The Folo by Travel Weekly Travel Weekly

In the past few years, travel agencies have been inundated with business from travelers seeking expert advice and booking assistance on their travel. At the same time, we saw an influx of travel advisors into the business and some career-shifting during Covid from people who wanted to follow their passions. But good travel advisors need training – on systems, on suppliers, on sales tactics and more.

How does a travel agency train up new advisors? How long does it take to create a great advisor? What do experienced advisors need to know if they're planning on mentoring someone new to the business?

In this episode, host Rebecca Tobin and retail editor Jamie Biesiada speak with Gayle Smith and Sam Johnson of Prescription Travel about their innovative partnership with the University of Georgia’s hospitality-management program to create a travel agency internship program, as well as Smith’s passion for mentorship and what skills are critical to teach agents entering the business.

This episode was recorded May 9 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy. https://all-inclusive.marriott.com/

Related reports:

Mentorships bring on the next generation of travel advisors https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Mentorship-next-generation-travel-advisors

Prescription Travel https://prescriptiontravel.com/

 

 
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We’re talking about final rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation about when and how airline passengers qualify for a refund. This rule is widely seen as a win for customers -- but there is at least one provision of the rule that could make things tricky for parts of the travel-sales business. In addition, the DOT ruled on when flyers must be told about certain ancillary fees.

In this episode, host Rebecca Tobin goes over both rules with Laura Chadwick of the Travel Technology Association and our aviation editor Robert Silk.This episode was recorded Friday, May 3, and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy. https://all-inclusive.marriott.com/

Related reports:

Biden administrations finalizes rule establishing airline refund requirements https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/DOT-rule-finalized-airline-refunds

New airfare refund regulations are a win for consumers https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/New-airfare-refund-regulations-strike-a-blow-for-the-consumer

Mark Pestronk’s Legal Briefs column: Is the DOT refund rule still anti-agent? https://www.travelweekly.com/Mark-Pestronk/Is-the-DOT-refund-rule-still-anti-agent

 
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In this episode we look at a new company called Black In that's building tours to celebrate Black history and support Black-owned businesses in each destination. Our guests are the founders of Black In: Martinique Lewis, the creator of ABC Travel Greenbook and the president of the Black Travel Alliance, and Ashley Company, the owner of Jelani Travel. Tours editor Nicole Edenedo leads the discussion about Black In, how the tours are created and why. In the second half of the episode, we discuss where the travel industry is overall in terms of diversity programs and inclusion efforts -- and what it could or should do next.

This episode was recorded April 23 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured

Related reports

Black travel entrepreneurs launch tour company https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Black-travel-entrepreneurs-launch-tour-company

Shifting landscape of DEI in travel https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Shifting-landscape-of-DEI-in-travel

 
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Imagine a guided tour, but instead of a luxury coach your transportation is a Boeing 757 outfitted with 50 first-class seats -- and the plane will fly you around the world in ultimate comfort to off-the-beaten-path locations to get rare glimpses of wildlife, immerse yourself in local culture and/or stay at famous, luxury resorts. This mode of travel exists, and though it's not cheap to buy a seat on one of these tours, it's a steadily growing niche.

Earlier this year, a handful of media and travel advisors were able to get a look at luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent’s private jet, which it uses for round-the-world tours for small groups of very discerning, pretty wealthy, travelers. In this episode, Ann Epting, A&K's senior vice president of private jet and special interest travel, and Rob Clabbers, the president of Q Cruise + Travel talk with host Rebecca Tobin about the type of traveler who books a private-jet tour, how the whole thing operates, the work that goes into planning and delivering an over-the-top private jet experience, the price of private-jet vacations and of course, the plane itself.

Episode sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured https://www.travelinsured.com

Related links

Travel Weekly's cover story on private jet travel https://www.travelweekly.com/Luxury-Travel/Height-of-luxury-private-jet-tours

Abercrombie & Kent's fall private jet tour, "Wildlife and Nature Around the World" https://assets.abercrombiekent.com/pageflip/2024/Wildlife-Nature-ATW-PJ-2024/index.html

TCS World Travel https://www.tcsworldtravel.com/
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The Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami Beach in April is a great time for cruise lines to break news, and its annual State of the Industry panel is where business leaders head to hear the latest about trends, straight from the CEOs' mouths.

In this episode cruise editor Andrea Zelinski and host Rebecca Tobin go over what was talked about from the Seatrade stage: Big ship orders, vacation demand, additions to the private island scene, and how tech upgrades have changed and improved the cruise experience.

This episode was recorded Thursday April 11 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured https://www.travelinsured.com.

Related links

Windstar will expand its fleet https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Windstar-fleet-expansion

'Incredibly robust' demand drives NCLH's eight-ship order https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Analysis-NCLH-enormous-ship-order

Seatrade panelists talk about attracting new cruisers https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Seatrade-panelists-talk-about-attracting-new-cruisers

NCLH prepares to upgrade Great Stirrup Cay, but pier is top priority https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Great-Stirrup-Caye-expansion

The evolution of cruising's private islands https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/evolution-of-cruising-private-islands

Barbara Muckermann departs Silversea https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Muckermann-leaves-Silversea

 
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What do Taylor Swift, March Madness, Formula 1 and a tiny weekend festival in Florida have in common? They’re all events-based travel, a category that is bringing in a tidal wave of business. And travelers' passions for concerts, sports and meaningful travel experiences is totally reversing the way people research and plan travel -- as you'll hear here!

In this episode host Rebecca Tobin talks with senior editor Nicole Edenedo, Kier Matthews of On Location Experiences, a wholesale and hospitality supplier for sports and entertainment events, and Arival CEO Douglas Quinby about the types of events people are willing to travel for, who exactly is doing the traveling, how much they’re spending -- and how stans and fans are standing the travel-sales business on its head.

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

Episode sponsor

This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured https://www.travelinsured.com

Related reports

That's the ticket: Events travel hits the big time https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Events-travel-thats-the-ticket

On Location Experiences www.onlocationexp.com

Arival's research study "The Power of Events: How sports and performing arts drive tourism" (for purchase) https://arival.travel/research/the-power-of-events-how-sports-and-performing-arts-drive-tourism/

 

 

Arival research on sports and entertainment travel https://arival.travel/research/the-power-of-events-how-sports-and-performing-arts-drive-tourism/

On Location Experiences https://onlocationexp.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.