Game-Changing Tech for Travel Pros

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Gather and Go with Brian Jewell

The Group Travel Leader Inc

88 episodes

17 hours ago

If you’re involved planning, promoting or leading travel, this is a show you won’t want to miss. On each episode, we’ll share expert insights from our decades in travel and feature conversations with some of the most creative, innovative and fascinating people from around the tourism industry. We’ll cover topics such as traveling through challenging times, discovering authentic cultural encounters, developing new opportunities in culinary tourism, modernizing your travel marketing and much, much more. Plus, you’ll get my hot takes on some of the issues impacting travel every day.

All content for Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is the property of The Group Travel Leader Inc and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Game-Changing Tech for Travel Pros

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell

51 minutes 52 seconds

4 months ago

Game-Changing Tech for Travel Pros

Could the right technology platforms put your travel products in front of the customers who want them?

Greg Fisher believes they can. The founder of numerous online travel agency (OTA) and reservation technology (restech) platforms, and author of "Mastering OTAs: The Definitive Guide for Tour Operators," Greg literally wrote the book on how tour operators can use technology to grow their businesses. He joins this episode of the podcast to help you understand the changing travel tech landscape and how it can benefit your business.

Greg introduces tech tools that will help you extend your reach and streamline your operations. He also gives tips on how to make OTAs work for you and insight on why the rise of AI might be great news for small tour companies. Plus, we have news New York's falling tourism forecast; a Road Tip about increasing socializing among your tour groups; and a Hot Minute about the silver linings of decreased tourism.

Insights from Greg Fisher

Greg had lots of insights about what kind of relationship multiday tour companies should have with OTAs and other travel distribution platforms. Here's one thing he had to say about how to optimize your listings for maximum visibility:

“Make sure you have the absolute best photos. Your primary image should have something called a key moment. It’s that perfect, candid photo of the tour. Capturing those key moments, with people having the time of their lives. And the rest of your photos should tell the story of that experience from start to finish."

Plus, he had insightful thoughts on:

* Picking the OTAs that are right for your travel business

* How much commission OTAs charge to tour operators

* Why every tour business needs a great restech system

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Find Greg's Book "Mastering OTAs" at masteringotas.com.

Follow Greg on LinkedIn.

Apply to attend our OnSite familiarization trip in Alabama here.

Key Moments From This Episode

1:53 — Travel News: Hawaii is increasing tourism tax because of climate change

3:14 — Road Tip: Eliminating annoying lights in hotel rooms

8:48 — The travel newsletter you can’t afford to miss

14:05 — Why river cruising is booming in popularity

15:17 — How much does river cruising actually cost?

18:54 — How river cruise demographics are changing

21:45 — Are river cruises better than land tours?

22:54 — Can river cruise demand keep up with supply?

24:58 — Can Europe’s rivers sustain the growing level of cruise traffic?

30:50 — River cruising in exotic destinations

34:01 — Should you consider a river cruise in the U.S.?

35:31 — Is river cruising feasible for groups?

48:19 — Hot Minute: Can tourism taxes really affect climate change?