The Best Part of Travel | Inside the Business of Destination Experiences
The Best Part of Travel podcast takes you inside the business of destination experiences. That’s all the things you do when you get there. It’s been an underdog sector of the wider travel industry for decades, but the world is catching on, as more people prioritize experiences over things. It’s a sector filled with passionate people, incredible stories, and many unique and interesting challenges. In each episode, your hosts — Janelle Visser from Arival and industry veteran Stephen Joyce — will explore a different topic that’s relevant for operators of tours, activities and attractions today.
Episodes
We’re kicking off the new season of our (re-named and re-launched) Best Part of Travel podcast with an exploration of travel trends in 2025.
In this first episode of season two, your podcast hosts Janelle Visser, Managing Editor of Arival, and industry veteran Stephen Joyce are joined by special guest Dan Christian from the Travel Trends podcast to discuss the top travel trends for 2025 — and what they mean for tour, activity, attr...
In this episode, Stephen Joyce and Janelle Visser recap the first season of the Arival Voice of Experiences podcast. They discuss their favourite episodes, the variety of content they covered, as well as the top five episodes from Season One by listener ranking.
The top five episodes mentioned feature the following guests: 5) Peter Brown from Big Bus Tours, 4) Christian Watts from Magpie Travel, 3) Kelsey Tonner from Guest Focus, ...
In this conversation, Jon Owen, CEO of Go City, and Douglas Quinby, CEO of Arival, discuss the multi-attraction pass. They explore the size and scope of the pass market, the structure of the pass model, and the range of attractions and experiences offered. They also discuss the evolving trends in the market, such as the shift towards more experiential and off-the-beaten-track offerings. The conversation touches on the economics of ...
In this episode, Martin Harlow discusses the importance of having a distribution strategy and online travel agencies (OTAs) for tour and activity operators and attractions. He emphasizes the need for a basic strategy to get products to market and highlights that OTAs are often the first point of contact for consumers during the research phase. Martin explains that the choice of OTAs should be based on the target audience and the sp...
Summary
In this conversation, Janelle and Stephen discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ travelers. They explore the meaning of LGBTQ+ and its variations, as well as the significant economic value of LGBTQ+ travel. The guests, Glenn Tkach and Rebecca Fisher, share their experiences in designing and leading LGBTQ+ history tours in Vancouver and Philadelphia, respectively. They discuss the challenges of uncovering and presenting LGBTQ+ his...
Summary
In this conversation, Christian Watts from Magpie Travel discusses the impact of AI on tours, activities, and attractions. The discussion covers the use of AI in rewriting content, customer service, and personalized trip planning. The conversation also delves into the challenges and opportunities of using AI, as well as the tools and technologies being used in this sector. The conversation covers a wide range of topics rela...
Summary
Janelle and Stephen speak with Kelsey Tonner from Guest Focus about corporate sales and how tour businesses can tap into the corporate market. He shares his background in the industry and how he transitioned to focusing on tour business coaching. Kelsey emphasizes the advantages of corporate sales, such as regular and repeat business, premium pricing opportunities, streamlined planning process, and diversification of revenu...
Summary
Tom McGarry, Head of New Business at Holiday Extras, discusses his journey in the travel industry and the company's focus on business development and ticketing. He explains how the company is leveraging customer data to offer personalized recommendations for things to do while traveling. The conversation also delves into the company's culture and the efforts made to create a collaborative and flexible work environme...
Summary
In this episode, Stephen and Janelle discuss the hot topics panel from the Arival 360 Berlin event. They focus on the issue of access to attraction tickets for tour operators and the challenges they face in getting enough tickets to fulfill demand. They also explore the concept of concentrated tourism and the need to shift demand away from popular attractions to lesser-known, off-the-beaten-path experiences. The conversatio...
Summary
In this episode of The Voice of Experiences, Stephen Joyce and Janelle Visser discuss the Lunch and Learn interview with Johannes Reck, CEO of Get Your Guide. They highlight the unique format of the interview and the relaxed and conversational vibe it created. Johannes shares the founding story of Get Your Guide, which started as a student trip to Beijing and the frustration of not finding activities online. This led t...
In this episode of The Voice of Experiences podcast, Stephen Joyce and Janelle Visser discuss the topic of AI in the travel industry. They review an interview with Emmanuel Marot, the Director of Product Management at Google, and explore the role of AI in trip planning and personalized recommendations. They also discuss the challenges of ranking and organizing information in the fragmented world of tours and activities. Overall, th...
Anna Araque shares her journey from a background in hospitality and tour operations to creating immersive experiences. She discusses her time working at The Shard and her transition to consulting. Anna also talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the travel industry and the future of travel experiences. Imagine Experiences creates immersive and interactive tours and activities that allow people to step into the world of their favorit...
In this conversation, Catherine Warrilow discusses her journey into tourism, travel, and brand strategy. She emphasizes the importance of targeting a specific demographic and differentiating small operators in a competitive landscape. Catherine also highlights the significance of consistency in brand messaging and building brand recognition for small operators. She shares insights on measuring success and conversions in the experie...
In this episode, Janelle talks with Jessica Dante, Founder of Love and London, a social media content creation company that is focused on providing content for travellers coming to London. Jessica talks about the inspiration for the company as well as their strategy behind using video and how their content has changed over time. Jessica also provides some useful tips on how tour operators can use video to promote their business on ...
In this episode, Stephen, Janelle, and Jeff speak with Peter Brown, Director of Business Development at Big Bus Tours. Peter is a long time member of the “Best of Part of Travel” club. He’s got over 20 years of experience in tours, activities, and attractions working for companies like Big Bus, Walks / City Experiences, Peak Adventure Travel, and Trek America where he learned to play guitar! He is truly a Voice of Experience. Yo...
CEO and Co-founder of Arival, Douglas Quinby, sits down with Scott O'Neil, CEO of Merlin Entertainments. Merlin is one of the largest attractions companies in the world with brands including Madame Tussauds, Legoland, the London Eye, and many others. In this conversation, Scott shares his insights on ai, leadership, entrepreneurship, family, and more. The conversation was originally recorded at the Arival 360 event in Orlando...
In this episode, your hosts Janelle and Stephen discuss online and offline marketing with interviews from Nate Andrews of Blend Marketing, Brennen Bliss of Propellic, and Renee Ventrice of Cork & Keg Tours. Included in the episode are some references to resources that you might find useful including:
- Arival Guide to Marketing with Google
- The 2024 Experiences Traveler Outlook
- The 2024 Tour Taker Report
Yo...
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