This week we’re traveling to Alaska, which is a big part of many travel advisors’ portfolios, especially if they sell cruises and adventure travel. Host Rebecca Tobin and senior editor Andrea Zelinski look back and look ahead at tourism in the 49th state.

This episode features Sarah Leonard, the president of the Alaska Travel Industry Association; Lisa Syme, Princess Cruises' vice president, commercial; Kirsten Dixon, the owner of two fly-in lodges and a cooking school; and Travel Weekly's frequent Alaska contributor, Renee Brincks.

This year, cruising is back, the Canadian border has reopened and the summer season is about to begin.

Sponsor:

This week's episode is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany.

Related reading:

Alaska's official visitors site

Princess Cruises' Alaska cruises

From Travel Weekly:

Renee Brincks' coverage of Alaska

Two Native corporations have a vision for Alaska tourism

A 2021 visit to the Last Frontier: Alaska is open, and busy

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This week marks the premiere of the latest episode of "The Royal Tour", a one-hour PBS special hosted by travel journalist Peter Greenberg that showcases a country’s tourism spots -- and history, culture, food, personal stories and current events -- but with a twist: the country's head of state is Greenberg’s tour guide.

Our editor in chief Arnie Weissmann has been along for the filming of several "Royal Tour" episodes, and most recently he was in Tanzania to see the country with its current president, Samia Suluhu Hassan.

To have a president, prime minister or member of the royal family show you around their country seems like an incredible opportunity, not to mention one filled with logistical hurdles. Both Greenberg and Weissmann joined the Folo to talk about the origins of the "Royal Tour", its protocols, some of Greenberg’s greatest memories and the most stirring moments of their time in Tanzania.

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

Related:

The Royal Tour

Tanzania in the spotlight: Arnie Weissmann's cover story for Travel Weekly

Past Travel Weekly coverage of "Royal Tour" filming: Mexico, with then-president Filipe Calderon; Poland with president Mateusz Morawiecki; Rwanda, with president Paul Kagame.

Sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany

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This week we’re returning to the topic of family travel. With spring break underway and summer just around the corner, it seemed like the ideal time to look at what families are prioritizing when it comes to travel.

Our hotels editor Christina Jelski has just wrapped a report on the rise of multigenerational travel and big-ticket, bucket-list destinations. And we’ve brought on Rainer Jenss, the founder of the Family Travel Association, to help dive into some of the nuances of this very big travel market.

Additional resources:

The Family Travel Association

Family-travel news from Travel Weekly

Previous related podcasts:

American Express Travel’s data on 2022 traveler

Family travel in fall 2021

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Earlier this year, tours editor Nicole Edenedo began looking at the growing interest for experiences that highlight Black history and culture. Notable Black Americans in Paris, the first free town in the Americas, in Cartegena and U.S. tours that go beyond the Civil Rights movement are just a few examples.

In this episode we hear from Edenedo and two businesswomen she connected with during her reporting, Jennifer Tosch of Black Heritage Tours, which operates in Amsterdam and New York state, and Meryanne Loum-Martin, the owner of the Jnane Tamsna boutique hotel in Marrakech, Morocco.

For this conversation we go beyond what’s in the cover story to talk in detail about how they created experiences that unearth, examine, celebrate and share Black history and experiences. We talk about their backgrounds, their businesses growth, the power of Black business and social networks, travel philosophy, inspiration and their passion for what they do.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Sponsor:

This episode of the Folo by Travel Weekly is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany

Related:

Nicole Edenedo's cover story: Black travelers on the road to discovery

Jennifer Tosch's Black Heritage Tours of Amsterdam 

Meryanne Loum-Martin's Jnane Tamsna hotel in Marrakech

Previous Folo podcast episode on diversitiy within travel

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For a year we’ve been anticipating a travel boom. Now comes American Express Travel to put some data to the anecdotal evidence that travel bookings have returned: Sixty-two percent of respondents to its Global Travel Trends Report survey said that they planned to take two to four trips this year.

In this episode, Audrey Hendley, the president of American Express Travel, talks to host Rebecca Tobin about the big picture as well as some of the smaller trends identified in the survey. Links to the poll, including its methodology, and Jamie Biesiada’s story for Travel Weekly, are below. 

Keep listening after Hendley's interview concludes for a bonus interview with our sponsor, Historic Highlights of Germany. The Travel Group's senior vice president of marketing, Mary Pat Sullivan speaks with Historic Highlights of Germany's CEO, Sascha Mayerer.

Additional reading:

The travel boom has arrived, American Express Travel poll says 

American Express Travel's 2022 Global Travel Trends Report 

Travel Weekly's 2021 Power List: American Express Travel 

Episode sponsor:

This podcast episode is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany 

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Several of the major U.S. airlines presented at the JP Morgan Industrials conference last week, and our aviation reporter Robby Silk wrote a report looking at the intersection of demand – which is up – fuel prices – which are up – and the effect on airlines’ 2022 capacity plans and, finally, how all that could affect ticket prices.

Airlines fly us where we want to go, so in this episode Silk and Cranky Flier president Brett Snyder look at these issues, as well as the benefits of fuel hedging, aircraft shortages and the bigger, global picture.

This episode was recorded Friday, March 18 and has been edited for length and clarity.

This episode is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany.

Related reading:

Cranky Flier blog https://crankyflier.com/

The Cranky Concierge travel agency https://crankyconcierge.com/

As airlines pull back capacity, specter of higher fares looms https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Specter-of-higher-airline-prices-looms

Airlines cite strong demand despite higher fuel prices https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Airlines-cite-strong-demand-despite-higher-fuel-prices

SkyWest, flying as United Express, intends to exit 29 small cities https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/SkyWest-intends-to-exit-29-small-cities

Airlines offer perks and better pay to alleviate pilot shortage https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Airlines-offer-perks-alleviate-pilot-shortage

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s episode we’re traveling to a galaxy far, far away to look at Walt Disney World’s new Star Wars themed immersive “experience,” which gives guests a two-day space cruise on Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser.

Beci Mahnken, founder, CEO and “chief magic maker” at MEI Travel and Jamie Biesiada, who covers retail and theme parks for Travel Weekly, have recently returned from the Halcyon and share their impressions of their stay: From the way Disney envelops guests in the storyline to the blue shrimp, those cabin bunk beds, the secret missions (no spoilers!) and more.

We also talk about demand, perceived value and how to get the most out of a trip on the Halcyon.

This episode is sponsored by Historic Highlights of Germany.

Related reading:

Disney sends Star Wars hotel guests to another dimension 

Disney’s Star Wars experience: how a unique hotel was created

Disney Genie Plus propels domestic parks to a record quarter

Travel advisor sales are in hyperdrive for Star Wars hotel/Waiting on Hogwarts

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In this episode of the Folo podcast, we look back on our coverage of last week and inform listeners of moves that travel companies have made in response to the Russian invasion.

Tour companies have canceled current and future trips to the region. Several cruise lines have canceled and rerouted ships. Many countries, the U.S. included, have closed their airspace to Russian traffic, and Russia has closed its airspace to some foreign carriers.

Tours and river cruise editor Nicole Edenedo and retail editor Jamie Biesiada join to discuss cancellations and whether travelers are getting jittery about travel beyond affected areas. And at the end, we speak with editor in chief Arnie Weissmann about his impressions of travel to Ukraine in 2016.

This episode was recorded Friday, March. 4 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Related reports:

Ongoing coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict: https://www.travelweekly.com/Russia-ukraine-crisis

Arnie Weissmann’s column about a Ukrainian tour operator’s decisions in a time of war https://www.travelweekly.com/Arnie-Weissmann/Ukrainian-tour-operator-hardship

Ukraine crisis causes uneasiness as Europe cancellations trickle in https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Ukraine-crisis-affect-Europe-plans

Tour operators cancel Russia and Ukraine trips https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Tour-operators-cancel-Russia-Ukraine-itineraries

Cruise lines cancel Ukraine and Russia calls https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Cruise-lines-cancel-Ukraine-and-Russia-calls

GDSs are puling Aeroflot inventory from res systems https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Technology/Sabre-severs-distribution-deal-Aeroflot

G Adventures excludes Russian citizens and travel agents https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/G-Adventures-excludes-Russian-citizens-travel-agents

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Adventures in quarantine: Two advisors’ stories

With international travel there’s Covid-19 testing -- a lot of it -- and one test for U.S. travelers that’s especially important: The one to return to the U.S. What happens if your pre-departure test comes back positive?

In this episode Rebecca Tobin and Jamie Biesiada speak with two travel advisors, Meaghan Carfrey of Cadence Travel and Ralph Iantosca of Iantosca Travel. Both were part of a cover story by Biesiada on the perspectives of travel agents who helped travelers, or themselves, through a Covid quarantine. We talk with Carfrey and Iantosca about their personal experiences with testing and quarantine. And most importantly, how they approached travel and their business as a result.

Related reports:

What happens when travelers test positive for Covid? These advisors know. https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Adventures-in-quarantine

Sherpa map of global travel restrictions and rules https://www.travelweekly.com/covid-entry-rules-map

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