In this episode we meet Eduardo Heidemann, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Travelmate, a student travel agency in Brazil.  

Eduardo shares the origin story of Travelmate, which goes back to his college years in the mid 90s and meeting his good friend and co-founder Alex. He also talks about current student travel market demand in Brazil and some of the factors that influence Brazilian students’ motivations to travel abroad for educational and cultural experiences. Because BridgeUSA programs are popular with Brazilian students, we also discuss demand for specific programs and some of the challenges facing the cultural exchange community at large in the coming years. On a lighter note, Eduardo reveals his love of music and the theme song he would choose for Travelmate. Have a listen… 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Joakim Malm, owner and operator of Stockholm Adventures is our guest for this episode of Ask Us Anything.  

Stockholm Adventures specialises in guided group tours and outdoor activities in and around the city of Stockholm. Originally started in 2007 as ICEguide and offering ice skating tours of Stockholm, Joakim has expanded the company to include a variety of outdoor activities for the entire year, including cycling, kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, and snowshoeing, as well as city walking and Segway tours. 

In this episode Joakim talks about providing unique, active experiences that allow international visitors to enjoy the city’s nature and Swedish culture in a sustainable way. We also go back to Joakim’s teen years to discover what valuable life lessons his love for skate- and snowboarding gave him. Have a listen. 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Phakamile Hlazo, Founder of Zulu Nomad, talks about the power of authenticity, backpackers and cultural exchange for tourism in emerging destinations in this episode of Ask Us Anything. Her journey as a Rotary Ambassador, Chinese government scholarship grantee and now tourism innovator has helped other young Black South Africans to embrace their freedom to travel and power to establish their narratives of authenticity. You'll hear why Phaka is enthusiastic about digital nomads, how cultural exchange is transformative for communities and what was so 'mind-blowing' about WYSTC.

Read more about Phaka and her experience at WYSTC with the WYSE Up Programme here.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

In this episode we meet Ari Charlestein, Owner and “Evil Genius” of Competitours, the only company in the world to offer full-scale international team travel competition trips. Competitours trips combine travel with creative, competitive fun - and a mystery itinerary.  

Ari explains the unique aspects of mystery travel and the Competitours experience, not only from the consumer perspective, but from a planning and logistics point of view too. You’ll learn that mystery travel involves a number of special characteristics that you could say attract a ‘special kind of crazy’ traveller and trip leader. 

Ari’s background in points and miles programmes offers unique insights on consumer habits, loyalty and some interesting post-pandemic overlaps of business travel and game-ified adventure travel. You’ll also hear Ari’s number one business hurdle and ultimate joy. Have a listen… 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

In this episode we talk to João Cortes, two-time volunteer of the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC).

Most likely João welcomed you to the trade hall or an educational session at a recent edition of WYSTC in Lisbon, Portugal but now he finds himself in Spain doing a seven-month internship with a major international hotel chain. João has an eye and appreciation for the opportunity to learn something from every situation and every person he encounters. This suits his aspiration to become a leader in hospitality rather well.

In this conversation you'll discover what kind of impression WYSTC delegates left on a volunteer, the biggest social challenge for young people right now and why international educational opportunities, like Erasmus+, are so important to students. Have a listen.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Haydn Marriner, Chairperson of the Backpacker Youth Adventure Tourism Association (BYTA) of New Zealand discusses the country's losses in international youth arrivals in the latest episode of the WYSE Ask Us Anything podcast. You'll discover the economic value and ripple effect of the backpacker and working holiday markets for New Zealand and what BYATA is doing to recover their losses and keep the destination relevant to youth. Have a listen.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Professor Konstantina Zerva is our guest for this episode of Ask Us Anything, she is  Professor of Marketing and Market Investigation at the Faculty of Tourism, University of Girona in Spain.  

Professor Zerva’s research is related to niche tourism market segments, gender and mobility, social marketing and theories of social exchange. She is the coordinator of the special interest group on ‘dark tourism’ of ATLAS, the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research. 

Dark tourism includes a wide range of sites and tourist activities associated with death and suffering, but also danger and survival. Such sites might include constructed memorials, abandoned places of historic events and simulated or actual environments. Dark tourism activities can be passive or active, self-reflective or communal. Increasingly, technology is used to simulate dark contexts and experiences. 

As you will hear in this conversation, dark tourism is a useful analytical tool for understanding cultural exchange, tourist behaviour and the delicate balance among a variety of stakeholders, including locals, victims and survivors. We touch on some of the beneficial aspects of dark tourism, as well as the controversial aspects, including its commercialisation. Confronting the darkness of humanity is an age-old activity, however, the ways that humans - and tourists - do this are changing. Have a listen… 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

In this episode of the WYSE Ask Us Anything podcast we hear from Catherine Gilvarry, Head of Supply at Hostelworld, an OTA specialised in serving the hostel market. 

As a member of Hostelworld’s ESG Steering Committee, Catherine discusses Hostelworld’s new “Stairway to Sustainability” programme, a framework for hostels to assess and communicate their sustainability initiatives. You’ll also hear about some of the social travel trends that Hostelworld is focussed on as the global hostel market continues to stabilise post-COVID-19. I also ask about media attention for the group’s 2023 year-end results and CEO Gary Morrison’s interest in addressing “loneliness” through travel, and of course, hostels. Have a listen. 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

Guests for this Ask Us Anything conversation are Kevin Morgan and Randy LeGrant, co-founders of Academic Language Solutions. The company specialises in English language proficiency testing, and offers a range of tests under the brand iTEP.  There are iTEP tests to assess conversational or business English, as well as career-specific tests for hospitality or child care. There are also academic tests geared for university and high school admissions and tests utilised by cultural exchange programmes. 

Kevin and Randy first met in 1979. They iTEP in 2016, but their experience in youth, student and educational travel stretches back much further and across more than just English language learning. In this conversation you’ll learn how each got started in cultural exchange travel and how they went from careers in teaching and communications to technology. Kevin boils it down to two words: curiosity and necessity. 

We also discuss the influence of Artificial Intelligence on not only their business and product technology, but young people, education and travel. You’ll also find out what’s in the iTEP pipeline for 2024 and beyond. Have a listen.

Recorded February 2024.

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.

What’s one of the most important aspects of developing a new hostel brand in the post-pandemic travel space? Staffing? Tech? TikTok? And what about the bed? Comfort? Cool? Cheap? 

This Ask Us Anything conversation with Louise Garner, Commercial Director of Kabannas, a new hostel brand in the UK, offers some opinions and insights on the question. Louise discusses the development of tech specifically designed for hostels and around revenue management of the bed. We also touch on developing a social media strategy alongside the development of your guest experience. And of course, something that’s been a challenge for most in hospitality coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic - staffing.  Strategic partners have been key to the launch of Kabannas, and as you’ll hear Louise say, 2024 will be a ‘big year’ for the brand, especially when it comes to expansion plans… have a listen. 

Learn more about WYSE Travel Confederation, the international travel trade association for organisations specialised in youth, student and educational travel.