Trade Secrets is on a holiday break. We're sharing some of our favorite episodes until we return.

This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Royal Caribbean’s Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales and trade support and service, and Jamie Margolis, owner of the Dream Vacations franchise Moms at Sea. During the episode, Freed and Margolis talk about the importance of forming — and maintaining — a good agent-supplier relationship, the “unicorn” cabins onboard Royal Caribbean ships that offer more space for less money, the value proposition of cruising and more.

Trade Secrets will return with season six in early 2025.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the season finale of Trade Secrets, co-hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann share their top 25 travel predictions for 2025, covering everything from trends in the travel agency and tech landscape to destinations and travel styles they have their eyes on for the coming year. They also share some exciting news – Trade Secrets recently took home an award for Best Travel/Leisure Podcast in the annual Eddie and Ozzie Awards!

The sixth season of Trade Secrets will debut in early 2025.

Further resources

Mentioned on the show:

• From TravelAge West, The top 5 trends for 2025

• From TravelAge West, This cruise expert reached $3 million in annual sales using TikTok

• From Travel Weekly, Women-only tours: A niche that is going mainstream

• From Travel Weekly, Summer of the destination ‘dupes’

• From Travel Weekly, A host of problems

• Host Agency Reviews’ Travel Agency Software Profiles

• Tern

• Approach Guides

• Epic Universe

• From Travel Weekly, more about Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas

• Travel Weekly’s 2024 Travel Industry Survey

• From Travel Weekly, some reading on different aircraft designs being developed

• The new autonomous wheelchairs at Miami Airport

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.

From ASTA’s fight against American Airlines’ distribution strategy to the Taylor Swift effect on the travel industry, 2024 was bursting with headlines that affected travel advisors. This week on Trade Secrets, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada talk about the major travel trends and events that shaped the agency landscape.

Further resources

Mentioned on the show:

• Trade Secrets episode featuring Andrea Grisdale and a discussion on Italy

• Trade Secrets episode featuring David Kolner and a discussion on generational travel

• Emma on the Taylor Swift cruise

• SNAP, an air booking tool developed by Internova Travel Group and Sabre
• Omar Banihani's TravelAge West op-ed about the evolution of home-based advisors
• Some reading on American Airlines and its distribution strategy, including the fallout
  • A win for travel advisors: American Airlines scraps controversial NDC strategy
  • A victory for travel advisors was cause for celebration at the ASTA conference
  • Alienating travel agencies could cost American Airlines $1.5 billion
  • American Airlines unveils revised NDC plans, returns fares to GDSs
  • American rebuilds sales staff, trying to win back agencies and corporates
  • American Airlines says it is gradually winning back corporate business
• Travel Weekly's 2024 Power List
• Some reading (and listening) on Jenn Lee's Vacation Planners

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.

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:

• Host Agency Reviews' guide to writing job descriptions
• From Travel Weekly, 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

• From Travel Weekly, Host Agency Reviews starts listing technology providers
• 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.

What’s the difference between a tour operator and a destination management company (DMC)? How can advisors find DMCs to work with, and what are the top do’s 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, where co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada chat about all things DMCs with Andrea Grisdale, CEO and founder of I.C. Bellagio in Italy.

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways.

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 week, Trade Secrets takes on the world. Jennifer Doncsecz of VIP Vacations returns to the podcast to discuss her specialty: destination weddings and honeymoons. She talks about everything from getting started selling destination weddings and honeymoons, to turning those travelers into clients for life. Then, she answers a number of listener questions about destinations, ranging from the benefits of visiting a spot before selling it, qualifying for fam trips and where to send clients headed to Europe for the first time.

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways.

Further resources

VIP Vacations on Facebook

Jennifer Doncsecz’s email

Jennifer’s previous Trade Secrets episodes:

• All things branding

• Destination weddings and honeymoons

Mentioned in this episode:

• Death of a Travel Advisor by Dori Saltzman - 

• The Travel Institute’s course on destination weddings and honeymoons

• From Travel Weekly, Getting into groups

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.

In this episode, the final in a three-part series of Trade Secrets recorded on the road at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Azamara CEO Dondra Ritzenthaler. She discusses leaving her retirement to helm the small-ship luxury cruise line, the importance of suppliers listening to trade partners, luxury travel sales techniques and what sets luxury cruise lines like Azamara apart.

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways. 

Further resources

Dondra Ritzenthaler’s email

Mentioned in this episode: 

• Azamara World Academy
• From Travel Weekly, Azamara introduces advisor training with incentives
• From TravelAge West: Azamara launches travel advisor celebration with enhanced incentives
• Dondra Ritzenthaler on Humans of Travel

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.

Trade Secrets is on the road again, this time at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. In the second episode of a three-part series recorded on-site in Las Vegas, Megan Vatnsdal, owner of Onyx & Evergreen Travel and affiliate of Four Hundred, talks about how she’s spent the past few years building her luxury-focused agency. She and co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada cover everything from building a book of business, to getting in front of luxury clients, to using events to network.

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways.

Further resources

Megan Vatnsdal on Instagram, Facebook and the web

Mentioned in this episode:

• Four Hundred
• BNI (Business Network International)
• From Travel Weekly, evidence of normalization in travel this year
• Trade Secrets at Virtuoso Travel Week, part 1

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.

Trade Secrets is on the road again, this time at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. In the first episode of a three-part series recorded on site, Virtuoso executive vice president David Kolner shares updates on Virtuoso’s annual event, how advisors are selling so much right now, the different habits of each generation and what the term “luxury” means to him. Kolner also talks about Maui recovery and what travel advisors can do to help the island.

This episode is sponsored by Allianz Partners. 

Further resources

Virtuoso’s website

David Kolner on LinkedIn and Instagram

UBS’s Global Wealth Report 2024

From TravelAge West:

• Five things we learned at Virtuoso Travel Week 2024

From Travel Weekly:

• Travel is flourishing, and Virtuoso says it’s at the top of the heap
• High prices are giving luxury travelers pause, but they’re paying
• Going back to Maui

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 week, Chad Burt of Outside Agents joins Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann of Trade Secrets for our annual “mailbag” episode, featuring travel advisor listener questions on a variety of topics. During the episode, we’ll dig into advanced use cases of generative AI, airline loyalty, host agency affiliations, picking a travel advisor specialty and more. 

This episode is sponsored by Allianz Partners USA. 

Further resources and related readings

Outside Agents on the web 

Outside Agents’ blog

More about Outside Agents’ MAGgie technology

Outside Agents’ Power Prompts

Chad’s book of prompts - password: oastrong

Mentioned in this episode and related reading:

• Canva 
• Trade Secrets episode on generative AI 
• Some recent Travel Weekly coverage on consolidators
• Trade Secrets episode on switching host agencies 

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.