Travel Industry Survey is our annual, premier research product that surveys travel advisors about their business. To dig deeper into the report’s data and talk about how it dovetails with everyday business trends, we’ve invited retail reporter Jamie Biesiada and news editor Johanna Jainchill to talk about what the survey said about booking trends, preferred products, education and support, technology uses, marketing strategies, outlook and concerns.

This episode is part of our annual Winter Series, where we feature some of our favorite recent Folo by Travel Weekly discussions. This episode was recorded Nov. 12 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Travel Industry Survey is produced in partnership with Phocuswright, the travel research company under the Northstar Travel Group umbrella.

Related links

Travel Industry Survey 2024: https://www.travelweekly.com/Industry-Survey-2024

Travel Industry Survey 2023: https://www.travelweekly.com/industry-survey-2023

Phocuswright: https://www.phocuswright.com

 

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It’s time for our annual Year in Review discussion, where we look back at some of the biggest travel-related stories and trends of 2024. Joining us on this episode is news editor Johanna Jainchill, the architect of our Year in Review report, and retail editor Jamie Biesiada, to talk (among others) about travel “normalization,” the embrace of generative AI, a big year for cruise, companies that went under in 2024, American Airlines’ failed NDC strategy and the Taylor Swift effect on travel. 

This episode was recorded Dec. 13 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related articles

The year in review, 2024 https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/2024-year-in-review

Growth has slowed, but it's still a great time for the travel industry https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/WTTC-Global-Summit-2024

Is this cruising's 'golden era'? https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Is-this-cruising-golden-era

Q&A with Hornblower CEO Mike Flaskey https://www.travelweekly.com/On-The-Record/Mike-Flaskey-Hornblower-Group

The Taylor Swift effect on hotels https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Taylor-Swift-effect-on-hotels

Alienating travel agencies could cost American $1.5 billion https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/American-Airlines-earnings-Q2-2024

Arnie Weissmann's From the Window Seat column, July 2022: Travel's pandemic bankruptcy record https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/With-Crystal-revival-a-major-miracle

 

 

 

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This week’s travel trend is the growing popularity of women-only tours. From on-the-ground adventures in far flung destinations like Saudi Arabia and Morocco to a luxurious river cruise in France’s wine country, there are options galore for today’s so-called “queenagers.” 

We’ve asked reporter Tom Stieghorst to share his insights and his reporting, and Shirnett Fleet, the chief marketing officer of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, to talk about what women-only tours offer, where the trend is headed and why it's moved from niche to mainstream.

This episode was recorded Nov. 21 and has been edited for length and clarity. 

Related links

Women-only tours: A niche that is going mainstream https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/The-growth-of-women-only-tours

A women-only cruise leans into luxury https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/women-only-river-cruise-uniworld-luxury

Uniworld: https://www.uniworld.com

Background on the term 'queenager' https://eleanormills.substack.com/p/eleanors-letter-what-is-a-queenager

 

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It’s time for our semi-annual drop-in to the ski industry. It’s the unofficial start to the season, so it seemed like a perfect time to gather a few experts -- Dan Sherman of Ski.com, ski blogger and podcaster Stuart Winchester and our in-house ski reporter Robert Silk -- to talk about the major trends for skiers and riders, namely, Japan. And Europe. There's big demand for ski vacations this year: Why? We talk about the tricks to scoring cheaper-than-the-window ticket pricing, which at some resorts is now at or above $300.

And the big question each December: Where is everybody headed this year? 

This episode was recorded Nov. 12 and has been edited for insight and clarity. 

Related links:

Alterra CEO addresses soaring daily prices at ski resorts https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Alterra-CEO-addresses-soaring-daily-prices

Big and small resorts: The Colorado Ski experience https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/Focus-on-Ski-Mountain-Travel-2024

Deer Valley expansion is ahead of schedule https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Deer-Valley-expansion-ahead-of-schedule

Rebecca Tobin's report on Jackson Hole: Rising to new challenges at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/Rising-to-new-challenges-at-Jackson-Hole

Stuart Winchester's Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast https://www.stormskiing.com/

Ski.com https://www.ski.com

 

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Black Friday has become a bona fide travel phenomenon, encompassing not only the day itself and the burgeoning Travel Tuesday, but stretching into an entire season.

To talk about trends in length of the sales, destinations on sale and other observations, we’ve invited Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper, and Travel Weekly senior editor for hospitality Christina Jelski to talk about what they’ve seen this year.

This episode was recorded Thursday Nov. 22 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related links: 

Black Friday travel promotions extend well before and after Thanksgiving https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Black-Friday-travel-promotions-2024

Hopper https://www.hopper.com

 

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The Travel Industry Survey is our annual, premier research product that surveys travel advisors about their business: Booking trends, preferred products, education and support, technology uses, marketing strategies, outlook and concerns. 

This year, to dig deeper into the report’s data and talk about how it dovetails with everyday business trends, we’ve invited retail reporter Jamie Biesiada and news editor Johanna Jainchill – our chief editorial stewards of the Survey – to talk.

This episode was recorded Tuesday Nov. 12 and has been edited for length and clarity.

The Travel Industry Survey is produced in partnership with Phocuswright, the travel research company under the Northstar Travel Group umbrella.

Related links:

Travel Industry Survey: https://www.travelweekly.com/Industry-Survey-2024

Travel Industry Survey 2023: https://www.travelweekly.com/Industry-Survey-2023

Phocuswright: https://www.phocuswright.com

 

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It’s only been a few days since the election, but already we’re wondering: What will happen to travel policy under the Trump administration? 

Naturally quite a bit can change from Biden to Trump -- and even from the first Trump administration -- and in this episode we talk with Johanna Jainchill, our news editor and travel-policy reporter, and View from the Wing’s Gary Leff about what kids of changes we might expect on several fronts: visa processing and travel bans, antitrust and airline combinations, the FAA, recent rules on refunds and disclosures, plus what might become of extensive requests for information from the departments of justice and transportation. 

This episode was recorded Friday, Nov. 8 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related links

From air mergers to visas: How Trump's win could impact travel policy https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/Travel-expects-policy-changes-as-Trump-wins-the-presidency

Travel groups congratulate Trump and lay out policy agendas https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/travel-groups-congratulate-trump-on-presidency

View from the Wing https://viewfromthewing.com/

 

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In this episode, we’re talking about the positive momentum in the cruise industry with senior editor Andrea Zelinski. Now that the third quarter has closed, and our annual CruiseWorld conference is about to begin in Fort Lauderdale, we ask: What are travel advisors, analysts and the cruise lines themselves seeing in cruise – and what are some of the scenarios that would break the cruise lines' stride? 

This episode was recorded Friday, Nov. 1 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related links

Is this cruising's 'golden era'? https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Is-this-cruising-golden-era

The biggest cruise developments this year, according to travel advisors https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Focus-on-Cruise-What-advisors-are-buzzing-about

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings breaks another performance record https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-Q3-2024-earnings-report

CEO says new cruisers are flocking to Royal Caribbean Group https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Royal-Caribbean-Group-earnings-Q3-2024

Carnival Corp. continues record streak of revenue https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Carnival-Corp-continues-streak-record-revenue

 

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The tensions in the Middle East have been front and center for more than a year, from Hamas’ attack on Israel and continuing with escalations between Israel and Iran. What does that mean for travel in the region?

Thanks to reporting by acting tours editor Tom Stieghorst, we’ve got a snapshot of travel demand – and in this episode he talks with news editor Johanna Jainchill and host Rebecca Tobin about how and where people are traveling to the region.

This conversation was recorded Oct. 18 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways https://www.amawaterways.com

Related links:

Middle East tension stays high, and travel stays slow https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Middle-East-tension-stays-high-travel-slow

Delta extends pause on Israel flights through the end of 2024 https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Delta-extends-Israel-flight-pause-end-2024

Travel executives visit Israel with the goal to 'inspire and educate' https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Travel-executives-visit-Israel-with-a-mission

From the Window Seat: Should independent travelers engage in thorny foreign politics? https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/The-meaning-of-meaning

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In this episode we’re looking at the impacts of hurricanes Milton and Helene on Florida’s tourism economy. Florida is such an important state for tourism that whenever a hurricane slams through it’s news. Here, host Rebecca Tobin, hotels editor Christina Jelski and Peter Ricci, the director of the Tourism and Hospitality Management program at Florida Atlantic University, talk about how the recent hurricanes might reshape the tourism landscape on Florida's Gulf Coast. We also discuss short-and long-term impacts to other travel destinations like Orlando and the right kind of marketing messaging that would encourage travelers to return after a storm. 

What’s the status of tourism in the hard-hit areas of North Carolina? We’ve added links to the show notes about travel organizations' relief and fundraising efforts. 

This episode was recorded Oct. 17 and has been edited for length and clarity. It’s important to note that this is a developing story, so any information in this episode about cities or regions might be change as the hurricane recovery process continues.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways https://www.amawaterways.com

Related links:

After Milton's wrath, experts see a reshaping of Florida's West Coast https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/Reshaping-Florida-tourism-after-Milton-and-Helene

How does American Airlines prep for a hurricane? A visit to its operations center shows how https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/How-does-AA-prep-for-a-hurricane

Relief efforts:

Internova charity arm seeks to help travel professionals affected by Helene https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Internova-help-for-Helene-affected-advisors

Carnival president skydives over Tampa for hurricane relief https://www.carnival-news.com/2024/10/19/carnival-cruise-line-president-christine-duffy-skydives-over-tampa-for-hurricane-relief

Community Resources and travel information, via Explore Asheville https://always.exploreasheville.com/

 

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