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From ASTA’s fight against American Airlines’ distribution strategy to the Taylor Swift effect on the travel industry, 2024 was bursting with headlines that affected travel advisors. This week on Trade Secrets, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada talk about the major travel trends and events that shaped the agency landscape.
Theme song: Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod (License)
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Resources Mentioned in This Episode and Related Reading
- Trade Secrets episode featuring Andrea Grisdale and a discussion on Italy
- Trade Secrets episode featuring David Kolner and a discussion on generational travel
- Emma on the Taylor Swift cruise
- SNAP, an air booking tool developed by Internova Travel Group and Sabre
- Omar Banihani's TravelAge West op-ed about the evolution of home-based advisors
Plus, some reading on American Airlines and its distribution strategy, including the fallout:
- A win for travel advisors: American Airlines scraps controversial NDC strategy
- A victory for travel advisors was cause for celebration at the ASTA conference
- Alienating travel agencies could cost American Airlines $1.5 billion
- American Airlines unveils revised NDC plans, returns fares to GDSs
- American rebuilds sales staff, trying to win back agencies and corporates
- American Airlines says it is gradually winning back corporate business
- Travel Weekly's 2024 Power List
- Some reading (and listening) on Jenn Lee's Vacation Planners
Ask a Question on the Podcast
If you're a travel advisor with a question about the latest travel news, trends, best business practices or more, please call our hotline and leave a message at 201-902-2098 or send an email to tradesecrets@travelweekly.com.
About Your Hosts
Emma Weissmann is the Executive Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the host of the Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives — the highs and lows that make them human.
Jamie Biesiada is a Senior Editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors’ 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine.
About the Show
Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, is where travel advisors ask — and answer — questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel industry insider to join them and field listeners’ questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more — as long as it’s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at www.travelagewest.com/podcasts/trade-secrets.
