Marketing is an important part of most travel advisors’ businesses. This week on Trade Secrets, Christina Vieira of Showcase the World Travel discusses finding your “why,” identifying ideal clients and reaching those clients on the platforms that make sense. She also discusses the importance of a good email marketing plan, automation and more with co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada. Thanks to our friends at Key to the World Travel for helping us solicit travel advisor questions this...

When the State Department upgrades its travel advisory for a destination, or updates an advisory with new information, it can make clients a little jumpy. How should travel agents navigate the situation? Get the answer on this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, when co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are joined by travel advisor Brittany Shuford of Darling Destinations in Birmingham, Ala. Thanks to our friends at OutsideAgents.com for helping us solicit travel advisor questions this...

Welcome to season five of Trade Secrets. In this episode, hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Nexion Travel Group president Jackie Friedman on the show to talk about the value of travel advisors. They discuss the modern history of the profession and the evolution from “agent” to “advisor,” then answer listener questions about standing out from the crowd, how advisors can sell their own value and what makes a good elevator pitch. Thanks to our friends at WorldVia for helping us...

How is the Trade Secrets podcast made? Find out all the behind-the-scenes details in this special episode with co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada. From the show’s origin, to scripting, to editing and posting, take a peek behind the Trade Secrets curtain. This is a special episode of Trade Secrets between seasons four and five. Season five will return in two weeks, on April 8. This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured International.  Further resources Email Emma Weissmann and...

Welcome to the season four finale of Trade Secrets. This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Royal Caribbean’s Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales and trade support and service, and Jamie Margolis, owner of the Dream Vacations franchise Moms at Sea, during the second installment of a two-part series with Freed (listen to part one here).  During the episode, Freed and Margolis talk about the importance of forming — and maintaining — a good agent-supplier...

Get ready for a cruise-filled episode of Trade Secrets. This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Royal Caribbean's Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales and trade support and service, and Nick Weir, senior vice president of entertainment, onto the show. Hop aboard as we dive into everything from the brand-new Icon of the Seas — billed as the largest cruise ship at sea — to what it takes to entertain Royal’s millions of cruisers. This is the first of a two-part...

Travel advisors, are you stuck in the technological past? In this episode of Trade Secrets,  Brian Shultz, chief information officer for Cruise Planners, joins hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada to talk about the latest in tech offerings for advisors, game-changing generative AI use cases and tools that can save you both time and money.  This episode is sponsored by Windstar Cruises.  Further resources and related reading: Meet Cruise Planners’ Brian Shultz  Cruise Planners’ website...

This week on Trade Secrets, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada gaze into their crystal balls to reveal what 2024 might hold for the travel agency community. They share what’s in and what’s out for this year, along with major trends that will shape the advisor landscape. They’ll even share some resolutions for themselves and for the podcast.  Here’s a preview of what’s in and what’s out, according to our hosts. Emma’s “in for 2024” list: Using a travel advisor! High prices for both...

Trade Secrets is on a break right now, but will be back starting Jan. 29 with brand-new episodes. In the meantime, we wanted to share one of our favorite episodes from season four. It’s also one of the most popular. This episode was recorded at the ASTA Global Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 2, 2023. Co-hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann rounded up some of the industry’s finest to offer their best advice to travel advisors. They touch on everything from sustainability, to...

Trade Secrets is on a holiday break, but in the meantime, we wanted to share some of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West’s other podcasts with our listeners. This week’s episode is Humans of Travel, hosted by Trade Secrets co-host Emma Weissmann, featuring AmaWaterways’ Kristin Karst. If you’ve worked in the travel industry for any length of time, you’re probably familiar with Karst. The co-owner and executive vice president of river cruise line AmaWaterways, Karst is a staple at most travel...

Trade Secrets is on a holiday break, but in the meantime, we wanted to share some of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West’s other podcasts with our listeners. This week’s episode is The Folo, hosted by Travel Weekly’s Rebecca Tobin. Each week, The Folo digs deep into a topic of interest in the travel industry. On this episode, Tobin talks to Trade Secrets co-host Jamie Biesiada, also a senior editor at Travel Weekly covering retail travel sales and theme parks, about Disney’s planned $60 billion...

Trade Secrets is on a holiday break, but in the meantime, we wanted to share some of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West’s other podcasts with our listeners. This week’s episode is The Last Resort, hosted by Travel Weekly’s Christina Jelski. The Last Resort is a monthly hospitality-focused podcast where travel advisors share their first impressions of the last resort they visited. On this episode, Jelski talks to SmartFlyer-affiliated travel advisor Sarah Lopez and Travel Weekly managing editor...

How did Christy Menzies, the owner of Menzies Luxe Retreats, achieve $1 million in sales in her first six months in business as a travel advisor? Find out the answer to that question and many more in this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, where Menzies shares her journey in the industry and offers sage advice on explaining the value of travel advisors, finding clients as a new advisor, rapidly growing sales and more. This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations.  Further resources: Menzies...

Thinking of becoming a travel advisor? This is the Trade Secrets episode for you, featuring the sound advice of Steph Lee, founder of Host Agency Reviews. During this episode, delve into the world of travel advising as a profession, including what to know about starting a business, what challenges you may face and more. Already established in the industry? We’ve got plenty for you to mull on, too, from using host- or consortium-provided marketing materials, advice on moving into a management...

Travel insurance is an important product for travel advisors and travelers alike, but it’s also an undeniably complex one. What should advisors talk about when selling travel insurance, and what shouldn’t they discuss? Is an annual plan a better deal than per-trip plans? What is a preexisting condition, and what does it mean for advisors? Find out the answers to those questions and more in this week’s episode, the second in a two-part series on travel insurance featuring Richard Aquino, vice...

Travel insurance is an important product for travel advisors and travelers alike, but it’s also an undeniably complex one. How should travel advisors position this product to clients? What insurance provider should they use? How do they parse through complicated plans? Find out the answers to those questions and more in this week’s episode, the first in a two-part series on travel insurance featuring Richard Aquino, vice president and head of sales for Allianz Partners. This episode is...

One month after wildfires devastated Lahaina, Signature Travel Network decided to move forward with its annual Owners’ Meeting at the Grand Wailea, located on an unaffected part of Maui.  This episode of Trade Secrets was recorded from the island. Hear from Signature CEO Alex Sharpe, travel agency owners and supplier representatives from Allianz Partners, Travel Insured International and Pleasant Holidays as they share their thoughts about promoting travel to the island. Listeners will also...

This week, Trade Secrets is all about the fam — fam, or familiarization, trips, that is! Hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are joined by Theresa Chu-Bermudez, owner of Get Out! Custom Travels, co-host of the Tin Lounge Podcast and the creator of Fam with Intention. They talk about all of the ins and outs of fams: how to find them, how to prepare for them, what to do on a fam, and what to do after the trip is over.  This episode is sponsored by Air France-KLM.  Further...

In this episode of Trade Secrets, Indagare’s Melissa Biggs Bradley discusses the company’s sustainability efforts — including how her agency offsets the carbon footprints of all staff and client travel — the end of “fast travel,” and how travel advisors can encourage clients to travel more sustainably. This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations. Further resources: Melissa Biggs Bradley: Indagare’s website On Instagram Her radio show/podcast, Passport to Everywhere From Travel Weekly,...

In this special episode of Trade Secrets, co-host Jamie Biesiada gets an update on the wildfires in Hawaii from Ilihia Gionson, the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s public affairs officer. Gionson talks about what’s happening on Maui, thanks those visitors who have left the island and asks for patience in the weeks ahead as damage is assessed and recovery begins. This episode is sponsored by ALG Vacations....

In this episode of Trade Secrets, hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann are joined by Christine Vincent, business technology manager for Travelsavers and NEST. They discuss how generative AI is changing the travel industry, and delve into how travel advisors can use it to improve their workflows. They also chat about how to become an effective “prompt engineer” to get a desired output. And yes, if you were wondering, Google’s Bard wrote this episode’s title and description (but it was, of...

Embark on a voyage of discovery into the fast-growing world of expedition cruising on this episode of Trade Secrets. Co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are joined by Rachel Woodward, vice president of sales for Lindblad Expeditions, and Beth Butzlaff, Global Travel Collection’s vice president of partnership. They’ll tackle everything from which clients are best suited for which expedition cruises, to can’t-miss stops in Alaska, to how better Starlink connectivity will affect cruisers...

In this two-part episode of Trade Secrets, we’ll delve deep into the world of sales strategies for travel advisors, with guests Byrd Bergeron (of the Travel Byrds) and Steven Gould (of Goulds Travel, Luxera Travel and the Travel Advisor Resource Center). They also operate the Facebook group “Sales Strategies for Travel Professionals.” In part two, we’ll discuss a variety of listener questions, from how to allocate your time and strategies with managing email inboxes, to finding outside help...

In this two-part episode of Trade Secrets, delve deep into the world of sales strategies for travel advisors with guests Byrd Bergeron of the Travel Byrds and Steven Gould of Goulds Travel, Luxera Travel and the Travel Advisor Resource Center. We discuss practical techniques, answer listener questions and offer insights to help up travel advisors’ sales games. Tune in now for part one, and stay tuned for part two in two weeks, where we’ll dive into even more listener questions. This episode...