Brand USA Talks Travel: Episode 22 – Tour Operators & Travel Agents
This is brand USA talks travel a new 5-minute podcast to elevate the conversation concerning international travel to the United States here’s your host Mark leus there are many Avenues a journalist can take so why did you select travel journalism well I didn’t set out to be a journalist in the travel
Sector and I guess also it’s worth noting that I’m not a travel journalist in the traditional sense obviously I’m a trade businessto business journalist so I happen to focus on the Travel sector but ultimately I started out as a local and Regional news journalist and then when it came to specialize an
Opportunity came on a trade magazine for the travel industry and haven’t looked back since since 2011 Robin sirel has been managing editor of travel weekly in UK and has reported on the Travel industry for almost two decades he has a degree in theological studies but I think will’ll hold questions concerning
Spirituality for another podcast welcome to Brand USA talks travel Robin sirel thank you very much for having me m let’s begin with with a two-part question how can us destinations best work with travel writers in terms of pitching stories and how’s it different pitching a trade publication as opposed
To a major newspaper or magazine in Europe as with any sort of news reporter or features writer you’re looking for something fresh there’s probably an appreciation that we’ve heard about some of the the core experiences in a destination so we we want to be hearing about something a little bit new
Ultimately our goal is to inform and Inspire our readers and give them things that can set them apart from consumers we need to give them more knowledge uh more insight and allow them to inspire their customers so we’re looking for things that can be sold talk to me a bit
About booking confidence I think the booking confidence is there at the moment people have been waiting a long time for these holidays and I think they want to get on with those holidays but we’ve got some headwinds as well there’s no avoiding that Mark we’ve got the terrible situation in Eastern Europe at
The moment and I think all our hearts go out to the people of Ukraine at this time that is Weighing on people’s minds as well when they’re making plans the cost of living isn’t going in the right direction the cost of fuel particularly I think is going to be a challenge for
Consumers and the industry particularly the airlines with the price of oil going up I think we’re in a reasonable position at the moment anecdotally I’m hearing that this summer is looking reasonably strong Autumn particularly coming through our next winter but I think looking further forward there is some strong sentiment out there to
Travel but I think we just need to try and keep those messages coming through to inspire people to put their thoughts into action and really are booking and traveling again so what are you hearing regarding cinamon concerning planning trips to the USA from the UK and Ireland
Well I think there’s a huge amount of pent up demand Mark I mean we’ve all been sitting staring at screens for the best part of two years now there’s a huge appetite to get back out there and start seeing the world and I think within that the experience of the
Pandemic has changed a lot of things people are Keen to get back to the places either that they know and love or that they had on their lists before the pandemic that they really wanted to get to and and the US ticks that box is a
Love affair between the UK and the US and it’s such an amazing destination it’s got such breadth that I think you’re finding people going back to the places that they want to go back to and visit the core gateways if you will um but I think they’re also trying to think
About those bucket list trips and the getting Beyond those and really starting to delve into the rest of the state how important Are Tour operators and travel agents in helping people navigate travel as Co becomes a real fact of life everything we hear now is coming out of
Co there’s a so so much more complexity in travel people need reassurance they need expertise and we better to find that than with tour operators and travel agents the pandemic has shown us that things can change in the blink of an eye if you haven’t got a professional
Backing you up then you really are on your own the core travel agent readers of travel weekly were working around the clock you know often without any any money they were in fact it was going the other way they were refunding but they were still there for their clients and I
Think that is really bearing fruit now not just with people coming back and booking their trips with their original travel advisors but people who perhaps would have been booking direct previously now thinking they want that reassurance I want that expertise Robin one last question before we go do you
Have an update from the airlines concerning lift from Europe to America well it certainly seems to be increasing we held an event a business breakfast event and uh Virgin Atlantic’s vice president of global sales was appearing on that Lee Haslet and he was talking very positively about Lyft virgins just
Recently announced an Austin route so starting to now get in sort of different parts of the US not just the core gateways of New York and la and I think there’s a real positivity about it l haul travel is going to be impacted by Regional restrictions the fact that the
US is largely open again now I think is is really in its favor I think if you’re looking at success stories in the Long Haul Arena then I think the US is in the box seat thanks for joining us today Robin we hope to see you in the state
Soon it’s been an absolute pleasure Mark and I will be with you as soon as I can before we go I’d like to remind our listeners that we’ve got new episodes of small town big story on our go USA TV network if you’d like to watch destination storytelling and its very
Best check out this new series from Atlas obscura go usat TV is on many Smart TV platforms we hope you’ll subscribe to this new podcast brand USA talks travel on Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts I’m Mark lapedus thanks for listening if you’d
Like to ask a question or make a comment email us at podcastthe Brand usa.com or call 20279 3 6256 our producer is Asher mirovich who also writes and performs all music and Sound Engineering by Brian Watkins be sure and let your friends in the travel industry know about this Podcast
What’s The Role That Tour Operators & Travel Agents Play As International Travel Restarts?
We get a perspective from Robin Searle, Managing Editor of Travel Weekly, U.K. Robin also offers advice on how destinations should pitch stories to trade and consumer travel journalists.