged that before she left home to go to various houses and she would help around the house, do some errands in exchange for her room. And this has actually always been a no-no, that if you wanted to exchange house sitting to come into the country, if the border guard found that out you weren't coming in. But this woman was held for 19 days and not in a pleasant place, and so I think you know this sounds like it has to be somewhat intentional that they want to send a message don't try to do this.
Speaker 1:But the message that's coming through is some person who just wanted to visit the US, who had a proper visa for a tourism visa, is not only not going to get in, they're going to be made an example of, and that is going to be a turnoff. And this is we're in a state where the market share for the US inbound travel has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. This year was going to be a good year. It was predicted to go up 3.9%. We've got coming up, we've got Olympics, we've got the World Cup, we've got all these things, and this is something that, to me, is very concerning, and it's concerning reputationally for the country and it's concerning for those people who get caught in this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I appreciate you raising that and I'm glad that you did, because you know when we first started mentioning the trend, solo travel, multi-generational travel, all those things are so exciting and this is where the future for our industry post-COVID has been so bright and so exciting. This is kind of the first time since the lockdowns that we went through where, all of a sudden, we're starting to see choppy waters again and trying to figure out what does this all mean? And so I just wanted to initially go back to what you shared about the solo traveler, which is overwhelmingly for sure, one of the biggest trends that are happening in travel and driving group travel, and I'm seeing even the latest figures from companies like Intrepid and G Adventures and this rise in solo travel and it was actually came up at the Forbes Travel Guide conference that we were at as well. I sat in one of the sessions at PwC a couple of consultants from PwC and they talked about how the last five years, solo travel has more than doubled.
Speaker 2:Travel has more than doubled, and the interesting stat they had shared it was that 47% of solo travelers were women that are either divorced or widowed, and I found that really fascinating as well, just because some people may associate solo female traveler with 20 or 30s, where actually solo female travelers actually at least half of that is people that are in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and so that's really exciting and I'm also encouraged to see some of the latest results that, despite some of the challenges that are happening in the tourism market that we'll come back to right away that we're still seeing people travel. So that's still at least outbound. So these solo female travelers are still saying, despite everything that's going on in America at the moment, I want to go and travel. If anything, I want to get out of the country and I want to see some of the world.
Speaker 2:And then the other thing you mentioned is the multi-generational travel, which again is one of those things that the smart, savvy suppliers that are creating itineraries where I worked with Uniworld for a number of years, Uniworld was, you know, they put two itineraries a year that were multi-generational. We took our kids on these family itineraries and the number of grandparents that have bought the trips for their kids and their grandkids, recognizing exactly what you just described, because an interesting stat that I had just learned from Michael Clinton, who wrote a book called Roar about longevity travel, is that the 50 plus control 70% of the wealth and, rightly or wrongly, but it's like that most of the marketing goes to the younger generations, or you're highlighting there's a missed opportunity. You're not speaking to the people with the money. Follow the money market, market to the people that can book a cruise for everyone. Um, exactly as you described. So I just I just wanted to go back to those, because this is where there is some really positive encouraging. But let's come back to exactly what you just shared then, Arnie, which is this difficult reality we're currently experiencing. And, of course, I'm Canadian.
Speaker 2:I spent a lot of time traveling to the US. I love America, I love Americans, and I say that forthrightly because I genuinely do. I lived in the US for a number of years and I struggle with everything that's going on at the moment, and I'm hearing it more and more from industry colleagues about their concerns and people like Shannon Stoll who runs the Adventure Travel and their phone. Even if it was that they could be held and turned away for that reason, that is a frightening proposition that we haven't had to contend with before. So all of a sudden. That's certainly sending a chill to international travelers to the US.
Speaker 2:And then we have this complexity where Americans are also quite concerned about how they're going to be received abroad, where Americans are also quite concerned about how they're going to be received abroad, which is something obviously keen for you to speak to as well, being an American in the US, knowing that this is something I heard at our conference just recently. The number of Americans that expressed this concern that how they're going to be treated and perceived and I think we all know is that they're going to be treated incredibly well. Canadians will love seeing Americans and we want to see Americans traveling. So for any Americans listening to that, the first thing I would say is don't even let that enter your mind, Because, if anything, it's going to be the complete opposite of what you expect, which is, our people are going to be delighted to see you, their arms are going to be wide open and they're going to be thrilled that you've come to visit their country.
Speaker 1:So no-transcript been related to this topic. I called it the travel tariff. You know that there's all these headwinds that are being created unnecessarily in my view, that I mentioned how it's going to impact. I worry how it's going to impact inbound travel, but you're absolutely right that and it will be not that there I hope that there would be experiences where Americans are really treated differently and poorly. I got my first press release yesterday from a Canadian city saying we want you, please come, because you know that is the economic impact and we are a B2B publication. This is something we focus on kind of radiates negatively in all directions, deviates negatively in all directions. So you know the, the hope my hope would be that there is. You know the, the current administration.
Speaker 1:What a big criticism often is is that there's no obvious plan. You know tariffs around, tariffs are off. This is happening. That is happening, that the attention that goes, that turns into pressure. One hopes can modify or even reverse this. In other words, you know there's a lot of airlines who have a big lobbying force, hotel companies, advisory boards to the government that if there is some pressure and I can be public in my pressure I can write this and try and get things going. What is interesting is how quiet other large travel entities are because they don't want to get blowback or or, worse yet, be seen as critics that could be disregarded. But there's a lot that can go on quietly and I understand it, you know. I mean the US Travel Association, I think, does a tremendous work. They're kind of quiet on all this so far and I think the reason is if they, you know, start complaining about it, they will be seen as people that don't have to be listened to. But if they do it quietly, through a lobbying effort, I'm hopeful that some of these positions can get reversed, because you know, if they dig in and this is how they're going to treat everybody and this, by the way, comes out of an executive order on day one that said there would be what.
Speaker 1:The word wasn't extreme, but it was like extra. So the vetting will be done. That the maximum, that was the word. The maximum vetting will occur from people coming into the country. So maximum vetting, if that means we're going to put you in a detention center, who's going to want to take a chance on that? So, and yes, the idea of looking through people's social media accounts, I mean, it's just you don't want. This reminds me of when I visited Romania in 1988, when it was under this horrible dictatorship, and they at that time pre-phones, they took all my journals, they took them away, they read through them all. They, you know, took my film. I was afraid they were going to fog it. They didn't end up doing that. But you know, this sort of thing feels very, very intrusive and unnecessary. So we'll see where this goes. I'm hoping it tones down.
Speaker 2:Yeah well, your articles on this have been fantastic. I actually just read Tourism Tariff comes into focus, and you talked about the number of people that you've met internationally that have had US educations and their sentiment traveling to the US now, and even you also highlighted in the article, too, about some of the university organizations that are advising their students, who even have green cards, not to travel internationally, and we're seeing some of those headlines as well. So I think you reporting on this and making sure that we continue to advocate, hopefully more and more people will listen to it, more people will speak up, and because obviously both of us love this industry, we think there's so much to be gained from tourism and commerce and opportunity, and so, yes, for sure, I'm going to keep reading, I want to make sure our listeners do too, and obviously I want you to continue to lead the charge on this, because we certainly need more and more people to make everyone aware that these are exceptional times and certain things like this are just not normal, and and, wherever possible, to be able to reassure people, because also sometimes, as you know, one of those incidents occur, and this is the reality for travel. There was an interesting session I attended recently about the perceptions of destinations is these can have lasting negative consequences. So, even if it does get remedied in short order, the damage that continues to get recently about the perceptions of destinations is these can have lasting negative consequences. So, even if it does get remedied in short order, the damage that continues to get done by these stories of headlines of a French scientist getting turned away for after their phone gets shared. Or there was a Canadian exactly what you just described with a visa entering through Mexico was held for two weeks and pretty horrible conditions, and so for sure, that's going to continue to be a big concern.
Speaker 2:So let's move on topics, because obviously there's other things we want to discuss. In 2025 will quickly become 2030, as we both know in our careers and our lives. Let's look forward and talk about where you're seeing some of the exciting developments in the travel industry, whether it be in cruise or adventure travel, or some of the destinations that are opening up. What are some of the things that stand out to you as we look forward, putting the current realities aside just for a moment, as to where the industry is headed and should?
Speaker 1:be headed. Yeah, and I think one of the things that and this is a little related to what we were just talking about is that when it comes to destinations, the choice is so broad right now that you know if you're worried about coming to the US, well, there's, you know, 22 are some destinations I think are really exciting, that are, at this point, you know, over. Tourism is a serious and real problem and I've written about it extensively, I've written about it in books. But the the other thing that is absolutely true is that there are lots of places that you will not experience it. That are wonderful experiences, and the problem with overtourism is it's no fun for anyone, it's not fun for the residents, not fun for the visitor. But there are lots of different ways you can do it. You can if you look at it both across the map and across the calendar. So in February I was in Venice. It was the week before Carnival, so nobody was there. The residents outnumbered visitors significantly and it was still Venice. You know you could still go into St Mark's and no line. I think traveling off-season is something that I would imagine is going to not even just shoulder season, off season, if there's some real advantages to it and I think that this will be picked up, especially as the baby boomers retire and they've got more time and more choice they can do. They can go whenever they want to go, and that's something that I think you'll be seeing. And then the other thing I'm going to just talk about some of my favorite destinations that I think are completely undervisited thankfully, it's one of the benefits of them, actually, but which I love.
Speaker 1:Start with Ethiopia. It's my favorite country in the world as a tourist. It's the only country in Africa that was never colonized, so the culture and the tradition is hundreds of years old. They have a fair amount of diversity in terms of religion. They have incredible diversity geographically. They have deserts, they have jungle, they have mountains. I mean it's really an amazing place. The food is great, the have deserts, they have jungle, they have mountains. I mean it's really an amazing place. The food is great, the people are great, the thing that they have that is I would think anyone with a sense of adventure might want to look into this they have ruins in a town called Lollibella.
Speaker 1:It's in the middle of nowhere. It is not easy to get to you. Most people fly, if they go at all. But this was where a probably crazy emperor once lived who had a dream that God told him to build the New Jerusalem, kind of in this wasteland New Jerusalem kind of in this wasteland. And so what he did was he had 13 churches carved out of the bedrock. I believe six of them or seven of them are down. He built a trench, leaving a big monolithic rock, and then carved a church out of it, and then he did the other ones into a mountainside. These are incredible, these are unbelievable, and they're still actually used. So if you go during the day, you don't see anybody and it's very much a tourist experience. But if you happen to go there on a Sunday, you see services like you've never seen before. It's really an incredible experience.
Speaker 1:I really really like Oman. It's a really interesting destination. Saudi Arabia is developing. I think some of the areas are still a little early. You've heard of the NEOM project, but in the Riyadh area and Alula there's a lot of stuff going on there, that is. You know, there's one of the things I like getting to a place before when it's in its early stages, and so that does. Saudi Arabia is still there. They're beginning to pick up some steam, but if you want to see a country before everybody gets there, you can still do that. And yeah, and it's a fascinating, big, wonderful, wild, wide world that has so many opportunities still.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic. I'm glad that certainly shifted things on a very happy and positive note. I have not been to Ethiopia or Oman. I've had great interest to travel to Ethiopia for some time. Actually, just to highlight, we traveled to Kenya and Tanzania and we flew through Addis Ababa and we were flying on Ethiopian Airlines and they have a whole new fleet of jets and they were absolutely gorgeous and my son wants to be a pilot and he was just and this is where, like perception, I would never have thought Ethiopia Airlines would have some of the newest, most sophisticated fleet of jets in the world and so and it gives you a completely different perspective of that destination and how important it's going to be for future travel They've invested in that for the very reason that countries like Dubai have as well, because they want to become more of a hub and they want to offer. So I'm glad you mentioned those, because that's a nice happy, positive shift.
Speaker 2:The other thing I wanted to I got a couple more things I definitely want to ask you, arne, while we're chatting today.
Speaker 2:The other one I wanted to get into is just the innovations that you think are going to come through in travel.
Speaker 2:You started to talk about this when you mentioned about the bright outlook for travel advisors, and one of the developments I read recently was in a Focusrite report your example about the research they do.
Speaker 2:They had published a. They track the investment in startups, and one of the things they had called out in a report early 2025 is that actually the majority of investment in travel startups went to B2B travel startups in Q4 2024. That's the very first time that more money has been invested in B2B than B2C and it actually overwhelmingly went to European startups. And this is where I say it's very reassuring for travel advisors, because the technology is now being built for them to be able to use to run their back office, to be able to streamline, make them more efficient so they can spend more time working with customers and providing that human touch. And so I was just keen to know what other innovations you're paying attention to in the trade space that you're excited about, or just kind of monitoring to see what's coming, because, again, you're just someone that has a good read on things. So I was keen to ask you what else are you paying attention to when it comes to interesting developments and innovations in the trade business?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it's interesting. You know the B2C. There's one company that I think has done a really interesting job overlapping B2B and B2C is TripAdvisor. So TripAdvisor recently came out and said look, we're going to put a whole lot of emphasis on experiences. They own a company called Viator. Viator is really where you would go for a day trip. If you're on TripAdvisor and you say, what can I do today, you look, what is there to do? You're going to find a whole lot of links to things you can do that are guided, a guided experience. Viator also serves hundreds of thousands of travel advisors. So they have got sort of that overlap. It can be booked by a travel advisor, it could be booked by a consumer, and I think you're going to see a lot more of that sort of thing happening, where a company may have been thinking of itself as B2C and then all of a sudden they're realizing why would I ignore a channel that provides, again, the highest margins, the best sort of customers? So you're seeing these things.
Speaker 1:One big story, sort of tech story in 2024, was the rollout of what they call the new distribution capability of the airlines NDC for short and this was seen as a huge threat initially and I'll name names American Airlines did a terrible job rolling it out. They tried to cut the trade out. It cost them a billion and a half dollars in trying to market around the trade. The people who were the architects were fired. They're trying to repair those relationships as best they can. But the heart of what this new distribution capability is really interesting to me, because they have so much data and they automate an offer. So they will say, for instance, this passenger always wants the exit row window seat, they always buy a meal. Why don't we package something that has all those things we know they like and offer it to them on an email offer or notification something? And this was the.
Speaker 1:A lot of travel advisors saw this as a huge threat. The reality is, the travel advisor is in a much better position to make an offer. They know the people, not just through their data. They know them, they know their clientele. They can put together that same sort of package that's much more personal and much more targeted, even than someone who has reams and reams of big data.
Speaker 1:So there's that aspect. So there's that aspect, and one is a really, I think, brilliant travel advisor named Jack Eason, and he had a conference and he would put a advisor and one of his preferred suppliers together at a table and they'd call a client and they'd say, you know? The advisor would say, you know, I've got this supplier name sitting right here and they would target the client. They would know that this advisor and this client were a perfect match and they would say, hey, this, he's been telling me about what they've got going and I put him on the phone right now. So I mean that sort of relationship it's just whatever automated things might come along, it just can't compare and that is not going to go away. In fact, if anything, I think the more people feel isolated by technology, the more they're going to value that human connection.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's very well said, Arnie, and given your background experience in the industry, I'm sure so many people are keen for you to answer the question that I'm always very keen to ask a guest, especially like yourself, that has such a distinguished career but is very much as relevant and has as much energy and interest in this industry as ever. So, I mean, you are you are, uh an important voice in this industry, and will be for many years to come. I think one of the things that I wanted to um make sure that I asked you, though, is that, if you think about those people that are coming up in the industry, the advice you would like to share with them and this is where, for me I think many of our listeners know when I started the podcast, it was one of the things that I always wanted to be mindful of. Is you know myself 20 years ago, I mean, if I think about it even now in this conversation is like it was such a privilege to be able to go to my very first Focusrite conference.
Speaker 2:It was amazing to have that one opportunity to be able to speak on a stage at a Focusrite conference, because for me, it was very much like the Academy Awards. It was, like you know, getting and to be able to go to the conferences I've had a number of years and then see you and be able to be able to shake your hand, say hello, it's like. So I can still consider that to be such a privilege, and certainly it has been, having had this time now to have this conversation with you. So what I want to ask for my younger self and for all those people in the room that are saying if you had the chance to interview Arnie, what would you ask him? What advice would you have for those young people out there looking to make their way in this industry?
Speaker 1:Well, dan, you're very kind. I mean, believe me, whatever wisdom I might possess is built on mistakes. But I would say that if there were one word that is just the advice I would give to anybody really almost starting out in anything is how are you going to differentiate yourself? What is it that you're going to do that is not being done right now, that nobody is doing and that is really needed, and the bar gets very low.
Speaker 1:This is kind of the trouble with trends is, by the time you hear about the trend depending when you hear about it, it might be a little late to get in there, and then you become one of many people who are hopping onto the trend. So it's not always easy, but it's worth the thought about how am I going to do something a little bit different? How am I going to do it in a way that is going to get some attention? And you know you've got to have the basics underlying this. You can't just have a gimmick, but if you have a way to to approach a problem that is really going to make you stand out. Whether you're a journalist, I mean you know, whether you're a writer, whether you're a travel advisor, whether you're creating a travel product. What are you doing? That's going to separate you from the path and that's that, I think, will never go out of fashion. You know, which is to essentially? I suppose you could say innovate, but innovation often is so tied in with technology. But you can innovate in almost anything you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, very well said. I couldn't agree with you more. But that differentiator whether it's your own personal brand or in the business that you're running that really what's going to set you apart, I think that's I've certainly seen that as a key to success for many brands that I've have the um the opportunity to work with. So I think that you, you, you nailed it with that point. I think that's one thing that people take away. Um. But, arnie, obviously I enjoy reading your publications. I read, you know I um I think many more people will.
Speaker 2:As a result of this, hopefully it reads about a much larger audience. I think we've got listeners now in like 125 countries, so hopefully we expand the reach with this conversation. I'm sure anyone listening to this is now going to not only check out travelweeklycom but also um tell their uh, their friends and colleagues as well. So I want to make sure that people know every way they can connect with you or some of the initiatives that you have on. That we should be alerting everyone to so that they can follow along, pay attention and and, like me, learn from you.
Speaker 1:Well, I would say, if you aren't already, if you're interested in any of the things we've been talking about and you're not already getting the Travel Weekly Daily Bulletin, go on travelweeklycom and sign up for it. So every morning, you will get 10, 12 news stories, podcasts, things that are very, very fresh, and we also have some individual e-newsletters, depending on your area of Europe, for instance, riverboats, luxury. If there's a subspecialty in travel that you're interested, there's a good chance we have a newsletter that's focused just on that. I invite you all to follow me on LinkedIn. That's my primary social media outlet. I guarantee you I'll accept your request, so feel free to connect with me. I'd be happy, more than happy to hear from you, and it's Arnie Weissman two S's, two N's on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2:Well, and I can vouch for him because he did accept mine, and so we are connected. You can see that we are, but yeah, I'm sure you will for sure, arnie, from this conversation, not only because you are such an important industry figure, but because you're so generous with your knowledge and advice, and I think that certainly came across to me Well, it comes across to me whenever I see you, but I think I'm sure it came across to many of our listeners as well. So, make sure that you definitely connected with Arnie on LinkedIn and definitely subscribe to the Daily Bulletin. It is an incredibly valuable source of information and for global travelers too. So I would just want to highlight that is that you want to understand the US market.
Speaker 2:It's something that a lot of clients come to me to understand, and reality is a lot of that is what's happening in the trade media and getting that news and publication. So, arnie, I can't thank you enough for making the time for this. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing you again in person over the course of the year. I know we'll see each other at Focusrite in San Diego later this year, if not before. But yeah, thank you again for making the time for Travel Trends. I wish you and the team every success and I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you, Dan, I really enjoyed this and best of luck to you as well.
Speaker 2:Look forward to seeing you again. Thanks so much for joining us on this latest episode of Travel Trends. I hope you enjoyed this spotlight episode featuring Arnie Weissman, the editor-in-chief of Travel Weekly. I so thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. I hope you did as well, and I just want to say thank you again to Arnie for joining us. I certainly look forward to seeing you at some of the conferences later this year and for those of you who now have discovered Arnie Weissman, I definitely encourage you to connect with him on LinkedIn and also check out travelweeklycom and be sure to look at his regular opinion pieces every week, because he certainly covers all the geopolitics and shares his opinion and views, and I always appreciate that.
Speaker 2:So thank you, arnie, and for those of you who've been really enjoying these spotlight episodes, I definitely encourage you to check out TravelTrendsPodcastcom slash spotlights as we continue to roll out a number of episodes over the course of this month as we prepare to launch season six of Travel Trends our Captain of Industry series on September 3rd, and we have some amazing guests lined up for that. Starting off with Chris Hemeter from Thayer Ventures, we have Tao Tao from Get your Guide. It's going to be an amazing season with five different themes, and then we also have our AI Summit happening at the end of October, the 28th or 29th, so you can find out more details, to sign up for our event and learn about Season 6 of Travel Trends at TravelTrendsPodcastcom. Until next time, safe travels.
