This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a 5-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is TravelWits, represented by CEO Arman Bimatov.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions.

Further resources

TravelWits on the web

TravelWits on Host Agency Reviews

From TravelAge West: What is TravelWits? Here’s why Virtuoso accepted the AI-powered platform built for travel advisors

Mentioned in this episode:

• Lindblad’s Expedition 360
• Lindblad’s Facebook group for travel advisors
• Trade Secrets Tech Summit: Approach Guides
• Trade Secrets Tech Summit: TripSuite

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Trade Secrets After Dark, a new series from Trade Secrets co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada. While the Trade Secrets Tech Summit is still ongoing, enjoy the occasional “After Dark” episode, featuring casual chats — and drinks — with guests from around the travel industry. This week, ASTA’s vice president of advocacy, Jessica Klement, joins the show. Find out her beverage of choice, hear a cautionary travel tale and learn all about ASTA’s advocacy efforts (plus, get the ins and outs of lobbying; it isn’t about coyly passing out money to congressional staffers in a Washington, D.C. alleyway — that’s illegal!).

This episode was sponsored by National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions.

Further resources

ASTA on the web

Email Jessica Klement

Mentioned on this episode:

• “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone” by Lori Gottlieb
• From Travel Weekly: Nebraska decides not to charge sales tax that would have hurt travel advisors
• From Travel Weekly: ASTA lauds two measures in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill
• From Travel Weekly: Congress members request repeal of refund rule affecting travel advisors

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

"Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a 5-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is Approach Guides, represented by founder and chief marketing officer Jennifer Raezer.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions.

Further resources

Approach Guides on the web

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a 5-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is FyndTravel, represented by founder and owner Lisa Watson.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions.

Further resources

FyndTravel on the web

Email Lisa Watson

Facebook group Travel Industry Events Guide

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a 5-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is Travel42, represented by senior customer support and relationship coordinator Larissa Worley.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

Further resources

Travel42 on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn

Email Travel42

Reach Larissa Worley by phone: 336-714-3321

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trade Secrets Tech Summit (season six of the podcast) is taking a quick summer break. In the meantime, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are sharing some of their favorite past episodes. Join them this week for a look back at last season’s episode about finding and maintaining a good work-life balance. Enjoy!

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

--

Balancing work responsibilities with the needs of personal life has become exponentially more difficult for travel advisors as workloads have increased. But it’s also critically important to find time for friends, family and hobbies outside of work, and to develop systems at work that improve efficiency and allow you to step away. What kind of boundaries should you set, and how can you enforce them? What can you automate to take more things off your plate? Hear all about this and more on this episode of Trade Secrets, featuring Host Agency Reviews founder Stephanie Lee.

Further resources

Host Agency Reviews on the web

Steph Lee’s email and LinkedIn page

Mentioned on this episode:

• From Travel Weekly: Jamie’s Hurricane Milton story: Dispatch, Disney World: The Day after Milton’s Visit
• From Travel Weekly: Dispatch, Wondrous Moments From a Taylor Swift Affinity Cruise
• From TravelAge West: HAR launches travel advisor tech software directory
• Steph Lee’s previous appearance on Trade Secrets
• Trade Secrets episode on dealing with travel advisor burnout
• Host Agency Reviews’ software profiles
• Calendly
• Text Blaze

Need advice?

Call our hotline and leave a message: 201-902-2098

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trade Secrets Tech Summit (Season 6 of the podcast) is taking a brief summer break, but we're partially interrupting that pause to bring you a special episode highlighting some of the latest tech news in the travel industry: Tern’s acquisition of Lucia.

Co-host Jamie Biesiada sits down with Tern’s David Shull and Lucia’s Grace Van Hollebeke to discuss what led to the acquisition, what travel advisors can expect moving forward, and more.

Then, stick around for one of Jamie’s favorite episodes from last season, featuring travel advisor Christina Viera in a deep dive on finding your brand identity.

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Tern on Trade Secrets
• Lucia on Trade Secrets
• From Travel Weekly, Tern acquires freelancer marketplace Lucia

Encore: Travel advisors, what’s your brand identity? (Feat. Christina Vieira) 

Marketing is an important part of most travel advisors’ businesses. This week on Trade Secrets, Christina Vieira of Showcase the World Travel discusses finding your “why,” identifying ideal clients and reaching those clients on the platforms that make sense. She also discusses the importance of a good email marketing plan, automation and more with co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada.

Further resources

Christina Vieira on Instagram and Facebook

Magic Made Simple, which helps travel agents set up systems, online and on Instagram

From Magic Made Simple, just for Trade Secrets listeners: Six workflows to automate

From TravelAge West: Gifted Travel Network’s Luxury Travel Symposium on the Rivers

Christina Vieira’s five Rs:

• Recognize
• Recommendation
• Relate
• Respond
• Request

Mentioned in this episode:

• Simon Sinek’s TED Talk
• “Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen,” by Donald Miller
• ActiveCampaign
• Zapier
• LeadPages

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trade Secrets Tech Summit (season six of the podcast) is taking a quick summer break. In the meantime, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are sharing some of their favorite past episodes. Join them this week for an update on the Tech Summit — which will return toward the end of June — then a look back at last season’s episode all about destination management companies (DMCs). Enjoy!

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

–

What’s the difference between a tour operator and a DMC? How can advisors find DMCs to work with, and what are the top dos and don’ts of working with them? What if a contact at a DMC ghosts a travel advisor? Hear the answers to these questions and more in this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, featuring Andrea Grisdale, CEO and founder of I.C. Bellagio in Italy.

Further resources

IC Bellagio on the web

Andrea Grisdale’s email

Mentioned in this episode:

• Death of a Travel Advisor by Dori Saltzman
• From TravelAge West: The ultimate travel advisor guide to destination management companies
• Conde Nast’s travel specialists
• Travel + Leisure’s A List
• Wendy Perrin’s WOW List

Need advice?

Call our hotline and leave a message: 201-902-2098

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a 5-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is Travel Pro Theory, represented by founder Kate Thomas.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

Further resources

Travel Pro Theory on the web and Instagram (feel free to DM)

Kate Thomas’ previous appearance on Trade Secrets talking about advisor-supplier relationships

From TravelAge West: 10 ChatGPT prompts every travel advisor should use

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This season, Trade Secrets is hosting the Trade Secrets Tech Summit. Every Monday, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada will feature a different travel technology company that works with travel advisors. A representative from the featured company will begin with a five-minute elevator pitch to tell advisors about their product, followed by a 15-minute Q-and-A with the hosts.

This week’s featured company is Tique, represented by COO and co-founder, Jennifer Jacob.

Trade Secrets is using Host Agency Reviews’ list of technology providers as a basis for this season. If a technology company doesn’t have a profile, advisors are encouraged to send a link to the hosts to be added to the list. 

This episode was sponsored by Globus family of brands.

Further resources

Email Tique

Follow Tique on Instagram

Listen to Tique’s podcast, Tique Talks

Jennifer Jacob’s previous appearance on Trade Secrets

Get in touch!

Email us: [email protected]

 

Theme song:

Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4387-sock-hop

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.