We’re again talking about family travel, but today we’re focusing specifically on the kids club – that marvelous space in a hotel, resort or cruise ship where kids can play supervised by staff. This episode is based off hotels editor Christina Jelski’s cover story about the evolution of kids clubs: how resorts are pouring significant investment into them to make them bigger, better, with more activities and more design upgrades to impress any parent, let alone the kid.

We also talk with travel advisor Deb Swacker about how much the kids club plays a role in travel planning decisions, what resorts need to do for tweens and teens and whether parents should feel guilty for taking time for themselves on a family vacation. Finally, we delve into some bigger trends outlined in the Family Travel Association’s latest survey and ask: How much money do people actually spend on family travel?

This episode is part of our Best of the Folo series. New episodes return in February. This episode was recorded Friday Nov. 10 and has been edited for length and clarity.  

Related reports:

These kids clubs don’t play https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/These-kids-clubs-dont-play

Resorts are making a splash with waterparks https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Resorts-make-a-splash-with-waterparks

10 days and Beyond: Long live the long cruise https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/10-days-and-Beyond-Long-live-the-long-cruise

 

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Produced in partnership with research company Phocuswright, our annual Travel Industry Survey examines nearly every aspect of travel agency business: What type of travel they’re booking, who their clients are, demographics, business models, how much travel they book in terms of sales figures, how much money they make from those travel sales, marketing tactics, social media, concerns and future outlook.

On this episode we’re going to take it a step further. Host Rebecca Tobin delves into the data with Johanna Jainchill, who helped architect and publish the survey, as well as retail editor Jamie Biesiada, who has a finger on the pulse of the agency community. We’ll take the data and weave in anecdotes, examples and trends; tie chart findings together; and connect the dots to show how these findings manifest themselves in the real world.

This episode was recorded Friday, Nov. 17, and has been edited for length and clarity.

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

 

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In early October Norwegian Cruise Line made another move in the small but growing trend of solo cruising. And an article by cruise editor Andrea Zelinski about NCL’s plans, and how other lines are building single-occupancy cabins, shot to the top of our most-read list.

So in this episode we went deeper with Zelinski and NCL executive John Chernesky: Why cruisers traveling solo want a cabin for one, the single-supplement, what cruise lines do for single travelers and the evolution of ship design and the cruise experience.

This episode was recorded Nov. 13.

Related reports:

Norwegian Cruise Line reserves more cabins for solo guests https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-reserves-more-cabins-solo-guests

Lines double down on solo cabins https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-reserves-more-cabins-solo-guests

The Serenity ship remodel ‘went down to the steel’ https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Crystal-Serenity-ship-remodel-went-down-to-the-steel

 

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This is our second week featuring episodes from our sister podcasts, and today’s is from the Last Resort, a relatively new podcast by hotels editor Christina Jelski, where she interviews travel advisors to get their take on new or noteworthy hotels and resorts that they’ve recently visited.

In this episode Jelski interviews Folo host Rebecca Tobin and travel advisor Sarah Lopez, affiliated with SmartFlyer, about their stays at the 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay hotel in Hawaii, from first impressions to activities and who the resort is best suited for.

This episode was published Sept. 11, and you’ll also hear our discussion about traveling to Maui, which was at that time beginning to recover after the August fires.

What's next for the Folo?

In the next weeks we’ll feature some of our favorite recent Folo episodes, before returning in February with brand-new episodes.

Related reports:

The Last Resort podcast: https://www.travelweekly.com/podcasts/last-resort

1 Hotel Hanalei Bay opens on Kauai's North Shore https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/1-Hotel-Hanalei-Bay-opens-on-Kauai

Tasting the perfect mai tai (featuring 1 Hotel Hanalei Bay) https://www.travelweekly.com/Hawaii-Travel/Tasting-the-perfect-mai-tai

Starwood Capital buys Princeville resort, plans 1 Hotels rebrand (October 2018) https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Starwood-Capital-buys-Princeville-Resort

 

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Happy New Year! For our next two episodes of the Folo, we’re going to do something a bit different: We’re featuring episodes from our sister podcasts, Trade Secrets and the Last Resort.

Our episode today is from Trade Secrets, our travel advisor business-focused podcast. Trade Secrets is hosted by Emma Weissmann, the managing editor of TravelAge West, and Jamie Biesiada, a senior editor at Travel Weekly -- and a frequent Folo contributor.

In this episode, advisor and fams expert Theresa Chu-Bermudez digs into the ins and outs of fam trips: how to prepare for them; how advisors can maximize their time during the trip; and what to do after the trip is over.

Further resources:

Travel Weekly's Trade Secrets podcast: https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Trade-Secrets

The show notes on this original episode, with fam trip do's and don'ts https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Trade-Secrets/Fam-trips-How-can-they-help-your-business-travel-advisors

Theresa Chu-Bermudez's agency, Get Out! Custom Travels https://www.getoutcustomtravels.com/

Fam with Intention https://www.famwithintention.com/

Trade Secrets theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

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Our last episode of 2023 is about our Preview issue, our annual look ahead at the travel trends we expect to drive business in the new year.

For this episode, we’ve gathered three of our editors: Jamie Biesiada, who covers travel sales, Robert Silk, who covers aviation, and Andrea Zelinski, who covers cruise, about the outlook for the next 12 months: Travel demand, mergers, destinations – both the positive trends and the hurdles.

Preview also includes insight into what’s happening in our other beats, namely hospitality, river cruise and tour operations. Check the show notes for our links to the Preview issue and their looks at those sectors, as well as interviews with industry executives conducted by editor in chief Arnie Weissmann.

This episode was recorded Thursday Dec. 14 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations https://www.algvacations.com

Preview 2024:

https://www.travelweekly.com

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Every year Travel Weekly publishes its year in review, a cover story on the biggest travel stories of the year. Here on the Folo to talk about Year in Review 2023 with host Rebecca Tobin is news editor Johanna Jainchill, who assembles, manages and writes Year in Review, and editor in chief Arnie Weissmann.

During the discussion we examine how many of these many 2023 developments directly affected or were driven by travel sellers – specifically, NDC and the push to expand the ranks of travel advisors (hello, high demand). And we look at cruising’s comeback, airline mergers and JetBlue’s big year, the reach of war, Oceangate, space travel, what’s NOT on the list and how we pull this whole thing together.

This episode was recorded Friday, Dec. 15 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations https://ww.algvacations.com

Related links:

The 2023 year in review: https://travelweekly.texterity.com/travelweekly/december_18_2023/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=8#pg10

 

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With the new year almost upon us, we’ve been looking at which destinations might be most popular, and who better to call upon than a tour company that offers vacation packages all over the world. In this case it’s a tag team with Jack Richards, the CEO of Pleasant Holidays, which has traditionally been strong in Hawaii but has built out its offerings globally, and Amy Comparato, senior brand manager of its luxury division Journese.

In this episode, they talk with host Rebecca Tobin and tours editor Nicole Edenedo about what’s selling, what’s surprising, how operators manage sudden changes in demand and some of the biggest luxury travel trends for 2024.

This episode was recorded Dec. 1 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related reports:

A Q&A with Pleasant chief Jack Richards https://www.travelweekly.com/On-The-Record/Pleasant-Holidays-Jack-Richards

Mexico was a pandemic-era favorite, but signs point to softened demand https://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Signs-point-softened-Mexico-demand

 

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It’s December, and for a certain segment of our readership it means that ski season is here.

For this episode, host Rebecca Tobin connected with our ski reporter (and aviation editor) Robert Silk and mountain expert, Storm Skiing blogger and fellow podcast host Stuart Winchester to talk about some of the developments in the industry. We’ll start with some of the expansions coming this year to Colorado, and then talk about travel logistics, advancements in snowmaking, what it takes to keep the ski industry growing and some of the best ski areas off the major passes -- plus hidden gems you may never have heard of.

We aim to do a catch-up conversation in a few weeks and continue the discussion by talking about the major ski passes and Vail Resort’s big European purchase.

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

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations https://www.algvacations.com/givesyoumore

Related links:

Stuart Winchester's Storm Skiing blog and podcast: https://www.stormskiing.com/

Vail Resorts to acquire controlling stake of Crains-Montana ski area https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Vail-Resorts-acquire-controlling-Crans-Montana

Ski resorts are urged to reach out to Gen Z https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Ski-resorts-urged-to-reach-out-to-Gen-Z

Focus on ski: Powder days for skiers of all ability levels https://www.travelweekly.com/North-America-Travel/Focus-Ski-Mountain-Travel-2023-Powder-days

Previous Folo podcasts:

How a 'powderful' ski season changes travelers' habits https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Folo/ski-2023-a-powderful-season

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In early October Norwegian Cruise Line made another move in the small-but-growing trend of solo cruising, saying it would more than double the number of cabins for single travelers across its fleet. And an article by cruise editor Andrea Zelinski about NCL’s plans, and how other lines are building single-occupancy cabins, quickly shot to the top of our most-read list, indicating it is a hot topic.

With Zelinski, host Rebecca Tobin and NCL's senior vice president of North America sales, John Chernesky, we talk about why cruisers traveling solo might prefer a cabin for one, the single-supplement, what cruise lines do for single travelers and the evolution of ship design and the cruise experience.

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

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations: https://www.algvacations.com/blackfriyay

Related reports:

Norwegian Cruise Line reserves more cabins for solo guests https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-reserves-more-cabins-solo-guests

Lines double down on solo cabins https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Norwegian-Cruise-Line-reserves-more-cabins-solo-guests

The Serenity ship remodel ‘went down to the steel’ https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Crystal-Serenity-ship-remodel-went-down-to-the-steel

Coming together for solo travel https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Coming-together-for-solo-travel

John Chernesky will head North American sales for Norwegian Cruise Line https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Chernesky-will-head-North-America-sales-for-Norwegian

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.