Explore every episode of the podcast Travel Is Your Business
Dive into the complete episode list for Travel Is Your Business. Each episode is cataloged with detailed descriptions, making it easy to find and explore specific topics. Keep track of all episodes from your favorite podcast and never miss a moment of insightful content.
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Title
Pub. Date
Duration
Tim Ryan of Modobag - Bagging a Ride
04 Feb 2020
00:35:41
Modobag is the world’s first motorized, smart and connected carry-on that gets you to your destination up to three times faster than walking. CMO Tim Ryan offers insight into one of the most innovative and exciting advancements to hit the travel industry since rolling suitcases were introduced in the 1970's, on location at CES 2020.
Nicola Poirier of Expedia and Kerri Zeil of Amadeus - When Leading Travel Companies Meet Emerging Technology Companies
10 Dec 2019
00:40:16
How do the world’s leading travel companies approach emerging technology companies coming to market right now? Moreover -- what do they see as the biggest opportunities, and how do you balance that with proving out partnerships with these startups to the rest of the organization? It's an important, and complex topic to explore. The good news? Nicola Poirier (Senior Manager, Strategy & Business Development at Expedia Group) and Kerri Zeil (Head of Amadeus for Startups) share everything on the travel innovation spectrum - from blue ocean opportunities to how to shop an idea and concept internally at an enterprise company. Buckle up!
Azim Barodawala of Volantio - Optimizing Revenue and Operations
18 Jun 2019
00:47:12
Azim Barodawala, CEO of Volantio (technology that helps airlines maximize unit revenues and decrease costs through greater capacity utilization, while providing customers with better predictability and control over their travel journey) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio.
What could the hotel industry learn by several putting leaders in hotel tech in one room?
Recently, VoyagerHQ hosted executives from ALICE, Uplift and Travel Tripper — in partnership with the robust Cornell Hotel Society community—in front of a live audience for a useful and relevant discussion with many takeaways for everyone in the hotel industry— from independent boutiques to major chains—on how innovation plays a crucial role in the path forward to improve guest experience and stay competitive.
The Speakers:
Alissa Hendel:SVP Strategic Partnerships & Brands @ ALICE
Alissa joined ALICE in January as SVP Strategic Partnerships & Brands. Since graduating from Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration she spent the past 12 years at Sabre Hospitality Solutions where she served in various leadership roles, including VP Strategic Sales for North America and VP Business Development for Enterprise Accounts. Alissa currently sits on the Dean’s Council of Young Alumni for the Hotel School and also serves as a Regional Vice President for the Cornell Hotel Society.
Tom joined Uplift from Miraval Group, where he served as SVP and CMO, ultimately successfully selling the brand and resorts to Hyatt Hotels. Prior to Uplift, Tom held executive positions across the airline, hotel, and online intermediary industries, including at Denihan Hospitality, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Hotwire.com. Tom was also the co-founder and managing partner of Hudson Crossing, LLC. Tom sits on the board of directors or advisory boards of several companies, including Adara Media, Duetto Research, Hudson Crossing, and Rocketmiles (acquired by Priceline). He holds a BS in Logistics and Marketing from the University of Missouri.
Steffan Berelowitz:VP of Digital Platforms @ Travel Tripper
Steffan is the VP of Digital Platforms at Travel Tripper and Pegasus Solutions where he oversees the website and digital marketing services for hotel customers. A pioneer in all things web and mobile, Steffan has spent more than 20 years in online services and technology. He was formerly founder of Bluetrain.io, a website platform acquired by Travel Tripper in 2015. Prior to Bluetrain.io, Steffan founded Bit Group, one of Boston's top 10 digital web agencies, implementing more than 350 web sites for 150 companies including Cisco, Dell, EMC, two divisions of GE, as well as other prominent B2C organizations.
James is an experienced hospitality tech leader with a track record in securing strategic partnerships, motivating high sales output, and streamlining internal operations for maximum efficiency and profitability. James is also a (retired) Captain, Troop Commander, and OEF-Kuwait Veteran in the PA Army National Guard, where most recently he commanded a 96-person Cavalry Troop. James currently sits / volunteers on the Cornell Hotel Society Alumni Board.
Sponsors:
Cornell Hotel Society: Founded in 1925, CHS NYC is the oldest, largest, and most active regional alumni chapter of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. The Chapter's primary goal is to provide a forum of educational and networking opportunities for its members to achieve both their career and personal goals. The Chapter organizes roughly a dozen engaging, high-profile events a year for alumni and students and has raised over $100,000 for scholarships and endowments that are routed exclusively back to the School of Hotel Administration.
Voyager HQ: Voyager HQ is the startup club for the global travel, tourism, and hospitality industry, bringing together entrepreneurs, corporate partners, and investors to create the future of travel experiences. With over 1,500 startup members around the world, Voyager HQ provides the community with connections, events, and coworking space curated for the travel industry.
Rachele Caserza of Selina - A New Traveling Lifestyle for Digital Nomads
07 Jun 2019
00:45:12
The millennial generation is traveling more than ever before, looking for community, location, and curation. Selina has designed unique hotel co-living, co-working spaces around these needs. Digital nomads are embracing this new traveling lifestyle in droves. Selina is thinking about topics like loyalty and technology for the next generation of hospitality. Rachele Caserza, Director of Global Strategy for Selina, joins Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio.
A fireside chat on innovation between representatives of two of the most forward thinking travel groups…
Rashesh Jethi (SVP Engineering for Americas & Head of Innovation for Airlines for the world’s largest GDS, Amadeus) and Bess Chapman (Operating Principal for JetBlue Technology Ventures) discuss travel tech infrastructure, innovation, and possibilities at the Travel Disruption Summit presented by Voyager HQ, and sponsored by Amadeus and Fareportal.
In this episode:
What AI means for the travel industry
How everything has changed with hyper-cheap hyper-computing
Used to depend on massive investments for AI, and now it simply requires a lot of data and smart people
How machine learning sit on top of that, what it means when airlines and other travel business starts really knowing customers
Machine learning is one discipline of AI, and it means you feed computer data, makes sense of data, make more personalized recommendations, much potential in marketing
How it is a challenge that many players are at different maturity in technology stacks
Many are moving to open APIs to encourage growth and innovation
PHOTO CREDIT: EVA CRUZ, CROUCHING TIGER LLC
Regulation issues an inhibitor to innovation, but most regulation is to keep us safe
Be respectful of regulation that’s there
GDPR an example
What it means that not all travel providers can keep up with changes at the same pace
Antiquated innovation all around
The biggest white space for disruption in airports
Why airports will be the malls of the future
Airports can be an oasis of commerce and relaxation
Prescreening and biometrics, making screening fast track, frictionless
Identifying you as a traveler, then providing you a contextual experience and a reference to what is available around you
Amadeus believes in tapping into the creative energy of anyone, supporting innovation
Overhyped technology (personal opinion) is blockchain
Bags as a huge white space, RFID, and more
How NDC change Amadeus’ current setup, and the next evolution in standard with a lot of interest from customers
AR and VR in the travel space, ideal use-cases, and why they could just become another screen we get used to
Using VR to book trips and for in-flight entertainment, shopping, training – and what are the challenges?
A lot of opportunity for companies to help other companies make money
TIYB Highlights - Liliana Petrova of JetBlue – Conducting the Customer Experience Orchestra
21 May 2019
00:58:58
Designing customer experience in travel...
Liliana Petrova, Director of Customer experience at JetBlue Airways, Visionary, Strategist, Customer Experience Professional and Blogger, joins John Matson, Bess Chapman, and Pavan Bahl in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Liliana Petrova on designing for Experience is like a multi-phase cake
What is movement,
Technology design, how to achieve movement as fast and seamless as possible
How people will feel about the brand and interactions
Why the experience designer needs to be a vision thinker and can’t design in increments
Facial recognition, and why with some brands it is like having a same experience like prison or the subway, and determining that will never happen like that with JetBlue as an experience
Delight comes from the elements and when it works to one’s standards
Designing experience is like being like a conductor of an orchestra
Innovation is not building new things, but finding connections that didn’t exists before between existing things
Getting a sophisticated program up in just four months
Will airports be the player of the future they are today?
The quest to eliminate waiting time with bags and taking away levels of friction
How airports could transform from being simply a processing center, and therefore offer a chance to give you joy
Other brands doing it right, and those doing it wrong — Milan train system can do better
Every customer has their own version of an emotional reaction — but engineering things like efficiency can create emotional experiences, creating value
Being driven by making the world a different place, making life easier
Liking things that stretch when it is implausible
Why the Hyperloop is exciting
How Petrova moved from financial analyst to design
The baseline of customer experience is process and strategy, making connections and seeing all channels of marketing
And hard work
How enterprise brands can’t preserve everything with scale
Innovation is not the end goal, it’s a way to be relevant to the customer
The alignment in the interest of the future costumer
Credit cards and miles/points/rewards
Petrova on being Bulgarian and a view at her work and the American ecosystem, and having perspective
Why Abraham Lincoln was amazing
An intuitive move and coming to America, having two “homes”, being a citizen of the world
TIYB Highlights - Robert Albert of Routehappy – How Was Your Flight?
14 May 2019
00:54:20
Merchandising content platform for flight shopping…
Robert Albert, CEO of Routehappy (the industry standard for airline rich content, acquired by ATPCO) joins John Matson and Nick Vivion in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The most commonly desired amenity in travel: seat, then WiFi
Selling a singular vision when pitching/building Routehappy
How it is not actually all about price
An entire ecommerce category that’s comeditized, we all about the experience from that moment on
Explaining products and services customers are happier, and the industry does better
How it was obvious to him that every customer needed this
Why Albert feels it has felt like spreading a religion, every meeting is positive, but not necessarily a priority all the time
It is an organic experience, brick by brick building the path forward for the company and the recognition of the need
How the pace of building the company has helped them build it right, solving a complex problem, and why the company is ready for prime time now and can solve global differentiation problem in flight shopping
Why GDS’s didn’t solve this prior
Sales cycles in travel vs. funds for startups
Massive network effect, explaining the story and getting airlines and distributers to align on the story and potential impact
How hard Albert and team worked building the company, holding twenty five meetings a week while traveling, making good product decisions that got companies interested
Originally Routehappy was about consumer flight reviews, then built APIs of data, and operating lean
Happy and cheap as a product compass
How Routehappy’s solution was now described as being able to enable the industry with better data, and that resulted in the first serious ways people were paying attention
Moving from B to C to B to B as a pivot
Pineapple chunks, and why this Australian treat was the snack, and the meaning
How Routehappy was recently acquired by ATPCO, software that manages the world’s airfares
UTA rich context (universal ticket attribute)
Becoming the “Switzerland of rich content”, how Routehappy can now deliver on the thing they said they were doing for seven years
Overall vision as the next gen storefront, how it is time to modernize flight shopping, how indirect channels can and should transform, and coming together with the “how”
Taking initiative to fill a gap, customer service, and introducing technology
In one of his few in-depth interviews ever, Jain covers why he started CheapOair to fill a gap in current digital online travel space, and because of the lack large contact center presence. How his background in business-to-business and customer service led to creating a digital online travel agency with a customer service focus, now the only OTA today with a toll free number on every web page, and more than 2,000 travel agents full time.
Turning a 4k debt on AmEx card into a huge business by trying to solve a dysfunction. his “coming to America” story inspired by a family jewelry business, an idea sparked by working a year for no money at a small travel agency, and buying tickets from wholesalers, the two worlds of published fares and consolidated wholesale net traded flights. The impact of Jain introducing technology with simple databases, and pivoting into an ecommerce business. Getting into the business with a model as a flight focused OTA, and providing a great user experience with a three step booking path and strong customer service, going up against four established players, and the complexity of the processes and transactions, such as 80,000 schedule changes per month.
Learning from pivots, user experience, and Voyager
Jain assertion that ecommerce is not complex when focused on product and having a depth of knowledge on one’s vertical, bootstrapping CheapOair as a pivot to go directly to the customer, a prior failed pivot, and lessons learned when getting into the hotel space. The importance of keeping focus on a core product and knowledge, and defending against OTA’s with cheaper flights with diversity of channels. How the entire seamless user experience is important from the beginning to post-transaction, and keeping target on getting repeat visitors to lower acquisition costs,
New technologies and the space being innovated, the new ability to book Amtrak, and focusing on mobile first. The Voyager incubator co-working space as an eyes and ears on innovation, looking at artificial intelligence, the value of the startup mindset, and a determination to tap into that talent pool.
Monkey commerce, dealing fruit, and global travels
The personal questions of Off the Beaten Path travels to Mathura, India, witnesses monkey commerce, dreams of a fruity excuse to go to Honolulu, and enjoys pizza in Nepal.
Joanna Patterson of FlixBus - Next Gen Intercity Bus Service
19 Apr 2019
00:38:31
A mobility provider that has changed the way over 100 million people have traveled -- FlixBus is now taking on the US...Joanna Patterson, Head of Business Development for FlixBus (a unique combination of tech startup, e-commerce platform and sustainable transportation company) joins Marc Raco and Anthony DeRico.
How we need more intercity bus travel
Bus travel hasn’t innovated quickly, other players haven’t brought technology that makes it better for consumer, and how FlixBus does take a fragmented industry and makes it better to help more people get places
A main player in Europe, hoping to be main player in US
A few different clicks you can track buses, buses are well maintained, there is a better experience including plugs, wifi, clean,
Charter bus operators typically are partners
Allows bus companies its to enter the line run business because they don't have to setup a full business model and infrastructure
FlixBus in the US trying to convince people to take buses for the first time
Being a game changer is a combination of things: great mobile experience and good experience being on the bus, using data to optimize pricing and the network
Skewing toward millennials and college students
The physical touchpoint with the customer is a driver
Being a hand in hand partner in the success ion bus operators
The nature of the partnership
Important that partners can provide the customer with a good experience
Technological capabilities are not important because FlixBus has that capability
How treating customers well is very important
Management and training of drivers and their interaction with customers including on the "mobility partner portal"
Does maple flavored salmon jerky meet expectations?
Taylor Culver and Michael McDowell of XenoDATA Partners – Entreprise Data Strategy
10 Apr 2019
00:48:03
Data as a roadmap to innovation, development and customer success for enterprise companies in the travel industry with XenoDATA Partners…
Taylor Culver , Founder of XenoDATA Partners (a boutique management consulting firm partnering with you on making data strategy successful), and his associate Michael McDowell, join Marc Raco and Anthony DeRico in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
A vertical agnostic company
Why travel has a special place in Taylor and Michael’s hearts – traveling 40-50 countries
Data is a strategic asset
Learning from working at Hertz on the corporate development team
Talent in work force is versed in data and can really able to ask the right questions
What needs help now with data in the travel space?
Enterprise issues in legacy systems
Transferring data back and forth to shape experiences downstream
Opportunities to utilize data points in during the experience, not just online – such as between the taking of ticket to the time you’e in the seat of a plane
The integrated nature of Hertz communication, customer feedback, and dynamic feedback
Genesis of the. company
Opportunity – enterprise customers get the most value out of their data
The $40B niche industry – car rentals, and opportunities to disrupt
Aireen Omar of AirAsia Group – Flying into the Future with Startups and Unicorns
03 Apr 2019
00:41:43
AirAsia has an eye on how technology innovation can disrupt the areas of the travel industry…
When you’re the largest airline in a country, with more than 100 million passengers last year and ranked this year by Forbes the best low cost airline in Asia, you’re going to know a lot about what your customers need and want.
You’ll know about their behavior throughout their journey with you, and how you can grow as a customer and as an ever increasingly relevant player. In the travel industry. AirAsia Group is taking that experience and running—(or flying)—with it. With an eye on how technology innovation can disrupt the areas of the travel industry Air Asia is eyeing for expansion, and to be of value to other industry players — (and even other industries).themyour brand
Aireen Omar, AirAsia Deputy Group CEO (Technology and Digital), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman for a discussion on why the airline has made a meaningful play into venture funding and startups, a search for talent worldwide, and investing in unicorns. Recorded in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Data is invaluable
What makes an airline stand out—how you make a customer feel, the right kind of services and products, as seamless sand possible
And branding is important, seeking a fun and enjoyable way to consume it
Understanding needs and wants, and helping them discover what they don’t know they want
Redbeat Ventures, embracing technology, and how AirAsia has a. lot of data, and has discovered the behavior of passengers
AirAsia wanting to seek for talent all over the world, and find solutions and disrupt the travel industry they want to expand to, and be of value to other industry players (and perhaps other industries as well)
The resulting venture fund and separate and off balance sheet, to invest in unicorns around the world
The wide range of who be in the fund, including lifestyle companies
The beauty of how AirAsia can work with startups, given the 100M+ passengers per year
The likely impact of an economy shift on the business
Werner Georg Kunz-Cho of Fareportal and Alexandra Arguelles of Amadeus - The Holistic Shopping Cart
03 Dec 2019
00:54:15
If you shop for a flight online today, you’ll notice a wide range of options available to you. From seat selection to presentation of hotel and rental car options after booking, it seems like the traveler’s booking experience has become more and more holistic. Yet, there are many opportunities to grow. What has driven this trend in the last 5 years? Ancillaries packaging, New Distribution Capability, emerging technologies, and more. Senior travel executives Werner Georg Kunz-Cho (Co-CEO, Chief Human Resource Officer of Fareportal) and Alexandra Arguelles (Vice President, Online Travel Group of Amadeus North America) share what makes the holistic shopping cart window of today -- and tomorrow.
Tripp Higgins and Andy Hakes of AireXpert – Solving Communication Gaps in Aviation Maintenance
15 Mar 2019
00:45:54
Collaborative technology to the global airline industry that enables its customers to improve the pace and quality of aircraft maintenance, leading to significant productivity gains, lowered costs and improved safety…
Tripp Higgins, VP of Business Development, and Andy Hakes, Founder/CEO, of AireXpert (tech ops event control), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in theMouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Room for improvement in great communication with people out at airplanes and between travel companies and those people
A lot of people working in adjacent roles who don’t work together and a lot situations develop on the fly
Barriers – outsourcing, fragmentation of indie companies that don’t share resources
Airlines relying on outsourced vendors, lack of training, very little standardization for communication
AireXpert is a communication channel that creates a standardized link, that allows people to communicate in same space, on the fly
How AireXpert’s business started
Everyone has the same pains
The difficulty of raising money in Buffalo NY, and needing capital to hire great talent
How being in small market has challenges and opportunities
Hot dogs!
The sales cycle of approaching an airline
Raising funds and the venture landscape in Buffalo
Whether the AireXpert executives feel less or more safe now with airlines
The exhilaration of taking in the arrival at a new destination
If you had an hour to sit with someone who helped build the fastest growing travel media company in the industry – what could you learn? From user-generated content, to the shift of the mobile-first environment and how trends have drastically shifted in travel, along with travel management companies, the joys of traveling with family, and why not to take your eye off the ball in the travel industry…
Anthony Derico, Business Mentor / Advisor for Quake Capital Partners and Business Consultant / Advisor to Voyager HQ, and former VP/Head of Sales for Skift and Skift table, joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The move to mobile as the biggest travel shift
The next biggest shift?
The cellphone as a tool of travel
Skiplagged for finding cheap flights
Influencer content and maintaining an authentic voice, and how everyone is an influencer when they travel and share on social media
Making travel more accessible is a market share
Does travel have a homogeny problem to get that instagrammable moment?
The effect on business travel
Why people travel for business, the many layers of that decision making, and a possible game changer to focus on
Working for your snack
Creating amazing experiences as a brand, and really executing events that can leave an impression
The impact of the rise of startup culture on travel
Why travel as a benefit should be core to a business
How trade publications can get real stories in travel, and then thoughts on content that stands out
Inspiring children with meaningful travel destinations and experiences that make an impact
069 – James Nannos of Stay Wanderful – Surprise, Delight, Return
28 Feb 2019
00:40:21
Acquiring and retaining hospitality customers with surprise-and-delight rewards…
James Nannos, Director of Hotel Sales & Partnerships for Stay Wanderful (a direct booking tool to increase guest conversion and provide surprise- and-delight rewards) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
How independent hospitality brands should think about retaining customers
Independent hospitality chains don’t have a powerful distribution network
Tangible guest rewards, differentiated experiences to guests, and then continuing conversation after the fact
How can independents get in there and make a difference
Most prefer experiences and benefits to points, most won’t get value out of points
Personalizing small but highly perceived value rewards
Most want to choose rewards
If Stay Wanderful is in many properties, how that helps still customers choose a specific property
Raising the bar of service won’t dilute the opportunity
Stay Wanderful makes it look like a hotel is giving you the rewards, like a white label solution for that hotel
The only business where customers are sleeping in palace of business—you must capture them while they are there
Independent properties fighting uphill battle
A fee-for-success model
The importance of fining out the real decision-maker of a hospitality property or brand
Why hotels are operating off of antiquating systems, integrating into an old tech stack
The helpfulness of the Cornell network
The impact of military methodology and experience on entrepreneurialism and how it connects with hotel business
068 – Kristen Vasan of Foursquare – Where People Go
20 Feb 2019
00:43:43
Why the original travel app is partnered with so many brands and integrated into so much technology…
Kristen Vasan, Director of Strategic Platform Partnerships for Foursquare (a technology company that enriches consumer experiences and informs business decisions through a deep understanding of location intelligence), joins John Matson in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The state of personalization in the travel industry, gained some momentum
Foursquare was previously thought as a social networking app, but is a contextually aware location platform that sits on top of some of the biggest brands’ tech
Can build a contextually aware map of where people go
People comparing brands to one another are looking at how technological experiences compare to one another
The risk of becoming the best tech company instead of best service
Going from the check in app for locations, and how Foursquare pivoted to become a huge player in the enterprise location space
How their API plays into geo-locations for images and social media
The goal to give marketers the ability to “bake” location tech, to know where you’ve stopped, see the venue where you are, and “tap you on the shoulder”
Giving people the ability to be present and enjoy life, and only use phone when it matters most
How Foursquare reached 1 billion consumers
Brands building loyalty, having an understanding of offline behavior, a lot is still left to be done in that space
How business travel is different than personal travel
Seeing location trails of consumers and telling stories about where they go
People look to Foursquare as the original travel app
Are travel startups able to use Foursquare’s SDK and try to iterate on it
Foursquare’s database of over 105M places globally you can ingest and share with world
067 – Filip Maksymilian Bloch and Daniel Flynn of Hotailors – Humanizing Travel with Technology
13 Feb 2019
00:56:47
Organizing business trips 90% faster, 30% cheaper via AI with a human touch…
Filip Maksymilian Bloch (CEO) and Daniel Flynn (Business Development Manager) of Hotailors (a next-gen AI-powered travel platform allowing organization of corporate travel faster, at a lower cost) join John Matson in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
What does Hotailors see changing in corporate travel bookings?
Hotailors wants to treat your employees right
Who’s driving the change in corporate travel?
Identifying and relating to the pain of being a traveler
Trimming down the “waste time” spent booking a trip
SMD vs Enterprise
Winning the market and becoming a unicorn
Sizing up the market
How Filip and Dan met
Narrow Domain Intelligence vs General Form Intelligence
Applying AI to the travel space
Where Filip sees AI succeeding and thriving
How Artificial Intelligence will help travel be better, smarter, cheaper, faster, and more comfortable
The competition in the travel AI space
Hotailor’s hybrid approach to travel – Merging A.I. efficiency with human touch by employing a network of 3,000 travel agents across the globe
Building a product so good, customers won’t want to leave – the key is to be faster and more robust
Hotailor’s approach to product research and development
How Hotailor built a network of 3,000 travel agents across the globe
The early struggles and mistakes made while growing Hotailors
Where Filip believes AI will be used and where he wants to see it utilized
Filip’s upbringing running hotels with his parents
066 – Andrea Bonaiuto of Eurowings Group and Brussels Airlines – Exploration and Experiences
23 Jan 2019
00:43:34
The growth of Brussels Airlines in the Americas..
Andrea Bonaiuto, Marketing Manager for The Americas with Eurowings Group, joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The most effective B-to-B and B-to-C channels for Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, depending on gaol and purpose
Having a smaller budget, acting in startup style in the Americas
Working two brands
Brussels has three points of departure in North America, but Eurowings has seven gateways in North America
Local targeted events, getting people who haven’t travelled to a destination before, acquiring new customers, strategic partnerships
Tomorrowland as the largest music festival in Belgium, seeking to create a seamless customer journey experience and related experiences, with live DJs at 30,000 ft
A fun activation, working with United Airlines
Gate parties
Keeping customer loyalty when the customer may not be interacting directly with brand, consistency, quality service and experiences, and staying in front of customer
The deal with airline food, and how at 30,000 feet your taste buds change, t more he need to add more sodium
Business class menus created at a high culinary level
The “bleisure” markets
How promoting airlines is constantly changing with digital opportunities and new platforms
Virtual reality at a lot of events, experiencing what the inside of cabin and business class is like
065 – Dean Locke of Riskified – Enabling Ecommerce and Reducing Fraud in Travel
17 Jan 2019
00:32:57
An eCommerce fraud protection solution that protects travel companies…
Dean Locke, Head of Business Development at Riskified (the world’s leading eCommerce fraud-prevention company, trusted by hundreds of global brands – from luxury fashion houses and retail chains, to gift card and ticket marketplaces), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Travel as a high-ticket item, attractive to fraudsters because they can sell per transaction
Smaller margins mean magnification of chargebacks
How fraud happens
Gift cards are highly targeted
When revenue streams must shut down due to fraud
A Cakeboss treat
Being received in the travel space
The shift to digital payment, and preparing for cryptocurrencies
064 -Jared Alster of Cox & Kings – Forward Thinking in a Legacy Travel Brand
01 Jan 2019
00:36:54
How does one of the world’s oldest and largest international tourism companies think about innovation?
Jared Alster, Vice President of Marketing for Cox & Kings (offering customized private and group travel tours to India, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Antarctica, Australia, and the Middle East), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Marketing to Americans outbound
Domestic vs. international
UK and Australia, different mindset than US, people brought up to be travelers.
Brand loyalty largely non existent in the US
Challenges of multi-day tour packages
When operators makes sense in US – i.e. national parks
US is largely a road trip approach
B to C focus
Being like a travel advisor
Designing a site for clarity and purpose instead of for design’s sake
More opportunity with people in later years than the past
Reaching down as well into small luxury groups
Government incentives, bodies rely on operators and agents for CTA to book a trip, may impact what regions are strategically focused on at a time
Centralized content the last shoe to fall in industry
063 – Marty St. George of JetBlue – Making Connections
13 Dec 2018
00:55:29
A visionary executive and experienced senior revenue and strategy leader in the commercial airline business offers insight into what has turned the aviation industry on its head again and again over the last 30 years…
Marty St. George, EVP of Commercial and Planning for JetBlue Airways, joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser. Note that Bess Chapman is interviewing Marty St. George only in the capacity as a podcast host – she also works for JetBlue Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of JetBlue.
In the episode:
Marty’s history with JetBlue and the Airline industry
JetBlue focus cities and outlook on growth
The fascination with bankruptcy and what he’s learned from it
Changing with the times and evolving to meet demand; From down turn to profits, low cost to premium
How customers will always dictate and pick what business model suites them
JetBlue training; everyone from baggage handlers to vice presidents share the experience
The future of the Airline industry
Maintaining the upstart attitude at a larger scale
An anecdote about Mint, and a “missed” business opportunity
The 5 core values of JetBlue and the secret sixth
White Leather 90s
What JetBlue is doing to future proof for recessions
The business vs leisure argument; which is more important
A love for building networks and the competitive nature it brings out
Data, from the new ways aircraft manufacturers are collecting it inflight to the need for protection
The mass amounts of data that are available to due regulations
The need for airlines to be more customer focused, and restructuring CRMs
Viewing JetBlue as a service business and not an operator
Overseeing JetBlue ventures; outside the box solutions from outside heads
Wouldn’t it be great to have a solution for Air-Traffic Control and the weather?
Identifying a business problem, and finding the means to properly address it
The future of JetBlue, 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years down the road, and what Marty thought JetBlue would be doing now, 10 years ago
Hush Puppies and PBRs, a guide to outlasting “hipness”
Doubling down on successes
Improved Airline safety and JetBlue’s brand new 220 aircraft
Marty’s love for all things Boston, Necco, The Patriots, The Sox, and the small city charm
Discovering locations around the world by horseback riding and other adventure activities with local people…
Darley Newman (travel expert, published author and the host, writer and producer of Equitrekking, the Emmy-Award winning PBS TV series, and Travels with Darley on PBS, Create TV and on AOL, MSN Travel, Huffington Post, Amazon and over 2000 partner sites) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Botswana
Salt pans and stargazing
Discovering experts, keeping track of them for use indifferent locations
Complicated logistics involved
Horses and their personalities
Getting charged by an elephant
Being a safari guide
Finding the right guides
Less remote areas are still unique on horseback
Something connects people because of horses
Why horses are therapeutic for both mind and body
Starting the show, how Darley manifested it, a background in journalism and behind the scenes
How she started with a website and some videos
Horses are a vehicle to get to know people and places
Creating a second show, “Travels with Darley”, started short form, and the many places to distribute content
Curating content for the right platform
How a trip-planning business came organically out of the show
The aspect of ecotourism aspect
What’s next, and the one place Darley would like to travel to next (because of the food…)
Jay Richmond and Kerri Zeil of Amadeus - Nurturing Innovation from Within a Global Travel Brand
12 Nov 2019
00:59:42
As the global travel industry continues to advance its technology infrastructure to meet the needs of modern travelers, new challenges make way for the need for new solutions. Two leading travel industry experts, Jay Richmond (Head of Business Travel Group, North America) and Kerri Zeil (Head of Amadeus for Startups) of Amadeus, discuss with host John Matson how to distinguish between disrupting the industry, and just conforming to new technologies. It's a deep dive into what's on the horizon and how to nurture innovation from within a global enterprise travel brand, including how to manage travel content at scale and how NDC will impact aspects of the travel industry beyond airlines.
061 – Brian Altomare of LugLess – The Case for Suitcase Shipping
24 Nov 2018
00:41:31
A luggage shipping platform leveraging existing logistics networks, and including options such as doorstep pickup and additional coverage, with LugLess…
Brian Altomare, Director of Business Development for LugLess (a next generaton luggage shipping service), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The first low-cost alternative to luggage and baggage shipping fees, start at the door, not at baggage clam
Being friends to airlines
With airlines, it is possible to be an asset
The opportunity for partnerships
How LugLess doesn’t need operational help
Being in stealth beta mode for 12 months, with consistent growth
New brand, positioning, model
Can be an asset to any OTA with a booking engine
Making agreements with hotels, airlines and OTAs, or direct to consumer
API not a feature, it’s a tool
Friction – the effort to bring and do it ahead of time
Can increase service
Most are economy travelers with convenience
Insurance considerations, relationships with FedEx and UPS and DHL
Low-price shipping several bags, dynamic pricing
A mass travel economy play
LugLess is a platform to do something for less and more convenient
Strangest things shipped
Why LugLess is currently domestic only
Shark Tank and how it changed LugLess, why LugLess gutted everything, rebuilt
060 – Fernando Camara of Skyhour – The Gift of Flight
15 Nov 2018
00:35:45
The next-generation gifting platform offering a smart, easy way to gift air travel…
Fernando Camara, Co-Founder and CEO of Skyhour (creating the ultimate air travel currency that powers travel across platforms and industries), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Gifting travel, inspiring friends to become better people, inspiring people to go to new places and get new points of view, make an impact in their lives, travel is the best thing you can do
How it started, a friend wanted to travel
$140B on gift cards and less than 1% is spent on travel
The goal of connecting giting and air travel industries
Offering flight hours for $60/hour, and the ability to apply to virtually any airline
The opportunity to crowdfund a flight
Being able to sell tickets without dates or destinations
Like creating a new currency
Getting around liabilities in some restrictions
The money goes to escrow accounts — if you don’t use the hours, the money goes back to person you gifted to
Works with Sabre for accessing the inventory of airlines
Being a JetBlue Technology Ventures portfolio company
Potential partnerships with hotel chains, clothing brands, etc.
Camara’s other companies in digital marketing, real estate, then told a friend about the Skyhour idea, and how he needed someone to help build product, and thinking about hiring agency and agency (which loved it so much, sold the company and brought best the guys in to work on it)
Why New York is the best place to launch company in the US
A $5.5M seed round, working on Series A
Raised an initial round starting with cold calls
Seasonality, ebb and flow—flight frequency varies but people give all year round
Dealing with gift card restrictions
Only make money when people book a flight
Time between buying and booking, prompting booking and re-gifting actions
059 – Tal Shalit of Betterez – RTM From the Ground Up
07 Nov 2018
00:45:41
Flexible, scalable cloud-based enterprise software solutions for the Reservation and Ticketing Management (RTM) space…
Tal Shalit, Founder & CEO of Betterez (a leading reservations and ticketing management solution specifically designed to address the needs of travel, transportation and admissions companies, and part of the JetBlue Technology Ventures portfolio) joins John Matson (VoyagerHQ) and Bess Chapman (JetBlue Technology Ventures) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
How Shalit used to work with Porter Airlines
Learnings for bus industry – originally built a reservation system for small airlines
Customers bus brands
B to B, or B to B to C
End to end reservation system, and how acquiring brands
Selling the vision as assembling components
Omnichannel experience for operators
Getting going on any channel you need help with
An intelligent way to set it and forget it and adjust over time
An overlap for airlines
Potential for air to bus to cruise, seamless customer journey
Considering the volume of bookings and speed through any operator
How the bus industry doesn’t have the legacy infrastructure that airline or rail has — so you can leapfrog over that and jump to mobile and latest tech faster, big opportunity
The economic downturn has a positive impact on bus travel, although a downturn doesn’t stop people from moving and traveling
The bus of the future, experiences
An engine to sell tickets, reconciliation
RTM (reservation and ticket management) – many crossover opportunities, building something flexible, even for events, can get into the market even with attractions to medical equipment reservations
058 – Eric Bamberger of IgnitionOne – Consumer Insights in Hospitality
30 Oct 2018
00:46:04
Guiding consumer insights to build audiences, optimize marketing campaigns, collect data, and utilize life moments…
Eric Bamberger, SVP of Hospitality for IgnitionOne (an award-winning Customer Intelligence Platform enabling marketers to understand, value and engage with their customers in real-time), joins “Fashion Is Your Business” podcast hosts Pavan Bahl and Marc Raco on location at the IgnitionOne Summit in New York.
In this episode:
Data has always been important to travel and other lifestyle industries
Bigger companies operating with legacy systems, making consumer insights difficult
Department of hospitality, organizing data, making it effective with clients
IgnitionOne has a fundamental understanding of the customer journey
First party data – the data a company can personally aggregate from their site, most companies don’t even know what to do with this data much less integrating third party data
Connecting with CRM files
Starting with cookies, using tags, create a scoring algorithm
Processing in real time, which gives a leg up on others
Working primarily with enterprise customers, larger hotel chains
Reading macrotrends, such as oil and gas mining in Texas relating with a hotel occupancy standpoint, adjusting strategies to react on trend data
Messaging vs. using data to drive direct bookings
Loyalty is less important, more about saving money
IgnitionOne’s proprietary scoring algorithm, custom machine learning algorithm for each customer, get high accuracy prediction on propensity to convert, which then leads to bidding decisions
Platform, ads, the spend used defending brands—-generic type key words for searches
Everything can be an acquisition channel with the right conversion strategy
Ad experiences in personalization
Considering trends in social platform use related to driving spend and conversion, and searching for all inventory sources
The relevance of apps
New data impacts each consumer visit, various sources of info for strategy in connecting uniquely to that person
The wins in digital marketing that are possible with real effort
057 – Kelsey Recht of VenueBook – Right Space, Right Time
23 Oct 2018
00:39:15
Streamlining the interaction between event organizers and venues…
Kelsey Recht, CEO/Founder of VenueBook (a platform offering event venues that you can search, discover and book), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
A look at the meeting and events industry and what drives growth
Despite digital, no substitute for in-person meetings, companies are hosting more events, but the types are changing
Different ways people thinking about meetings, how the travel industry has to adapt to changing landscape
VenueBooks’s user acquisition
The influx of accidental event planners
Circumventing issues with inventory side
Becoming skilled at helping venues skew inventory toward what is most in demand
The attention to better experiences
A focus on top notch booking experience overall, a very sophisticated platform
How VenuBook conversion rate is at 20%
Availability and pricing are generally the biggest friction.
Transparent pricing helps
Customers are in the market 45 days in advance of event, booking around 30 days in advance
Traditional hotel chains have dropped commissions with the promise of better tech tools
Making it easier/faster to book event spaces for planners and venues
Venues are top of funnel
Spinning up in new cities and with new venues, helping people think of spaces as venue spaces, giving hotels ideas for selling inventory they wouldn’t think of
056 – Allison Daniels of Virgin – Traveling and Building a Better World
10 Oct 2018
00:44:28
Virgin and its mission of changing (travel) business for good…
Allison Daniels, Investment Manager at Virgin (a leading international investment group and one of the world’s most recognised and respected brands), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Changing business for good
Taking mundane experience or pain point and turning it into something better
Making things better from sustainability to safety videos
Capital intensive investment strategy, legacy and opportunistic
Taking people to the next frontier
Virgin Voyages – new cruise business
Whensuper-expericed people live and breathe the Virgin ethos and lead a new initiative
A new way to cruise in a sector hungry for disruption, integrate health and wellness and a beautiful ship designed in part by known designers on land, making ship work for customers, technology plays a big part
A lot more to be revealed about the ships, and the ecosystem on how the ships are built and limited suppliers
How new technology and innovation can allow Virgin to make new experiences available
Opening more hotels, how fit in voyage ecosystem
Hotels have distinguishing elements making them feel very “Virgin”, such a club that makes it feel like a members club
All rooms are chambers
Ships can sail where the hotels are, an entire Virgin experience
Virgin loyalty program, and creating a structured Virgin ecosystem
Making venture investments into innovation that have synergy to the general Virgin portfolio such as Ring
How offerings are changing because you have to do better for the customer has lasted in the industry
055 – Yannis Moati of Hotels by Day – Reimagining Hotel Revenue
08 Sep 2018
00:50:39
Day-use hotel rooms with early check-in as a hospitality marketing and revenue hack…
Yannis Moati, CEO of Hotels by Day (gives travelers a comfortable daytime hotel room for half the price of an overnight stay), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The biggest opportunity hotel revenue management – the idea of reimagining a hotel
Revenue management is a new science, becoming complex
New orthodoxies in hotel revenue creation being developed regularly
Conversation has changed from disinterest to wanting to discuss
A niche play in nascent sector
Flexibility of hotel consumption, responding to an on demand society
A rigid check-in/out schedule doesn’t work for today’s society
Protocol, tech, marketing funnel to become more flexible one step at a time, because it’s a big operation
Hotels don’t see this as hourly play – more like a block of time
Types of hotels that Hotels by Day works with, segmenting customer base based on hotels they have
Sweet spot are 4 stars, then 3 stars, then 2 stars if they have a record of accomplishment
Customer acquisition is costly
A marketing hack to acquire new customers
Growing organically
Experience is the key in a day stay
Being on Shark Tank
Why Hotels by Day will be the winners by allowing hospitality to join when they are ready
Barely scratched surface of possible demand, giving it time to grow
Part of sharing economy, using idle space and making use of it in a different way
Technology doesn’t allow flexibility and agility to follow trends of modern society in hospitality, don’t have the right tools
054 – Chris Dankberg of Viasat – Chasing a 700mph Plane with WiFi
29 Aug 2018
00:49:10
The real story behind WiFi on flights with Viasat…
Chris Dankberg, who runs Partnerships for Viasat (a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
How Viasat is about solving really hard problems
Why WiFi is slow on flights
Prior to 5 years ago,ViaSat was about WiFi via satellite for government and private air services
People got used to texting and checking sites that were urgent for destination (weather, hotels, etc.)
The growth of market for Viasat’s tech , high capacity satellites over different frequency bands enabled differently, market wasn’t ready
Why WiFi on planes is so expensive
Allocating capacity on an as-needed basis
Unprecented bandwidth economics
The abiity that you could hand off seamlessly from ground to air started being palatable
The opportunity waited for Viasat to launch a satellite
Demand wasn’t forecasted correctly, so there wasn’t enough supply for demand
Started with business travelers with expense accounts
Battery life on laptops got better, people started using phones
Something not considered was that the whole plane would use wifi
Tech is evolving, organizing data on what is important to customers how they used it
Second and third screen use and solving that need
Pain point – trains – slower with more tunnels, different angle to sky
On the early side of making online video streaming real with companies like Amazon
Disconnecting when traveling because of little kids demanding full attention
Trips that changed Dankberg’s life, created big decisions
053 – Thomas Sparico of Brand New Matter and Gillian Morris of HitList – Venture Capital in Travel
22 Aug 2018
00:51:22
The state of travel, the explosion of travel technology, venture capital, and the future of the industry from the perspective of investors in the travel space…
Thomas Sparico, Founder/Managing Partner of Brand New Matter and Gillian Morris, Founder of HitList [Episode 33] join John Matson, Bess Chapman, and guest host Brandon McKenzie for a MouthMedia Network Live event recorded in front of a live audience at Experience by Knotel, an interactive space located in the heart of Noho in New York City (666 Broadway) designed to showcase the experience of working in a flexible, adaptable, always energized environment. Sponsored by Knotel – Your agile business deserves an agile space. Knotel will find, customize, and operate your ideal office while you focus on your business. Discover more at www.knotel.com
In this episode:
The fundraising landscape in travel, how it feels like someone else is getting all the money
A lot of investors have been burned in the travel industry
Location matters such as NY vs. SF
Knowing where to look, right people to talk to
B-to-B, B-to-C , and is B-to-C is the graveyard?
Liking people, liking business, taking data drven justifiable approach
Developing strategic and meaningful relationships
What Brand New Matter looks for in a company and founders
Strategic vs. nonstrategic money
Taking dumb money and how it affects a cap table
Q and A
Thomas Sparico is the Founder & Managing Partner of Brand New Matter (BNM) Ventures. BNM Ventures invests in pre-seed and seed stage companies. His current investments include Leaflink, Bizly, VenueBook, Seatboost, AirportSherpa, LYNQ, Beachy and Buster. He is an advisor to several travel industry companies including Rocketrip and Curacity. Tom is a career entrepreneur, inventor, operator and investor with 22 years of experience. He was part of the founding team at priceline.com and a named inventor on over 100 patents at Walker Digital Corp. He was the founder and CEO of Internet Travel Enterprises, led the acquisition and turnaround of Hickory Travel and the turnaround and subsequent sale of ECS to Onyx Centersource.
Gillian Morris is the founder and CEO of Hitlist, named one of the 50 Best Apps of 2016 by TIME. Before entering the start-up world, Gillian worked as a consultant, journalist, and educator in Turkey, China, the Gulf states, and Syria. Her work has appeared in/on the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Buzzfeed, CNN, CNBC, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and LifeHacker. She is a proud mentor with the School of Leadership Afghanistan and Gaza Sky Geeks and serves on the board of Data4America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank dedicated to bringing data and conversations to advance the understanding of policy.
052 – Ned Horneffer of Romeo Power Technology – Powering the Future of Travel
31 Jul 2018
00:48:06
Lithium battery-powered travel…
Ned Horneffer, Director of Business Development for Romeo Power Technology (creators of the world’s most energy-dense battery packs) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Romeo Power Technology is counting on that electrical is the future of transportation
Electrification will take over all forms of transportation, batteries tech will increase
The challenge of being able to retrofit vehicle with batteries
Startups can move quickly, they are really sold on lithium and electrification
Larger players, the secret is to find out how serious they are
Developing and getting a proof of concept for a fleet of vehicles
Regional transportation need so great, could affect regulation
Will technology affect consumer behavior, or will consumer need push technology development and adoption
Will people know how to handle it?
Flying cars
Influencing regulation as a brand
UL certification important
How battery power for aircraft can open up airports with noise restrictions
Marine sector is off and running
Norwegian strength
Battery-run cruise ships?
The danger of batteries and fires
Level of confidence in safety, tech is at a point that if you build batteries the right way they will never explode, single cell fault tolerance and pack construction avoid chain reactions
Punctures are a primary danger
Transportation is a means to an end
Appreciating the world is big when things go wrong with travel
Ella Schreiber of Hopper and Shameem Ahmed of Amadeus - Data as a Priority and Opportunity in Travel Growth
05 Nov 2019
00:51:59
Data. It continues to be a huge topic for any brand to tackle. And of course that includes travel. But the jump from gathering data to turning it into action is another. Two leading travel experts, Ella Schreiber of Hopper and Shameem Ahmed of Amadeus, share how they are leveraging data science and machine learning to maximize user acquisition and conversion. From the aspects of traveler data that are the most useful for certain aspects of buyer behavior, to deploying data science across a large organization, this is also a look at how industries leaders make data a priority and an opportunity for market growth and international expansion.
A fireside chat on innovation between representatives of two of the most forward thinking travel groups…
Rashesh Jethi (SVP Engineering for Americas & Head of Innovation for Airlines for the world’s largest GDS, Amadeus) and Bess Chapman (Operating Principal for JetBlue Technology Ventures) discuss travel tech infrastructure, innovation, and possibilities at the Travel Disruption Summit presented by Voyager HQ, and sponsored by Amadeus and Fareportal.
In this episode:
What AI means for the travel industry
How everything has changed with hyper-cheap hyper-computing
Used to depend on massive investments for AI, and now it simply requires a lot of data and smart people
How machine learning sit on top of that, what it means when airlines and other travel business starts really knowing customers
Machine learning is one discipline of AI, and it means you feed computer data, makes sense of data, make more personalized recommendations, much potential in marketing
How it is a challenge that many players are at different maturity in technology stacks
Many are moving to open APIs to encourage growth and innovation
Regulation issues an inhibitor to innovation, but most regulation is to keep us safe
Be respectful of regulation that’s there
GDPR an example
What it means that not all travel providers can keep up with changes at the same pace
Antiquated innovation all around
The biggest white space for disruption in airports
Why airports will be the malls of the future
Airports can be an oasis of commerce and relaxation
Prescreening and biometrics, making screening fast track, frictionless
Identifying you as a traveler, then providing you a contextual experience and a reference to what is available around you
Amadeus believes in tapping into the creative energy of anyone, supporting innovation
Overhyped technology (personal opinion) is blockchain
Bags as a huge white space, RFID, and more
How NDC change Amadeus’ current setup, and the next evolution in standard with a lot of interest from customers
AR and VR in the travel space, ideal use-cases, and why they could just become another screen we get used to
Using VR to book trips and for in-flight entertainment, shopping, training – and what are the challenges?
A lot of opportunity for companies to help other companies make money
050 – Justa Lujwangana of Curious on Tanzania – Accessing Africa
20 Jul 2018
00:43:21
All inclusive, authentic and immersive experiences in Tanzania…
Justa Lujwangana, founder of Curious on Tanzania (unforgettable, immersive, transformative experiences in Tanzania curated and led by locals), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Justa Lujwangana on being curious means search, dig deeper, not just a typical visit
Putting together guest logistics
Also an operator
Impetus of company, out of her own curiosities about her homeland
Africa offering lot of experiential marketing, like archeology, and big venue space bring South African experience alive
Having a team across the world while working from NYC
Giving back to local economy, building something sustainable
Experiences such as ooking classes, dancing, meeting one of more than 120 tribes
Zanzabar beach
Marketing strategies
Giraffe as a must-see animal
Curious on Tanzania is run by proud Tanzanians working together who are committed to leading and creating comprehensive, thematic travel experiences that make a positive, sustained difference to destinations and local people throughout Tanzania. They call this experiential travel – travel that goes deeper into the lives of those whom we all visit, and creates lasting relationships and true cultural exchange.
049 – Andrea Martinez of Boom Hospitality – Next Level Hotels
06 Jul 2018
00:39:27
Creative tactics and best business practices for hotels…
Andrea Martinez, President of Boom Hospitality (a hospitality consultancy firm helping boutique hotels, independent hotels, and F&B operations, open, grow, or convert their businesses with the use of creative tactics and best business practices) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The crucial need to properly understand your market
Boom Hospitality working mostly with boutique and out-of-the-box hotels
Tech in modern hospitality is so important, but not every guest is the same, simplicity is important
Mirrors with digital concierge, interactive maps, fun, equipped with things guests want and will use
The need to only adapt tech in a way you can adapt
The boutique traveler is looking for something very specific
Martinez is living a dream job, started in non profits
How we make development/construction more sustainable, less destructive on the environment and actually help the environment
Building a hotel within a mountain in a way that doesn’t hurt things around it
How it is important that social media and marketing about a project must be part of the conversation from the beginning and a priority, design, construction management guest experience, PR
Special cookies Martinez is obsessed with for a snack
An approach to driving to a hotel or a destination?
Methods of discovery – seeing online, Instagram, website, how common each method is
People wanting to go somewhere they saw and then researched
The need to be careful about defining local experiences
Bringing true authentic local experiences by partnering with and creating alliances with local destinations
Martinez’s experience in Latin America, Florida, bigger cities in US, Toronto
Politics plays a big role in how one develops because permits are different
048 – Kerri Zeil of Amadeus North America – That White Glove Startup Approach
26 Jun 2018
00:56:15
Partnering with the No. 1 travel technology partner, Amadeus, dedicated to helping travel companies launch, grow and succeed…
Kerri Zeil, Head of Amadeus for Startups, Online Travel Group, Amadeus North America, Inc. (the leading provider of IT solutions to the global tourism and travel industry — Amadeus for Startups provides technology, expertise and guidance to support travel startups throughout their journey) joins John Matson in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Zeil reveals the substantial work Amadeus does in travel and understanding what startups need and what brands like Amadeus can do to help
Globalizing the startup program, how Zeil is in charge of the Americas
How Amadeus has a lot to offer, expertise, tech, info from customers already supported, how Amadeus can grow its own business through startups
No specific business model is larger than the next
Travel tech startups offer opportunities to scale and provide value
Amadeus originally looked at the program narrow lens, and it has has gown enormously
The program has grown year after year, created a partner community to add value, each program looked at uniquely, providing value across the board
Expertise in various areas of travel and working to harness that, and how internal partners want to help
Help startups launch at scale
High quality startups coming into the program and being able to be choosier to come in and can rise to the top, while helping virtually anyone coming in the door
How Amadeus doesn’t invest or take equity
When Amadeus cannot help some companies with APIs or tech solutions, but that company might fall into the area of venture partnerships and then introduce to that internal partner
Looking for companies even outside of core values, but can find ways to plug in that can enhance the business, that can bring value within tech stacks, exploring blockchain a bit, in-destination activity,
Axa as a great startup story, another is Freebird (a very unique idea) which developed into a partner with Amadeus
Is there a secret sauce possible at Amadeus for working with startups (think white glove approach)
Amadeus is located in Spain, how it interacts with the Americas
Pitching in front of The Dragons Den
Getting calls from around the world from people who want to help
How Amadeus created a blueprint for people for this program to work globally, leaders of company started to recognize this is happening everywhere,
Bankok and Singapore are big spots
A cultural shift
Commonality across startups, enthusiasm, the travel industry as a whole isn’t an industry to get into, infrastructure moves at snails pace, complicated and regulated, can be frustrating and difficult to understand, in a discovery phase for info and data to be even do diligence on Amadeus’ part, give startups some hope
The industry has attention on, and is engaging, startups to help dig out from technological past, recognizing the need for advancement
Why the travel industry is likely in for the long haul in commitment and funding, albeit cautious and focused approach, at a crossroads of the old travel industries and innovators
The need to not disrupt cash cow at companies while getting out of same things that keep happening – that’s the right path
Corey Angelo, Founder/CEO of Wanderfuel (carefully curated, seasonally rotating boxes of organic products alongside lifestyle content that educates and supports well-being while traveling) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
How wellness touches us at all times, taking care of yourself
Educating people with a great content experience, and how it makes travel better
Bringing together healthy snack and amenity kits in environmentally friendly packaging
Wanderfuel‘s core ethos includes nourish, relax, detox
Meditation, podcasts, intent to become like a Netflix-like safe list of things tailored for type and length of travel
The biggest wellness snafu on the road and being disconnected from regular wellness routines, committing to rituals and practices each day
Maintaining rituals on the road
Something about being on the road where you let go of being healthiest — how do you get people to carry it with you?
Coaching yourself, how you’ll feel after, and combining it with interesting and fun content experiences
The travel industry is investing in its consumer
Working closely to scale offering including with American Airlines, wellness zones in major airports, livening up atmospheres, and working with strong partners
Angelo’s “Zen place”, and pole vaulting
Inspiration and a moment of exhale when training for a marathon
046 – Felix Wunderlich and Greginald Spencer of mypostcard.com – Sharing and Changing the World One Postcard at a Time
06 Jun 2018
00:51:39
Personalized photo postcards, greeting cards and cards created online and sent on the go from anywhere…
Felix Wunderlich (Head of Business Development) and Greginald Spencer (Office Manager) of mypostcard.com (photos sent as postcards worldwide) join John Matson, Pavan Bahl, and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
When does one need to send a personalized postcard
What should reaction be/feeling – happiness
Physical interaction instead of digital, something tangible makes a real impact
The text looks like real handwriting
Process to use — download app, upload photo, the ability to have an envelope because of sensitive photos
Participation in a German accelerator
The app saves a lot of time
Friction on the marketing side, looking at customer lifetime value
Most customer acquisition via Google Adwords
Growth efforts via universities, building awareness
The ability to partner with major social platforms like Instagram
Whether content changed that customers are sharing, and is it relating to larger trends in the travel industry?
The shift from digital to physical, sentimental value
Creative marketing, and a song, changing the world with a postcard
The path to become a travel lifestyle brand
Spreading the feeling of that moment, and how to share that feeling and create buzz
How a postcard is something you share in person with visitors
Partnerships and collabrorations including prisons
045 – Liliana Petrova of JetBlue – Conducting the Customer Experience Orchestra
27 May 2018
00:56:59
Designing customer experience in travel…
Liliana Petrova, Director of Customer experience at JetBlue Airways, Visionary, Strategist, Customer Experience Professional and Blogger, joins John Matson, Bess Chapman, and Pavan Bahl in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Liliana Petrova on designing for Experience is like a multi-phase cake
What is movement,
Technology design, how to achieve movement as fast and seamless as possible
How people will feel about the brand and interactions
Why the experience designer needs to be a vision thinker and can’t design in increments
Facial recognition, and why with some brands it is like having a same experience like prison or the subway, and determining that will never happen like that with JetBlue as an experience
Delight comes from the elements and when it works to one’s standards
Designing experience is like being like a conductor of an orchestra
Innovation is not building new things, but finding connections that didn’t exists before between existing things
Getting a sophisticated program up in just four months
Will airports be the player of the future they are today?
The quest to eliminate waiting time with bags and taking away levels of friction
How airports could transform from being simply a processing center, and therefore offer a chance to give you joy
Other brands doing it right, and those doing it wrong — Milan train system can do better
Every customer has their own version of an emotional reaction — but engineering things like efficiency can create emotional experiences, creating value
Being driven by making the world a different place, making life easier
Liking things that stretch when it is implausible
Why the Hyperloop is exciting
How Petrova moved from financial analyst to design
The baseline of customer experience is process and strategy, making connections and seeing all channels of marketing
And hard work
How enterprise brands can’t preserve everything with scale
Innovation is not the end goal, it’s a way to be relevant to the customer
The alignment in the interest of the future costumer
Credit cards and miles/points/rewards
Petrova on being Bulgarian and a view at her work and the American ecosystem, and having perspective
Why Abraham Lincoln was amazing
An intuitive move and coming to America, having two “homes”, being a citizen of the world
044 – Gilad Goren of Raleigh&Drake – Enabling the Generation of Experiences
19 May 2018
00:55:16
The world’s first influencer-driven discovery platform using social currency for travel…
Gilad Goren, social entrepreneur and Founder of Raleigh&Drake, joins John Matson, Bess Chapman, and guest host Marc Raco in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Gilad Goren on the future of content in the travel context, mix of personalization, instead of celebrity culture of past more local authentic voices and people who align with the travel in the way they view travel, ubiquitous and quality content throughout the journey
Millennials rarely plan trips until on their way, dreaming and planning
Raleigh&Drake is not setting new paradigm, instead reading the lines on how people plan their trips, helping with the tool for brands in travel space to adapt to how travelers view luxury
Many people spend 45 hours on 45 websites when planning travel, but will ask friends on social media what they do and think
Less than 25% trust recommendation sites, and
Building a quilt of different sources of insight, aggregating trusted content so brands can deploy into their websites, as a discovery ecosystem
White label bookable content as a service solution, aggregate great content, make bookable, license to brand who want to increase engagement and increase customer experience
Power of Instagram was in the visuals from real individuals sharing experiences with others, timeless power of visuals as we are visual beings
Always looked for advice from people close to us, this is another way of doing it
Brand can really own an experience, host and facilitate experience, benefit on ancillary revenue, and benefit from enhancing guest experience, all built for personalization which grows as the traveler uses it more
Necessity of CRMs, how Raleigh&Drake can feed data to a brand’s CRM
An opportune times to leapfrog
A route into travel for brands to connect with consumers
Interacting with local travel resources can lower the carbon footprint, have less cultural negative impact, increase spend into local economies
Curating and trusting explorers
Through their lens, a multiplicity of curated authentic unique voices
Earliest memories of Saturday morning cartoons like GI Joe as a first glimpse into the American hero and American spirit, as an early brand experience forming who Goren is
How Raleigh&Drake started B to C, and leveraged partnerships and turned B to B
Goren spending 45 days in Bolivia in an animal refuge in taking care of middle aged pumas
043 – Greg Buzulencia of ViaHero – Experiencing Travel with the Local Hero
11 May 2018
00:42:48
Connecting travelers with local trip planners for custom itineraries to Iceland, Cuba, and Japan…
Greg Buzulencia, Co-Founder/CEO of ViaHero (a marketplace for travelers to hire locals to plan their personalized trip), joins John Matson, Bess Chapman of JetBlue Technology Ventures, and Pavan Bahl (President, MouthMedia Network) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Bess Chapman [Episode 003] of JetBlue Technology Ventures (a venture capital spinoff of JetBlue Airways, keeping a pulse on tech innovation and driving deal flow through New York) joins the podcast as a host
ViaHero works with locals telling people what they should be doing on a trip
How, being a marketplace, ratings and reviews keeps people in check, whereas travel agents are beholden to commissions
Cuba, Japan, and Colombia as countries in which Via Hero has presence
Average user wants local knowledge, people who have tours or Travel Agent plan, they are there for service but want to be independent
Algorithm matches with people who have same Interest and are in that area
SEO and user acquisition in various geographies
Changing needs and expectations of travelers, but there is still a feeling of needing info to help figure it all out
Hanging out with hosts, immersing in local culture, but it is a digital relationship with a “hero”
Offline maps with local recommendations and locations
Consistent trends in data being collected, database of their recommendations to more easily crate the guide books
The economics of the relationships with the local “heroes”
A cross-country trip as a child that made an impression on travel, and the passion of never paying for water
042 – Stuart Butler of Fuel Travel – Marketing Hotels with Empathy
01 May 2018
00:53:53
Ecommerce and marketing solutions that reduce OTA reliance & increase bookings…
Gaining ground in market share isn’t the only goal for hotels and hotel chains. Keeping it — comes in at a close second. To do that in the current industry climate, many hotels must utilize specialized e-commerce solutions to make sure all online presence and marketing resources are maximizing market share opportunities. Fuel Travel, a premier hotel marketing agency, is offering just that — website design, custom hotel apps, and marketing solutions that reduce OTA reliance & increase bookings. Plus, its COO hosts a podcast which can add some “fuel” to a resort or hotel’s marketing strategy. And the one snack you have to try. Stuart Butler, COO of Fuel Travel and host of Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, joins John Matson and Pavan Bahl in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
How hotels can differentiate in the market
Following brand standards and following the flag is more challenging, and in the end hospitality comes down to one thing: hospitality
Why the best marketing is hiring the right people and exceeding the expectations of guests
Exceptional experiences are priority, and the rest takes care of itself
How Butler wanted to work for NASA, originally from the UK, and how while studying physics he got into computer programming
Why fuel Interactive rebranded as Fuel Travel, adjusting focus to hospitality
The Guest Express mobile app, giving a property the ability to communicate with customers one-on-one
The mistakes independent hotels make when launching, how too many are people chasing the bright and shiny buzz vs. paying attention to the basics that have worked forever
Email marketing is still the #1 thing one can do as a property and destination property
Also, most hotel operators do not have a grasp of the data, or how customer acquisition is happening, or tracking the whole revenue journey
The focus on accessing info via mobile, with micro-periods of access, yet mobile is an afterthought for so many web designers for hotels
More traffic comes from mobile, but bookings are not following that yet (likely because mobile experience is not as good as desktop)
Good profiles are very important to connect with younger generations
It is unnecessary to give away massive discounts to get business if marketing is strong enough
Podcast helping marketing hotels with the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast
Aspirations for space travel, and Star Wars
Why marketing should be thought of as a conversation with the guest
When Entreprise Companies Pitch Travel Startups - Reverse Startup Pitch
23 Jul 2019
00:38:56
A Reverse Pitch - heads of leading corporate innovation programs at travel brands share their companies' approaches to making partnership work between a startup and an enterprise company.
041 – Isabel Berney and Truth Oladapo of Vacayo – Vacation Rentals Landlords Love
24 Apr 2018
00:46:08
Leasing long-term rentals and converting them into outstanding vacation homes which provide landlords higher income and eliminate vacancy risk with Vacayo…
Isabel Berney (COO/Co-Founder) and Truth Oladapo (CEO/Co-Founder) of Vacayo join John Matson and guest host Jenny Silber (VoyagerHQ) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
Examining the short term rental market, how much a revenue property can hold, developing a propriety pricing algorithm, scraping websites to see the highest earning potential of homes, and owners can earn at least 40% more at least with short term stays added into the mix instead of long-term leases
How this is an arbitrage model, and the risk is potentially in any miscalculation in revenue-generating potential of a home — but with historic data, and the fact that the vacation market is growing, the risk appears to be low
How the model is different and not just profit sharing, so some risk is involved
Additional risks of a downturn in travel, a major shift in economic conditions, etc.
Landlords receive a monthly payment regardless, so what Vacayo does to cover that risk
Insuring each home as well in case Vacayo can’t rent properties due to storms etc.
How Vacayo has started to install smart devices which revealed people are spending less time in the homes than believed, overcoming the landlords’ misconceptions that homes have greater wear and tear and risk with comings and goings in short term rentals
How in the future Vacayo will likely be more of a data company,
Why Vacayo is banking on a nomadic lifestyle
Providing flexible accommodations with more options and sleeping arrangements than hotels, people prefer vacation rentals as a result
Vacayo is partnered with Ikea and Wayfair to succeed in getting things ready quickly, with the right team working together can do fast turnarounds in 48 hours
How they started off on Craigslist, bootstrapping, and were discovered by a landlord
The six markets Vacayo is in
“Superhosts” who take care of on-the-ground operations as independent contractors, with easy onboarding, and working on a percentage
The matching process with renters to properties
The crowd-funding campaign as a way for people to own a part of the company in a sharing economy, but without the complexity of formal shares
Why there is little worry about competing with companies like Airbnb, and how there is plenty of room left in the industry, especially for an asset-light business model
How Vacayo specializes in large group travel
The story of Berney and Oladapo starting out as roommates
040 – Robert Albert of Routehappy – How Was Your Flight?
18 Apr 2018
00:53:34
Merchandising content platform for flight shopping…
Robert Albert, CEO of Routehappy (the industry standard for airline rich content, acquired by ATPCO) joins John Matson and Nick Vivion in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The most commonly desired amenity in travel: seat, then WiFi
Selling a singular vision when pitching/building Routehappy
How it is not actually all about price
An entire ecommerce category that’s comeditized, we all about the experience from that moment on
Explaining products and services customers are happier, and the industry does better
How it was obvious to him that every customer needed this
Why Albert feels it has felt like spreading a religion, every meeting is positive, but not necessarily a priority all the time
It is an organic experience, brick by brick building the path forward for the company and the recognition of the need
How the pace of building the company has helped them build it right, solving a complex problem, and why the company is ready for prime time now and can solve global differentiation problem in flight shopping
Why GDS’s didn’t solve this prior
Sales cycles in travel vs. funds for startups
Massive network effect, explaining the story and getting airlines and distributers to align on the story and potential impact
How hard Albert and team worked building the company, holding twenty five meetings a week while traveling, making good product decisions that got companies interested
Originally Routehappy was about consumer flight reviews, then built APIs of data, and operating lean
Happy and cheap as a product compass
How Routehappy’s solution was now described as being able to enable the industry with better data, and that resulted in the first serious ways people were paying attention
Moving from B to C to B to B as a pivot
Pineapple chunks, and why this Australian treat was the snack, and the meaning
How Routehappy was recently acquired by ATPCO, software that manages the world’s airfares
UTA rich context (universal ticket attribute)
Becoming the “Switzerland of rich content”, how Routehappy can now deliver on the thing they said they were doing for seven years
Overall vision as the next gen storefront, how it is time to modernize flight shopping, how indirect channels can and should transform, and coming together with the “how”
039 – Viktorina Lintsova of SkyGuru – Experience Flying Again
10 Apr 2018
00:39:39
Real-time explanation what and why happens and what to expect during your flight, and a tool for anxious flyers…
One in three people experience anxiety when flying. Now there is an app that can help. Viktorina Lintsova, Managing Director of SkyGuru joins John Matson and Nick Vivion (tnooz) in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.
In this episode:
The most anxious moments for flyers
Pre-boarding, why the anxiety, anticipation and fear of the unknown
The inspiration for SkyGuru, with the idea from a pilot and psychologist, who wanted something to be there and support people when he couldn’t be there with them
Like having a pilot and psychologist in the seat next to you
One in three people experiencing psychological discomfort, many altering plans due to psychological stresses
Money left on table for airlines, why airlines haven’t addressed this
Is a loss of cognitive function due to anxiety a safety issue?
Freemium vs. pro versions, anxious passengers gravitate to the pro version, which supports through the whole flight
Looking at how people interact with SkyGuru, whether an anxious flyer or not, and how SkyGuru has been evolving into a travel companion and people curious about aviation
SkyGuru soon releasing updated version with some augmented reality
Why the app needs to be flat on armrest at time of takeoff
Accelerator experience, getting the most out of a 3 ½ month program,
A home-baked snack with a secret recipe
Who is the anxious flyer – not who you think, and how it can come out of nowhere.
Anxiety can cause airlines to lose business travelers, 5% of the highest value flyers are anxious
SkyGuru has gotten interest in airline industry in industry events, and can be integrated in seatback screens to enhance passenger experience
How the app can help passengers plan their flight experience better, flight crews can know when to serve the food/drinks, and one can see use with OTAs and travel portals to help passengers plan flight better,
How Northstar’s team of outstanding editors, ground-breaking journalists, engaging educators and savvy directors is unrivaled in the Travel Industry
In-depth articles explore the industry’s most critical issues
Education platforms for travel agents and meetings planners about global travel destinations
How events play a role in travel industry relationships, because we’re human and we need to meet, and how that concept is right in the center of travel
The many publications of Northstar including Travel Weekly, Travel Weekly Asia, Travel Weekly China, TravelAge West
Travel technology such as Phocuswright, Inntopia, Web in Travel
Meetings & Conventions in the US, China and Asia
SportsTravel , Corporate Travel, Business Travel News, The Beat, Travel Procurement
Notable events such as The Phocuswright Conference, Phocuswright Europe, WIT Singapore, Mountain Travel Symposium, CruiseWorld, Global Travel Marketplace, Global Travel Marketplace West, The Beat Live, Innovate, etc.
How Cintorino became involved with Northstar after the grind of the startup world
Why the travel industry supply chain is like a bowl of spaghetti, and everyone is doing business with everyone, even if only impacting one part of a traveler’s experience and you might work with most everything and everyone
Impacting the culture of a company, spending a lot of time on destination experience of a work trip, and raising the bar for personal experiences
Setting up in China, and early accomplishmentsHow technology plays into vision for Northstar, with acquisitions and how the focus is not just events or media companies but also tech companies