EXEC-LEVEL ADVISORY FOR TRAVEL, HOSPITALITY & TOURISM LEADERS
From founder-led operators to multinational travel groups, we help leaders drive growth, sharpen positioning, and outperform their category.
Prefer email? dan@traveltrendspodcast.com
WHY TRAVEL TRENDS ADVISORY
Why Brands Choose Us.
Twenty years of running travel businesses at the highest level, brought to every engagement, every decision, every quarter.
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Industry Authority
Dan has been in your seat. C-suite at The Travel Corporation leading digital transformation across 40 global brands, senior operating roles at G Adventures and Lonely Planet, and two decades of managing billions of dollars in travel revenue.
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Proven Impact
Live client relationships across every shape of travel business. From boutique operators (Miru, Blacksford, ACT) to scale-ups (WeRoad, Mindtrip) to industry events (Arival) and AI travel pioneers (Layla, iWander). Real engagements with real outcomes.
03
Global Perspective
200+ episodes of the #1 B2B travel podcast, plus a keynote calendar that spans WTM London, ITB Berlin, Phocuswright, Arival and Virtuoso. You get a partner who reads where the market is moving in real time, every week.
04
Tailored Support
Every engagement is built around your specific business and your specific stage. We do not sell a framework. We sit in your team, listen first, and bring the experience to where you actually need it.
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Senior-Only Delivery
The senior person you sign with is the senior person doing the work. Direct access to Dan from day one, with a small senior team built around your engagement.
WHO WE HELP
Tailored To Your Stage, Your Size,
Your Ambition.
Startups
For founder-led travel ventures, pre-product to pre-Series A. When positioning is fuzzy and the first GTM motion isn't converting.
THE PAIN
Positioning is fuzzy. Brand is not sticking. First GTM motion is not converting. You need a senior travel voice in the room before you spend the next round figuring it out the hard way.
HOW WE HELP
Brand & GTM Sprint. Fixed-scope 6–8 week engagement ending with positioning, messaging framework, and a 90-day GTM plan.
Founder counsel. Monthly sounding board with someone who has been in your seat and now sits inside 18+ travel businesses.
Warm intros. Into our network of investors, partners, distributors, and senior advisors.
WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
iWander (brand and first GTM motion), GuestOS, TourOptima (rebrand from Curated Planet), Nicer.
Operators
For scaling tour operators, family-owned travel businesses, and founder-CEOs running $5M to $200M revenue brands.
THE PAIN
You're running a successful business and ready for what's next. Sharper brand, new growth channels, a stronger marketing org, or preparing for a sale or succession event. You want a senior operator in the room, not another agency pitch.
HOW WE HELP
Monthly strategic counsel. A senior 1:1 with Dan each month, plus async support when the big decisions land between calls.
Brand audit + growth plan. 90-day diagnostic that ends with a board-ready growth strategy and named playbooks ready to execute.
Targeted Sprints. Discovery, NPD, market entry, channel build, AI readiness. Fixed scope, senior-led.
WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
Miru Adventures (positioning + growth drivers), WeRoad (multi-day tours), American Classic Tours (positioning + NPD + pricing), Overland Ireland (market entry), Blacksford (advisor channel), Northern Soul (messaging + website).
Corporates
For multinational BUs, large scale-ups in transformation, and enterprise travel brands.
THE PAIN
Business-unit-level transformation. AI and digital strategy moving faster than your org chart. New-market entry. M&A integration. The work is too senior for an agency and too travel-specific for an MBB firm.
HOW WE HELP
BU-level Sprints. Senior embedded teams delivering against a single named KPI, with custom dashboards and board prep.
AI readiness & future-proofing. Dan has guided travel businesses through major transformation waves before. We bring the same operator-grade playbook to the AI questions large groups are wrestling with today, before competitors get there first.
Operator credibility large groups respect. Dan has been on the inside of TTC, G Adventures and Lonely Planet. The kind of operator standing large groups need from an external partner.
WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
Operator background: The Travel Corporation (40 brands), G Adventures, Lonely Planet.
Investors
For mid-market PE funds, VCs investing in travel, sell-side operators preparing for exit, and post-close portfolio companies.
THE PAIN
Standard CDD shops cannot give you operator-grade commentary on management and ops scalability. Sell-side prep gets done in-house when it should not be. Post-close 100-day plans get written and then forgotten.
HOW WE HELP
Commercial Due Diligence (CDD). Buy-side commercial read with operator-led commentary on management, ops scalability, and a 100-day post-close thesis.
Sell-Side Readiness. Pre-exit positioning narrative, CIM-ready data pack, broker-pitch deck.
Post-Close Value Creation. 100-day operating plan, embedded operator support, ongoing portfolio counsel.
WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH
CONFIDENTIAL
HOW WE HELP
Custom Strategy Guidance
Tailored advisory aligned to your business goals and market realities.
Go-to-Market Insights
Evaluate and prioritize new market opportunities with confidence.
Brand & Positioning Support
Stand out in a competitive industry with crisp positioning.
Product & Launch Advisory
Expert perspective on bringing new products and services to market.
Future-Focused Insights
Stay ahead of shifts in AI, digital transformation, and consumer behavior.
Continuous Support
Regular check-ins to keep strategy on track and ensure accountability.
“We came to TTA stuck on what TourOptima actually stood for. Dan helped us reframe the brand around the audiences who were already converting, not the ones we wished we had, and that one shift changed how we talk to every prospect. The positioning work is now the spine of our whole GTM.”
— Ben Sann
CEO, TourOptima
“Dan and the TTA team helped us see Miru in a way we couldn't see ourselves. Three audiences, five clear pillars, and a list of growth drivers we should actually pursue versus the ones we were drifting towards. The clarity changed how the whole team talks about the business.”
— Richard Heller
Co-founder, Miru Adventures
“TTA helped us sharpen what Arival means to the in-destination industry, not just describe it. Dan's read of the market and our place in it is exactly what we needed at this stage, and the framing has already shown up in how we sell sponsorship and pitch the event. Operator-grade strategic advice.”
— Douglas Quinby
Founder & CEO, Arival
OUR PARTNERS IN GROWTH
Helping Travel Brands Thrive.
We've worked with companies at every stage of growth, from founder-led startups to global travel groups.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
Common Questions.
Answers to the things prospects ask before getting on a call.
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We are operators, not consultants. Every engagement is led by Dan personally, drawing on two decades of running travel businesses at scale: C-suite at The Travel Corporation across 40 global brands, senior operating roles at G Adventures and Lonely Planet, and operating responsibility for billions in travel revenue. You do not get a 30-person team with a partner on top. You get the senior person from the start, doing the work.
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Monthly counsel retainers, fixed-scope strategy sprints, brand and GTM audits, commercial due diligence for investors, and post-close value creation. We cover both operator-side and investor-side work.
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Sprints run 4 to 8 weeks. Retainers usually start with a 3-month minimum and most clients renew. Investor work is project-scoped: 4 to 12 weeks for CDD, 6 to 12 months for post-close engagements.
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Dan leads every engagement personally, with a small senior team built around the specific work where additional expertise is needed. No analysts, no junior staffers. The senior person you sign with is the senior person doing the work.
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Both. We are known for strategy that comes with named playbooks and execution paths, not 100-page slide decks that get filed away. Where execution is needed at scale (performance marketing, paid media, AI implementation, website builds), we either bring in trusted specialist partners or refer you directly.
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Engagements vary widely depending on scope and the team required, from light-touch monthly counsel through to multi-month embedded engagements and large investor mandates. We do not publish pricing because the right shape genuinely depends on the conversation. The intro call is the right place to scope it, free of charge.
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Some of our most rewarding work is with founder-led ventures and boutique operators. We have light-touch counsel structures designed for this stage. Do not self-disqualify on size. Get on a call.
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Yes. Dan is based in North America, and Travel Trends Advisory works with travel brands globally across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
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For investors we run a separate practice: Travel Trends Deal Advisory. It covers commercial due diligence with operator-led commentary, sell-side readiness, and post-close value creation. The engagement model, deliverables, and team composition are different from operator-side advisory.
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Book an intro call below or email Dan directly at dan@traveltrendspodcast.com. The first conversation is exploratory and free.
Request An Intro Call
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Prefer email? dan@traveltrendspodcast.com