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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you’re still managing tours through email threads, spreadsheets, or a “Contact Us to book” form, you’re not just adding admin, you’re likely leaving revenue on the table. In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Sam Jefferies, Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Bókun, to break down what it really takes to sell more tours and activities in 2026: instant booking, smarter distribution, and the connectivity needed to show up wherever travelers are searching and buying.

We start with Bókun’s origin story during Iceland’s tourism boom and how it has evolved into a global booking platform used by both independent operators and major attractions. From there, we get practical. Sam explains why expanding your reseller network can unlock step-change growth, how to choose the right mix of local, niche, regional, and global partners, and how to ease into OTAs by allocating only a portion of your inventory. He also shares what the data shows when operators move from direct-only to a multi-channel strategy, and what realistic performance gains look like.

The most stressful part of a trip often isn’t the flight or the hotel, it’s everything in between. After a long journey, you arrive tired, navigating a new place, juggling luggage, and trying to figure out how to get from point A to point B. That “simple transfer” can quickly become overwhelming and often sets the tone for the entire trip. That’s why we sat down with Alexandra Mamrillova, Chief Commercial Officer, Daytrip, to explore how private ground transportation is reshaping the travel experience.

We look at what sets Daytrip apart in the global mobility and private transfer space, from door to door service in over 130 countries to vetted, English speaking drivers, GPS tracked journeys, and strict quality controls. Having already transferred around 2 million travelers, the company has built a strong foundation of trust and reliability. The real differentiator is the ability to transform transfers into experiences. With customizable sightseeing stops, travelers can turn a logistical necessity into an opportunity to explore, discover smaller towns, and access destinations that traditional transport options often miss.

The American road trip is getting a luxury upgrade, and it’s happening faster than most travelers realize. In this Company Spotlight episode, Dan sits down with David Greenberg and Becky Goodell of Blacksford to explore why premium RV travel is emerging as one of the most compelling ways to experience the United States in 2026, especially as demand grows around Route 66, major sporting events, and record-breaking visits to national parks.

They break down what “luxury RV rental” really means today, from brand-new high-end vehicles and white-glove airport pickup to fully equipped interiors, optional grocery delivery, and 24/7 human support. What started as a personal RV trip during COVID in 2020 has evolved into a business built on a simple idea: creating customers for life. If your perception of RV travel feels outdated, this conversation will completely reframe it.

A career that starts on Wall Street and shifts into whitewater guiding sounds like a movie plot, but for Julie Thorner it became the foundation for building Liquid Spark, one of the most trusted names in adventure travel marketing. We talk about the moment she realized life is short, why she chose to walk away from “safe” roles, and how she built her agency as a single mom who needed both flexibility and purpose.

From there, we get practical. Julie breaks down what she sees when tour operators say their marketing isn’t working, from wasted Google Ads spend and unclear messaging to missing email automation, weak conversion paths, and websites that fail to answer real traveler questions. We explore what actually works in tourism marketing in 2026, including strong content strategy, SEO fundamentals, earned media, and building trust through clear, accessible storytelling.

He got fired, bought a one-way ticket to Australia, and accidentally built a travel media brand. In this episode, we’re joined by Mike Schibel, founder and host of Travel With Meaning and one of the early voices in travel podcasting.

Mike shares how his background in Los Angeles and a decade in the entertainment industry shaped his approach to storytelling and interviewing. What started as a simple habit of asking travelers a few consistent questions quickly revealed something bigger: no matter where you’re from, people travel for the same reasons—connection, perspective, and stories that stay with them long after the trip ends.

Seventy five percent of travelers visit just four percent of Italy. That statistic alone explains why Europe is rethinking tourism and why simply attracting more visitors can no longer be the only goal. Following a live panel at GetYourGuide headquarters, Dan sat down with Francesca de Falco, Regional Manager Italy at GetYourGuide, Miguel Sanz, President of the European Travel Commission and General Director of Turespaña, and Barbara Jamison-Woods, President of CityDNA and Head of London and Partners, to discuss what sustainable tourism looks like when destinations measure impact, listen to residents, and rethink how travel experiences are designed. The conversation explores the shift from volume to value through real data, policy pressures, and practical examples that allow residents to benefit while travelers still enjoy meaningful and memorable trips.

We explore the report Driving Sustainable Tourism: GetYourGuide’s Impact in Italy and what the data reveals, including experiences reaching 105 provinces, longer visitor stays, increased traveler spending, and the growing number of travelers choosing destinations because of a specific experience. The discussion then broadens to Spain’s Vision for Tourism 2030, including the rapid surge in arrivals following the pandemic and the reality that overtourism is often shaped by issues such as housing pressures, seasonality, and everyday quality of life for residents. The central theme is clear. The tourism industry must move beyond volume toward value, combining economic growth with social benefit.

From London’s work using high street data to understand visitor flows to practical solutions such as extending opening hours at crowded attractions and sharing guidance that helps travelers visit respectfully, the conversation focuses on ideas destinations can actually implement. We also examine the role of cultural heritage and regenerative tourism, from free museum access and innovative funding models to Spain’s Paradores program, which transforms historic buildings into vibrant and living destinations.

Learn more at getyourguide.com.

What if your best friend in every city could design your perfect day and get paid for it whether they are with you or not? That is the idea behind Pintours. In this episode, Dan speaks with founder and CEO Lou Chatta about how human storytelling combined with AI can scale the magic of a great guide while preserving the personality and authenticity that make guided experiences special.

Lou explains how growing up with a father who worked as a guide for 40 years inspired him to build a platform designed for creators first. Guides can record their stories, routes, music, and recommendations, then share those experiences across different settings including walking tours, rideshares, museums, and attractions. Pintours’ personalization engine then adapts the experience to the traveler. A foodie couple, a family with young kids, or a solo history enthusiast might follow the same route but hear different stories, pacing, and suggestions tailored to their interests. It goes far beyond audio. The platform blends navigation, mood, bookings, and local context into one seamless experience.

Money movement is the hidden engine powering travel and too often the root cause of stalled bookings, compressed margins, and delayed supplier payouts. In this episode, we sit down with Erich Ko, Senior GTM Partnerships Manager at Airwallex, to break down the full financial journey from traveler checkout to final supplier settlement and outline practical ways travel brands can replace slow wire transfers, hidden FX costs, and manual reconciliation with a unified, programmable global platform.

We unpack the real challenges tour operators face when pricing trips months in advance while paying suppliers in appreciating currencies. Erich explains how local payment rails, multi currency wallets, and like for like settlement reduce spreads and eliminate unnecessary fees at every stage. We also explore transparent FX with real time fee visibility, automated rules that lock in conversions at target rates, and programmatic execution that removes human delay from critical transactions.