Travel Trends with Dan Christian

• The Impact of AI on Destination Marketing featuring Visit California

  Send us a textIn this second episode - part of a 3-part mini-series with Mindtrip exploring how AI is transforming destination marketing - we sit down with Lynn Carpenter, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Visit California, to unpack how a $150B tourism ecosystem is being reimagined through AI, data, and human storytelling. Lynn shares why engagement now matters more than traffic, taking us from the dot-com era to today’s AI surge and revealing how her team built an advanced content platform designed for both humans and machines. Think RAG architecture, a six-million-asset library, and editorial processes that add what the web can’t know yet: local nuance, future packages, and timely insights.The results are eye-opening. Visit California’s new road trip hub offered three planning paths - quiz, human-curated, and AI-assisted - and the AI option has now surpassed curated links in click-throughs. Visitors entering via AI spend an average of nine minutes on site, a strong signal of intent for a property designed to hand off to partners for booking. Lynn breaks down how international offices inform market strategy, how multilingual search became a hidden growth lever, and how her team draws a direct line from owned content to more than a billion dollars in incremental tourism impact. For more information, please visit industry.visitcalifornia.com.Join us next week for the final episode in this mini-series, featuring Discover Puerto Rico CMO Storm Tussey and Mindtrip CMO Michelle Denogean, as we explore what’s next for destination marketing in the age of AI.The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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• Leading the Future of Educational Travel & More with EF World Journeys

  Send us a textPurposeful travel is having a moment—and we’re getting to the heart of what’s driving it. From a windswept opening in Patagonia to an inside look at EF’s new active brand, this "Captains of Industry," conversation with Heidi Durflinger, CEO of EF World Journeys USA, explores how learning, community, and movement are reshaping multi-day travel for every generation.We unpack EF’s expansive global footprint - spanning educational travel, cultural exchange, language schools, and higher-ed pathways - and how EF World Journeys bridges three distinct audiences: Gen Z through EF Ultimate Break, all-ages travelers with EF Go Ahead Tours, and active explorers via EF Adventures. Expect data-backed insights. We explore the rise of AI in trip discovery, the solo-travel boom, and why responsible tourism has shifted from nice-to-have to must-have - 89% of travelers now prioritize sustainability, and over half are willing to pay more for it.If you care about where travel is heading - community-driven, responsibly designed, and joyfully active - you’ll come away with practical ideas and a renewed sense of why we go. For more information on EF World Journeys, please visit efworldjourneys.com.👉 Listen to Leading the Future of Educational Travel & More Now🔥 Special Thanks to our Season 6 Title Sponsors for their Support: Holafly, Propellic, PayCompass, Kaptio, Civitatis and WeRoadThe #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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• The Impact of AI on Destination Marketing featuring Brand USA

  Send us a textWe're so fascinated on how Destination Marketing is being transformed by AI that we partnered with Mindtrip to bring together this 3-part mini series.  We have an incredible line-up of speakers joining us in advance of our AI Summit to exploring how AI is transforming the way travelers dream, plan, and book their journeys.In our first episode, we sit down with Janette Roush, SVP of Innovation & Chief AI Officer at Brand USA, to talk about how destination marketing is evolving as trip planning moves from search boxes to chat interfaces and AI-generated itineraries.Janette shares how Brand USA is reimagining engagement - from building smarter, more conversational tools that inspire travel to creating frameworks that help DMOs and industry partners use AI responsibly and effectively. We discuss what it means to shift focus from clicks to intent, how automation can free teams to focus on creativity, and why data quality matters more than ever.Janette is one of the sharpest minds in this space and is the perfect guest to kick off this series with.  We will have 2 more episodes ready to released each Thursday which will feature Lynn Carpenter, the SVP of Global Marketing for Visit California and Discover Puerto Rico CMO Storm Tussey. We will also be joined by Mindtrip's CMO Michelle Denogean in our final episode to talk about where this technology is heading.   We hope you really enjoy this series. Don't forget to register to join our AI Summit to listen to these leaders directly.The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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• Inside GetYourGuide's Journey with Tao Tao

  Send us a textA misbooked flight, a lost day in Beijing, and a spark that reshaped how millions discover what to do when they land. In this Captains of Industry episode, we sit down with Tao Tao, Co-Founder and COO of GetYourGuide, to unpack what it really takes to build a global marketplace for experiences—from cold-calling suppliers before the website even existed to mastering SEO when organic growth still compounded, and designing a company around work, not titles or ego.Tao explains why execution - not a single “big idea” - wins in travel. We explore how GetYourGuide scaled city by city, managed operator tensions with radical clarity, and made UX choices - like 24-hour cancellation - that boost conversion without breaking trust. He shares lessons on timing, luck, and how culture - anchored in curiosity, high standards, and follow-through - turns principles into performance.Looking ahead, Asia is roaring back, with Japan leading both demand and creative supply. Learning-led experiences - from cooking classes to knife-making workshops are surging as travelers seek skill and story over stuff. As GetYourGuide expands into multi-day trips, shows, and events, Tao envisions owning more of the traveler’s journey from “What should we do tonight?” to “How do we make this trip unforgettable?” He even welcomes Airbnb’s return to experiences, noting that a rising tide of awareness lifts every boat.If you care about the future of travel, marketplaces, or simply making great things easier to find, this conversation delivers sharp insights and practical takeaways. For more information on GetYourGuide, please visit getyourguide.com.👉 Listen to Inside GetYourGuide's Journey Now🔥 Special Thanks to our Season 6 Title Sponsors for their Support: Holafly, Propellic, PayCompass, Kaptio, Civitatis and WeRoadThe #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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• Event Preview: TIS - Tourism Innovation Summit 2025

  Send us a textTickets are booked, slides are brewing, and Seville is calling. The Tourism Innovation Summit is a three-day, five-stage gathering where tech, innovation, and sustainability meet the real reasons we travel: culture, connection, and stories that last.In this event preview episode, we sit down with Congress Director Brigitte Hidalgo to unpack how TIS scaled to 8,000+ attendees and 400 speakers while staying sharp and useful. Expect candid sessions on AI that go beyond buzzwords, insights on “travel tribes” from group adventures to city-scale experiences, and case studies on influencer campaigns, cultural stewardship, and designing authentic moments that resonate.If you’re weighing where to spend conference time, here’s the upside: affordable passes, a walkable city, engineered networking, and a lineup that spans Microsoft and Amadeus to bold AI startups. Can’t make it? Sessions are recorded and translated for replay back home.Bottom line: the future belongs to organizations that blend smart tech with human-centered travel. Join us in Seville, Oct 22–24 → tisglobalsummit.com.The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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