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Welcome to our Travel Trends Podcast, the #1 B2B global travel podcast for professionals shaping the future of travel.
Hosted by Dan Christian, this show features candid conversations with global travel leaders, startup founders, tourism boards, hospitality executives, and technology innovators. Together they explore the ideas, innovations, and strategies driving the next era of travel.
Whether you're building a travel startup, leading a destination, scaling a hospitality brand, or new to the industry, you’ll gain actionable insights and real-world perspectives from the leaders redefining the global travel economy.
203 Episodes
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Send a text A family basement isn't where you’d expect a global luggage brand to begin, but that’s exactly where the Heys story took flight. In this episode, we sit down with CEO Emran Sheikh to unpack four decades of innovation, bold design choices, and a proudly Canadian identity that now spans 75 countries. From candy-coloured hard shells that broke up a sea of black bags to Bluetooth-enabled smart locks powered by simple AA batteries, Heys has grown by solving real traveler problems rathe...
Send a text Luxury travelers are becoming harder to impress, not because they want more “stuff,” but because they expect less friction and more recognition. In the first episode of our Luxury Hotel Series, Jonathan Raggett, CEO of Red Carnation Hotels, joins us to explore the trends shaping luxury hospitality in 2026. From deeper personalization and emotional service to the growing expectation of fast, accurate responses at every guest touchpoint, we discuss how leading luxury hotels are evol...
Send a text We're incredible thrilled to launch Season 7 with a full video interview featuring an LA Based Celebrity Mentalist and Magician, David Stryker, who show us how to apply his techniques to enhance our travel experiences. We wanted to try something a little different and have some fun with our season opener. Both Katherine and Zach from Travel Trends join the discussion with Dan and David to try out a little experiment. You have to watch our amazement. Join us as we explore how the c...
Send a text The moment a guide stops narrating a place and starts guiding a person, everything changes. That idea anchors this season finale with Joe Pine, the visionary behind The Experience Economy and his latest book The Transformation Economy, alongside Jake Haupert, Co-founder of the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Together, they lay out a clear and practical roadmap for turning great trips into identity shaping journeys that deliver true return on time invested. We explore encaps...
Send a text A 14-hour flight with nothing but coloring books sparked a lifelong fascination. In a special episode closing out our Aviation Series, Dan sits down with his son Oliver Christian, the kid who once built LAX in the garage and could identify aircraft by silhouette, to trace the path from childhood plane-spotting to future pilot, and to explore where aviation is headed next. We break down the pilot pipeline in plain language, from student permit and first solo to PPL, CPL, instrument...
Send a text The aviation story is bigger than fares and aircraft, it’s about how global alliances quietly choreograph your entire journey. In the our kickoff episode of our Aviation series, we sit down with Roger Blackburn, VP Commercial & Loyalty at oneworld Alliance, to reveal how 15+ member airlines coordinate routes, lounges, data, and service so travelers can move across continents with fewer frustrations and better perks. If you’ve ever wondered why your status unlocks priority lane...
Send a text Experiences - not things - are becoming the world’s most powerful growth market, and investor Michael Zeisser, Managing Partner, FMZ Ventures joins us to explain why. In this Captains of Industry episode, we explore how the shift from goods to meaning is reshaping the entire travel and experiences economy and what it means to play the long game in a world where travelers increasingly seek connection, transformation, and purpose. We look at where travel is headed next as new ecosys...
Send a text Imagine a travel company where the business itself fuels impact, not just through donations but through ownership. That is the UnTours story. In this episode, CEO Jonathan Coleman shares how the world’s first certified B Corp tour operator became part of a foundation that invests every dollar into small businesses creating meaningful change in destinations. Jonathan walks us through Hal and Norma Taussig’s remarkable origin story, beginning with apartment-based, slow travel in the...
Send a text The rules of “green travel” have changed. We’re moving beyond feel-good labels to a world where travelers, advisors, and investors expect real proof, data, targets, and measurable benefits for the places we visit. To open our Sustainability Series, Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation, joins us to unpack what credible impact looks like in 2026 and how operators of any size can demonstrate it. We trace an origin story from Newfoundland’s cod collap...
Send a text In the final episode of our Loyalty Series, we sit down with citizenM’s former CEO and now another star CEO Lennert De Jong to unpack how a boutique hotel brand reinvented loyalty as a product rather than a points program. The result was a paid subscription model, guaranteed room availability, and a bold brand IP sale to Marriott, all of which reshaped citizenM’s growth, distribution strategy, and guest experience without diluting its identity. Lennert takes us back to the company...
Send a text Think points are the prize? In travel loyalty, status is the real currency - the fast lane, the lounge, the upgrades, and the ease that comes from knowing you’re looked after. In the second episode of our Loyalty Series, we sit down with Erin Murray, CMO of Loyalty Status Co, to explore why many loyalty programs are now more valuable than the airlines that run them and how the smartest brands use status to shape behavior, lift yield, and keep their highest-value travelers loyal. W...
Send a text We’re excited to kick off a new three-part Loyalty Series, where we explore how airlines, hotels, and loyalty status companies are rewriting the rules of traveler engagement. In this first episode, we begin with a refreshingly simple philosophy from KM Malta Airlines: make value clear, make status meaningful, and make the journey smoother. Oliver Piers Ross, Head of Loyalty & CRM, joins us to share how a small flag carrier built a transparent currency, introduced genuinely use...
Send a text Want a clear-eyed look at where travel is headed next? Erik Blachford, early Expedia leader turned board member at Zillow, Hipcamp, and Fora, joins us to unpack what the future that actually works looks like — AI behind the scenes, humans up front, and real-world experiences that no screen can replace. We trace Erik’s journey from building one of the first online travel agencies to backing companies that are reshaping how people stay, plan, and explore. From outdoor escapes to mod...
Send a text Curiosity changes everything. That’s the thread running through our conversation with Crooked Compass founder and CEO Lisa Pagotto, whose frontier-travel philosophy favors depth over dazzle and local impact over checklists. In this second episode of our Emerging Multi-Day Tour Operators series, we explore how she designs perspective-shifting journeys in safe yet overlooked destinations — from Papua New Guinea’s highland festivals and WWII relics to Mongolia’s sweeping steppe — and...
Send a text We’re kicking off our new Emerging Multi-Day Operators series - spotlighting how a new wave of founders is reinventing group travel for modern explorers. The multi-day category is poised for growth in the next 5-10 years an impressive average of 20–30% annually, driven by travelers seeking deeper connection, curated itineraries, and shared experiences. In this episode, we meet Dr. Nabila Ismail, pharmacist turned founder and creator of A Dose of Travel, who turned her solo travel ...
Send a text Purposeful travel is having a moment—and we’re getting to the heart of what’s driving it. From a windswept opening in Patagonia to an inside look at EF’s new active brand, this "Captains of Industry," conversation with Heidi Durflinger, CEO of EF World Journeys USA, explores how learning, community, and movement are reshaping multi-day travel for every generation. We unpack EF’s expansive global footprint - spanning educational travel, cultural exchange, language schools, and high...
Send a text A misbooked flight, a lost day in Beijing, and a spark that reshaped how millions discover what to do when they land. In this Captains of Industry episode, we sit down with Tao Tao, Co-Founder and COO of GetYourGuide, to unpack what it really takes to build a global marketplace for experiences—from cold-calling suppliers before the website even existed to mastering SEO when organic growth still compounded, and designing a company around work, not titles or ego. Tao explains why ex...
Send a text Imagine walking into a distillery and being greeted by the master as a hologram who already knows your questions. That’s the bold vision of Geotourist, and where our conversation with CEO and Founder Shaon Talukder begins. From its start as an “audio map of the world” to hosting community voices, screen tourism, and accessibility routes across 94 countries, GeoTourist is redefining how stories connect travelers to place. Shaon shares how DMOs use the platform’s view-to-visit data ...
Send a text Discover how Viator became the world’s go-to platform for in-destination experiences. Viator is transforming how travelers discover and book more than 400,000 unique activities worldwide. In this episode, Laurel Greatrix, Viator’s VP of Marketing, takes us behind the scenes of this powerhouse and its rapid rise. Laurel reveals how Viator’s acquisition by TripAdvisor turned into one of the industry’s most successful partnerships, blending TripAdvisor’s massive audience with Viator’...
Send a text Step into the wonderfully weird world of Meow Wolf as founder Vince Kadlubek takes us behind the refrigerator door to reveal the journey from a dumpster-diving art collective to a multimillion-dollar immersive empire. In this episode, Vince shares how a scrappy group of twenty-something artists in Santa Fe - working restaurant jobs and transforming recycled materials into fantastical realms - grew into one of the most talked-about immersive experiences in the world. A chance conne...
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This podcast is a game-changer for anyone looking to stay on top of the latest in the travel industry. Top it off with actionable tips from industry leaders that you can start implementing right away, and you've got yourself a goldmine of information! And if you're looking to turn those trends into luxurious travel experiences, I highly recommend a luxury travel agency https://ghardytours.com/ that will elevate your travel game.