In this episode of Experience This! Travel Show, we speak with Sara Margulis of Honeyfund and Stephen Thresh of Viator about where travel demand really begins.

Is it search? A life event? A gift registry? A marketplace? An AI recommendation?

We explore how travelers discover and fund experiences, how AI may reshape the booking journey, and what suppliers should understand about demand, discounts, loyalty, and the moments that actually inspire people to travel.

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Expedia founding team member Erik Blachford joins the Experience This! Travel Show for a candid conversation about where value is created and who holds the leverage in travel distribution. From OTAs and travel advisors to TripAdvisor, direct bookings and Expedia’s early strategic choices, the discussion examines how changing pathways to the customer are shifting power across the industry.

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Gilad Berenstein, venture capitalist, AI expert, and longtime travel tech entrepreneur joins us to discuss how AI is reshaping travel and hospitality. We explore the rise of agentic AI, the future of the connected trip, why many AI trip-planning startups may struggle to scale, and where AI can create real value behind the scenes for operators and hospitality businesses.

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In this episode of Experience This! Travel Show, we explore the future of the Connected Trip from TikTok's push into travel bookings and Google's evolving role in travel discovery to Expedia's AI strategy and the growing importance of in-destination engagement.

We’re joined by Antoine and Marius, co-founders of IWander, an AI-powered travel companion that creates self-guided audio experiences and helps travel brands stay connected with travelers long after the booking is complete.

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Cathy Bennis (Audley Travel) and Ali Raymer (Peace and Pearl Travel) join Experience This! to discuss the evolving role of travel advisors, the rise of experience-led travel, creator-led trips, and why trusted human curation may be becoming increasingly valuable in the age of AI and overwhelming choice.

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Is AI changing everything or just accelerating what was already true?

In this episode of Experience This!, we sit down with Mauricio Prieto, co-founder of eDreams and creator of Travel Tech Essentialist, to explore the real impact of AI on travel, work, and business. From “structural optimism” to the risks of over-automation, we dig into what leaders should actually be paying attention to right now.

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In this episode of Experience This!, we sit down with Jack Harris, founder of Tally Ho Experiences, to explore how AI is moving from a “nice-to-have” to the core of running a tours and activities business. From vibe coding custom dashboards to deploying autonomous AI agents, Jack shares how he’s rethinking operations, data, and decision-making in real time.

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Lori, Bruce and Christian are joined by Beth Santos and Nikki Padilla Rivera to discuss She Shapes History New York, a walking tour concept focused on the hidden history of women. From storytelling and experience design to creator-led travel businesses, this episode explores a fresh and meaningful direction for the experiences industry.

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What if tour operators could build their own software in minutes without writing a single line of code? In this episode, former Carpe Diem CMO Oli Green introduces “vibe coding,” a new (not so new)  AI driven way to create custom tools just by describing what you want. Build dashboards, landing pages, and operational tools instantly. But, when should you build something yourself vs. pay for existing software?

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Group celebrations aren’t just trips.  They’re high-intent, multi-booking moments. In this episode of Experience This!, we talk with the CEO of Batch about how celebration-driven demand is reshaping discovery, booking behavior, and operator strategy.

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