View From Afar | Travel Industry News

Crystal Vinisse Thomas has spent her career building some of hospitality's most recognizable brands—W Hotels at Starwood, Hyatt's lifestyle and luxury portfolio—and she's spent the last year deliberately stepping back from all of it. And now she joins View From Afar as our guest host: Every month, she'll sit down with hospitality leaders to uncover "the people behind the process." In this first episode, Afar senior deputy editor Jennifer Flowers turns the questions on her. The two longtime friends trace Crystal's path from Starwood to Apple's Beats by Dre and back to Hyatt, unpack why she walked away for a year-long sabbatical at the height of her career, and share a preview of the questions she'll be asking once the mic turns to her guests instead. This week's guest and host Crystal Vinisse Thomas is a brand-builder and one of the more original travel changemakers to join a microphone this year, with a résumé spanning hospitality, consumer tech, and sport: luxury and lifestyle brands at Starwood (including W Hotels) and Hyatt, where she built what's now Caption by Hyatt, plus a run at Apple working on Beats by Dre. Her travel industry insights come from nearly five years leading Hyatt's lifestyle and luxury portfolio before she took a full year away from the business entirely, returning as View From Afar's newest host. Find her at crystalvinisse.com and on LinkedIn. Jennifer Flowers is Afar's senior deputy editor, overseeing the magazine's hotel coverage, and a regular contributor to View From Afar. In this episode Crystal's path from Starwood and W Hotels to Apple's Beats by Dre and back to Hyatt, where she spent nearly five years building the brand now known as Caption by Hyatt Why she stepped away from hospitality entirely for a year-long sabbatical, including signing off LinkedIn and asking her network not to reach out with job opportunities Her definition of luxury, shaped by a consumer study she led at Hyatt: not a hotel, a product, or a price point, but time Where she thinks AI genuinely helps travelers (discovery) and where it still falls short (taste and judgment, like recommending a coffee shop that closed months ago) The origin of "Friday Fellowship," the standing gathering she started during the pandemic, and how it shaped her approach to interviewing travel's leaders on View From Afar Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:00 A Career Built on Brands 00:06:00 Why She Stepped Away 00:17:00 Redefining Luxury as Time 00:20:00 Where AI Falls Short 00:25:00 Friday Fellowship Links & resources Crystal Vinisse Thomas's website Crystal on LinkedIn Watch this episode on YouTube [TK: link] More from View From Afar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Phoenix⁠ president and CEO Ron Price⁠ sits down with Afar deputy editor Michelle Baran for one of our most surprising travel industry interviews yet: a look at Phoenix tourism, and why so many first-time visitors leave saying, "I had no idea." Ron has worked in tourism for 30 years, with a career that spans Marriott, Visit San Antonio, and the Arlington Texas Convention and Visitors Bureau. He joined Visit Phoenix in 2021, and under his leadership the city has hosted the Super Bowl, the Women's Final Four, and, next year, the NBA All-Star Game. In 2024 he launched the Phoenix Sports and Events Commission, giving the country's fifth-largest city a coordinated way to compete for major events. In this episode, Ron and Michelle discuss: Why the Sonoran is the wettest desert in the world, and how the lushness keeps surprising visitors who arrived expecting Wile E. Coyote The Phoenix Sports and Events Commission, the return of the Viva PHX culture festival⁠, and the strategy of growing youth and amateur sports alongside championship events The TSMC effect⁠, the largest international investment in American history, and what $165 billion in semiconductor manufacturing means for international flights, including two new direct routes from Taiwan How Waymo made Phoenix the only American city where an autonomous vehicle picks you up at the airport, a case study in the destination management and travel innovation now reshaping Phoenix tourism The Canadian snowbird market's stabilization, and what doubling down on a hesitant market looks like in practice The honest conversation about summer heat, the city's heat-mitigation investments, and the no-daylight-savings advantage that makes early-morning hikes possible Plus: a ⁠Pan Am-themed speakeasy⁠ where the LED windows simulate a flight to San Francisco, the 22 ⁠Indigenous nations⁠ within the valley, and a passionate endorsement of Phoenix's ⁠Michelin-bound culinary scene⁠. This is one in a series of travel industry interviews and tourism experts interviews recorded live at IPW 2026, part of View From Afar's ongoing look at travel trends 2026, destination highlights, and the changemakers shaping the future of Phoenix tourism and beyond. Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to View From Afar 00:01:30 Playing Tourist at the Biltmore 00:03:00 What Surprises Visitors 00:04:30 Building a Sports and Events Engine 00:07:30 The TSMC Effect 00:10:00 Why Canadians Still Matter 00:13:00 New Markets, New Stories 00:15:30 Reframing the Heat 00:18:30 Speakeasies and Indigenous Nations Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week. Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠Sign up⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠Travel Tales⁠ and ⁠Unpacked⁠. This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email ⁠[email protected]⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Austin⁠ president and ⁠CEO Tom Noonan⁠ sits down with Afar editorial director Billie Cohen for one of our most forward-looking travel industry interviews yet: a conversation about Austin travel at the exact moment the city is tearing itself down and rebuilding on purpose. Tom has led Visit Austin since 2016, capping nearly four decades in destination marketing. Under his watch the city has posted year-over-year visitor gains, record convention bookings, and the launch of the Visit Austin Foundation. But he is also steering the most disruptive project of any major U.S. destination right now: the $1.6 billion "unconventional ATX" rebuild of the Austin Convention Center, which came down in April 2025 and will not reopen until 2029. That is 40 months of competing for major events without a convention center, a real-world test of destination management under pressure. In this episode, Tom and Billie discuss: Why Austin is "redoing everything" by 2031, from 36 new airport gates to new arenas, a light rail line from the airport to downtown hotels, and a convention center twice the old size The $1.6 billion bet on a zero-carbon civic space with $18 million of public art, dropped into a park setting beside the new ⁠Waterloo Greenway⁠, How a destination holds its momentum, and its convention business, without its biggest meeting venue for more than three years The new Austin Tourism Public Improvement District and what it funds Why the live music capital of the world is expanding into tech, corporate, family, and culinary travel, with a Michelin-fueled taco scene that refuses to name a favorite (the Michelin guide recently came to Texas) Tom's honest case for why the next chapter of Austin travel makes the city "the next hot destination again in 2031" This is one in a series of travel industry interviews and tourism experts interviews recorded live at IPW 2026, part of View From Afar's ongoing look at travel trends 2026, the hospitality industry leaders and travel changemakers shaping American cities, and the Austin travel story still being written. For destination marketers and travel industry news watchers, it is a front-row look at destination management on the largest possible scale. Resources Afar guide to Austin Chapters 0:00 Welcome to Austin, live from IPW 2:00 Brisket, breakfast tacos, and a Michelin moment 3:00 Redoing everything by 2031 5:00 The $1.6 billion convention center gamble 8:00 Competing for conventions without a building 11:00 New flights, new visitors, and a booming food economy 15:00 Music, the World Cup, and America 250 17:00 Keeping Austin weird, from AI to Rainey Street Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week. Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠Sign up⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠Travel Tales⁠ and ⁠Unpacked⁠. This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email ⁠[email protected]⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Colorado Tourism Office⁠ director ⁠Timothy Wolfe⁠ sits down with Afar deputy editor Michelle Baran for one of our most instructive travel industry interviews yet: a look at why the smart way to visit Colorado is also the more sustainable one, from a state that has spent years managing tourism rather than just marketing it. Tim came to the role in 2021 after a long career in Colorado hospitality, including running Denver's historic Brown Palace, and he was inducted into the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association Hall of Fame in 2015. He now leads a state coming off a record 95.4 million visitors in 2024, and heading into a milestone 2026 that marks both America's 250th anniversary and Colorado's 150th year of statehood. In this episode, Tim and Michelle discuss: Why Colorado has stayed resilient while other destinations feel the international slowdown, from Colorado Friendship Day with Canada and Mexico to deep cross-border ties How the Denver airport, with more than 35 international and 200 domestic nonstop routes, makes this a true fly-in destination The build-out of greener rail, from the airport-to-Union Station line to the ski train to Winter Park and new Front Range service, so visitors can explore without a car Destination stewardship as strategy, and how the Do Colorado Right approach steers travelers from overstressed hot spots toward smaller communities that want the visits A new ⁠dedicated women's soccer stadium in Denver⁠—the first of its kind. What a milestone year means for a state trying to grow tourism responsibly rather than just grow it This is one in a series of travel industry interviews and tourism experts interviews recorded live at IPW 2026, part of View From Afar's ongoing look at travel trends 2026, sustainable tourism, and the destination management lessons other states are borrowing from Colorado. The takeaway is simple: visit Colorado, but visit Colorado right, and you get a front-row look at a place widely seen as a stewardship leader, told by one of the hospitality industry leaders shaping what comes next. Resources The Afar guide to Colorado Chapters 0:00 Welcome to Colorado, live from IPW 2:00 Champagne cascades and cattle at the Brown Palace 3:00 A record 95.4 million visitors, and staying resilient 5:00 A fly-in state betting on greener rail 7:30 Do Colorado Right: stewardship without the finger-wagging 10:00 Protecting the parks and preventing overtourism 13:30 A milestone 2026, and what's next Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week. Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠Sign up⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠Travel Tales⁠ and ⁠Unpacked⁠. This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email ⁠[email protected]⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Louisiana Office of Tourism assistant secretary Doug Bourgeois⁠ sits down with Afar editorial director Billie Cohen for one of our most flavorful travel industry interviews yet: a case for Louisiana travel well beyond New Orleans, from bayou to byway. A Thibodaux native who has spent 26 years in state tourism, Doug leads a Louisiana that finally returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2025, welcoming 45 million visitors and roughly 19 billion dollars in spending. New Orleans alone drew 19 million, even as Canada, the state's top international market, pulled back sharply. In this episode, Doug and Billie discuss: Why Cajun and Creole cooking is about flavor rather than heat, and why nobody makes gumbo better than your mama How Louisiana travel spans distinct regions, from Mississippi Delta greens up north to the Cajun and Creole melting pot down south The Gas Station Eats trail and the arrival of Michelin in the American South, including two two-star restaurants in New Orleans The Year of Music that set the stage, celebrating Louisiana as a birthplace of jazz, zydeco, and Cajun blues, and the 2026 Year of Outdoors that follows it, from swamp tours and outdoor kitchens to the Mississippi flyway and two national parks How the state is working to win back a softer Canadian market and lean into joy as a strategy The ⁠Mississippi River Parkway Commission⁠ and the case for the river as a single 10-state destination Beyond New Orleans, the scenic byways, river architecture, and small-town Americana that reward a longer trip This is one in a series of travel industry interviews and tourism experts interviews recorded live at IPW 2026, part of View From Afar's ongoing look at travel trends 2026, destination management, and the travel storytelling that turns a state into a journey. For every reason to plan Louisiana travel past Bourbon Street and deep into the heart of Cajun country, it is a front-row conversation with one of the hospitality industry leaders shaping the future of travel. Resources The Afar guide to Louisiana Chapters 00:00:00 Welcome to View From Afar 00:02:00 The Tabasco Test 00:03:00 Growing Up on the Bayou 00:05:00 A Culinary State 00:07:00 Year of the Outdoors 00:09:00 The Roux Spoon Olive Branch 00:11:00 Where Louisiana Is Going Next 00:12:00 The Mississippi as Destination 00:13:30 Beyond New Orleans 00:15:00 Where Joy Begins 00:18:30 Becoming Part of the Story Stay Connected Subscribe to View From Afar to catch all our IPW 2026 episodes this week. Follow @AfarMedia on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ for behind-the-scenes IPW content. ⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠ for our travel industry newsletter, Afar Advisor. Rate and review the show to help other travel professionals discover these insights. Explore our other podcasts, ⁠⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Unpacked⁠⁠. This IPW 2026 special series was recorded live. View From Afar is a production of Afar Media and a part of Airwave Media's podcast network (email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast). The podcast is produced by Aislyn Greene and Nikki Galteland, with assistance from Michelle Baran and Billie Cohen. Music composition from Epidemic Sound. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices