ALL EPISODES
Company Spotlight: Inside Airbnb’s Growing Experiences Business
The tours and activities sector is one of the fastest-growing and most competitive areas of travel. With so many platforms offering similar experiences, what does it take to stand out? And how do you bring together iconic attractions, authentic local experiences, and the personal connections that make travel memorable?
In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Doug Weiss, Global Head of Airbnb Experiences, to explore how Airbnb is reimagining the way travelers discover and book experiences around the world.
Company Spotlight: From the Front Lines to Founder: Reinventing Travel Technology with Aderra Solutions
A CRM system is supposed to make life easier, but for many travel companies, implementing one becomes a costly and frustrating experience. So why do so many Salesforce and CRM projects fall short, and what does it take to get them right?
In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Amber Halliday, Founder and Principal Consultant at Aderra Solutions, to explore the common mistakes travel companies make when implementing CRM technology and how to avoid them. With more than 15 years of experience in the travel industry, including hands-on roles in reservations, sales and operations, Amber understands the challenges from both sides.
Company Spotlight: How Nezasa Is Building the AI Workforce for Travel
A trip doesn’t usually become complicated when it’s booked. The real challenges come later, when flights change, strikes are announced, wildfires disrupt plans, hotels overbook or border delays throw an itinerary off course. Suddenly, operations teams are dealing with hundreds of small tasks that take up time, slow down response and eat into margins.
In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Manuel Hilty, CEO and Co-founder of Nezasa, the travel technology company behind TripBuilder, to explore how AI could help travel companies manage that complexity.
Company Spotlight: AI Teammates for Hospitality: Built by Hoteliers, for Hoteliers with GuestOS
Your hotel phone can either help drive revenue or quietly become a source of missed opportunities. Unanswered calls, slow responses and endless back-and-forth can all add up, especially when hotel teams are already stretched.
In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Jessie Fischer, Founder and CEO of GuestOS, to talk about how AI could change the way hotels communicate with their guests. GuestOS is built around a simple idea: give hotels a 24/7 multilingual AI teammate that can answer the phone, respond to guest questions, support bookings and provide local recommendations, all through a single phone number with no app required.
Company Spotlight: Travel’s Next Big Community: Why G Adventures Is Betting on Sports Fans
Watching football on TV is one thing. Standing in a packed stadium surrounded by thousands of fans singing the same song is something completely different.
Sports tourism is booming, and football is helping drive that growth. In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Yves Marceau, VP of Product at G Adventures, and Aly Handler, Product Development and Travel Style Manager, to talk about the launch of Away Games, G Adventures’ new small-group travel style built entirely around football culture.
Company Spotlight: Building the Backend for Multi-Day Tour Operators with Tourseta
Your tour business shouldn’t need a custom-built system just to manage departures, rooming, payments and traveller documents. In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with Alex Ragin, Founder of Tourseta and Zoftify, to explore what happens when multi-day and group tour operators finally have technology built around the way they actually work.
Alex shares how his experience building custom software for travel companies eventually led to Tourseta, and why the decision to buy versus build technology looks very different for small and mid-sized operators. He explains how Tourseta has evolved beyond a booking platform into an all-in-one tour management system, bringing together costings, customer records, quotes, itineraries, reminders, forms and many of the everyday workflows that become increasingly difficult to manage as a tour business grows.
Company Spotlight: How LivTours Is Defining Small Group Travel
There’s one rule LivTours refuses to compromise on: no more than six guests per tour. In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Angelo Carotenuto, Founder and Co-owner, and Kristin Karstendotter, Co-owner of LivTours, to explore how that simple decision helped shape a very different kind of tour company.
Angelo and Kristin explain why six isn’t just a number. Smaller groups remove many of the things travellers have come to associate with traditional sightseeing, from following flags and listening through headsets to being rushed through an attraction on a fixed script. Instead, guides can have real conversations, adjust the experience on the fly, and create the kind of personal connection that travelers remember long after they return home.
Company Spotlight: The Psychology of Booking: Why Anxiety Is Costing the Travel Industry Millions with Protect Group
The most dangerous moment in travel isn’t a storm, a strike, or a missed connection. It’s the moment a traveler reaches the payment page... and decides not to book.
We call it booking anxiety, and new research sponsored by Protect Group, in partnership with Phocuswright and Web in Travel, puts hard data behind a challenge the industry has long underestimated.
In this episode, Dan sits down with Stephen Joyce, Global Strategy Lead – Travel, Tours & OTAs at Protect Group, to explore why traveler confidence often disappears at checkout. They unpack why today's travelers worry just as much about losing valuable vacation time as they do about losing money, why disruption risk feels more real than ever, and why flexibility has become one of the biggest drivers of conversion. The research shows many travelers would rather pay a little more for peace of mind than choose the cheapest non-refundable fare, and that knowing a full refund is possible if plans change is one of the strongest motivators to complete a booking.
Company Spotlight: How AI Is Rebuilding the Hop-On Hop-Off Business - Inside iWander's HOHO Studio
Hop-on hop-off buses are often a traveler's first introduction to a destination, yet the technology powering that experience hasn't changed much in years. Audio commentary can be expensive to produce, difficult to update, and nearly impossible to maintain across dozens of languages. In this Company Spotlight, Dan is joined by iWander CEO and Co-founder Marius Nigond and CTO and Co-founder Antoine Nigond to explore how AI is transforming sightseeing for operators around the world.
Company Spotlight: How Awayward is Making International Travel Safer
Getting sick while traveling is more common than most people realize. Whether it's food poisoning, a fever, an injury, or an unexpected illness, navigating a foreign healthcare system can quickly become one of the most stressful parts of any trip. You may not speak the language, know where to go, or trust the care you're receiving.
In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Max Levine, CEO and Founder of Awayward, a virtual healthcare platform designed specifically for international travellers. Max shares the personal travel experiences that inspired him to launch the company and explains why calling your family doctor back home often isn't enough when local prescriptions, licensing, and healthcare systems come into play.
Company Spotlight: The Second Life of Sonder: Reimagining an Iconic Travel Brand
Sonder was once one of the most recognizable names in modern hospitality. Then, almost overnight, it disappeared. Now, it's back in a very different form. In this breaking news episode, Dan sits down with John Lyotier, Co-founder and CEO of TravelAI, to discuss the company's acquisition of the Sonder trademarks and domain portfolio, including Sonder.com, and why it's relaunching the brand as an AI powered, curated guide to the world's best urban stays. The acquisition includes the brand and intellectual property only. It does not include Sonder's former operating business, properties, leases, or staff.
Company Spotlight: Turning Travelers Stories Into Assets with Pineary
The travel industry creates an incredible amount of content, yet some of its most valuable stories are never shared. In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Annie Pezza, Founder and CEO of Pinerary, to explore why travel doesn't have a content problem, it has a capture problem, and what brands are missing when travelers' experiences disappear into camera rolls and social feeds.
The conversation goes beyond where people stayed or what they did to uncover what really makes travel memorable: the moments that surprise us, change our perspective, and inspire us to return. Annie explains how Pinerary helps travelers preserve those experiences through shareable itineraries while giving travel brands access to authentic stories that build trust, inspire future bookings, and continue delivering value long after a trip has ended.
Company Spotlight: Selling Peace of Mind: How Holafly Turned eSIMs into a Global Travel Essential
Staying connected has become an essential part of modern travel. Whether you're finding your hotel, booking a ride, navigating a new city, or simply letting family know you've arrived safely, reliable mobile data can make the difference between a smooth arrival and a stressful one.
In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Jo Juliana Turnbull, Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Holafly, to explore why eSIMs are quickly becoming a travel essential. Jo explains how eSIMs work in simple, practical terms, from checking if your phone is compatible and knowing when to activate your plan to answering common questions about keeping your existing phone number and how easy the setup process really is.
Company Spotlight: Why Tour Operators Need More Than Booking Software with TourOptima
Tour operators aren't just competing on the experiences they sell, they're competing on the experience they deliver behind the scenes. From the moment a traveler books to the moment they leave a review, every interaction matters.
In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Benjamin Sann, Founder & CEO of TourOptima, and Josh Halpern, Chief Commercial Officer, to explore how technology is helping tour operators simplify operations and deliver a better guest experience. They discuss the everyday challenges operators face, from flight delays and last-minute schedule changes to managing guest communications across emails, text messages, OTAs, and multiple internal systems.
Company Spotlight: Why Canada's Travel Industry Is Ready for a Payments Shake-Up with Mint Payments
Payments can make or break a travel sale, yet much of the industry still treats them as behind-the-scenes infrastructure. In Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Philip Hancock, Chief Commercial Officer at Mint Payments, as the company expands into Canada.
The conversation explores what it means to build a travel-first payment service provider, from collecting customer payments and managing risk to supporting supplier payouts. Philip explains why the payment experience has become a meaningful point of difference, especially when flights, hotels, and packages can look similar across multiple channels.
Company Spotlight: Why Travel Advisors Matter More Than Ever with Host Agency Reviews
Travel advisors are experiencing a resurgence, but the story goes far beyond increased bookings. As travel becomes more complex and consumers seek expert guidance, advisors are proving their value as trusted partners who can navigate disruptions, personalize experiences, and provide support when it matters most.
In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Shayna Zand, Managing Director of Host Agency Reviews, for an inside look at how the advisor industry really works and what it takes to build a successful travel business today.
Company Spotlight: The Hidden Cost of Your Travel Tech Stack with WeTravel
Your tour business probably doesn’t have a technology problem. It has a complexity problem.
Over time, many multi-day operators add tool after tool until marketing, CRM, itineraries, payments, supplier payouts, and traveler communications all live in different places. The result is more than frustration. It creates duplicate work, missed traveler details, messy handoffs, lower conversion, and less time spent on what actually grows a travel company: serving travelers.
In this Spotlight Episode, Dan sits down with Josh Chang, Chief Product Officer at WeTravel, to unpack what tech stack overload looks like for tour operators and why the industry is moving toward more integrated platforms. They explore the hidden leaks that quietly hurt operators, from abandoned checkouts and fragmented payment methods to itinerary changes that never flow cleanly to travelers or suppliers.
Company Spotlight: The Evolution of Travel Distribution: 10 Years of Change with RateHawk
The travel industry loves to talk about innovation, but Felix Shpilman brings a sharper lens: what has actually changed in travel distribution over the past decade, and what challenges still remain unsolved.
Felix is the President and CEO of Emerging Travel Group and the driving force behind RateHawk. Joining Dan from Dubai, he shares an inside look at what it takes to build and scale one of the world's leading B2B travel platforms.
We begin with Felix’s journey into travel technology, from investing in high-growth companies to becoming an operator in one of the most complex industries in the world. From there, we explore how RateHawk emerged from ETG’s experience competing in the B2C space, revealing a much larger opportunity: helping travel advisors navigate fragmented hotel supply through a faster, more intuitive booking experience.
Company Spotlight: Connecting People to Iconic Places: The Pursuit Approach to Experience-Led Travel
Travel is being rewritten in real time, and it’s not being led by hotels or airlines. It’s being led by experiences that create real connection to place.
Dan sits down with David Barry, President and CEO of Pursuit, to unpack how a true “category of one” company gets built. With a 40-year career across hospitality, aviation, and travel, David shares how Pursuit has evolved into a global portfolio of attractions, lodging, and transportation designed to connect guests to some of the world’s most iconic destinations.
We break down Pursuit’s concept of experiential infrastructure, why owning access to extraordinary places, and building the systems around them, is becoming one of the most valuable strategies in travel. From Banff and Jasper to Alaska, Iceland, and Costa Rica, David explains the criteria behind expansion: iconic, hard-to-replicate locations paired with strong local teams and long-term demand.Payments are where travel brands quietly win or lose trust, often only becoming visible after something goes wrong: a declined card, a messy refund, a spike in chargebacks, or a drop in checkout conversion that’s hard to explain. In this episode, we dig into one of the most overlooked parts of the travel business, even though it directly impacts revenue, cash flow, and the ability to scale globally.
Dan sits down with Will Plummer, CEO of Repayd, to unpack why travel payments are uniquely complex. From high booking values and long lead times to cancellations, multiple suppliers, FX exposure, and unclear merchant of record structures, the challenges run deep. Will explains how merchant of record models work in practice, why localized acquiring can improve authorization rates, and how trust accounts and insurance-backed protection can help build confidence for travelers paying months in advance.