Travel Talk: Where Can the Travel Industry Do Better?

Episode Five: Where Can the Travel Industry Do Better?

While the travel industry has made strides in such critical areas as sustainability and initiatives around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), plenty more remains to be done. In this episode of Travel Talk, leaders from throughout Northstar Travel Group discuss both how far the industry has come and where further efforts could be made.

The panelists discuss recent research on interest in sustainability in the leisure and meetings markets and the influence to make change that corporate travel managers exert with their purchase power. The group also discusses how demands from not only consumers but employees is driving greater efforts around both sustainability and DEI, and shifting expectations around diversity and accessibility when it comes to corporate events.

Episode Four: What’s Next for Travel Tech?

The launch of ChatGPT has supercharged the conversation around artificial intelligence, presenting a wide array of applications for industries of all types, including travel. In this episode of Travel Talk, thought leaders from throughout Northstar Travel Group examine the myriad ways that this tool, and AI more broadly, is poised to impact many facets of the industry, from developing itineraries to making procurement decisions.

In addition to AI, the panelists discuss other innovations and how they are impacting travel decisions —from the potential of virtual reality and the Metaverse to crypto currency and biometric screenings.

Episode Three: Is Travel Fully Back?

While most sectors of the travel industry are enjoying a resurgence compared to the depths of the pandemic, is it accurate to say travel is “fully back”? Northstar Travel Group’s editorial leaders share their answers to this question — and what it even means for their sectors (including business travel, leisure, sports and meetings) to have fully rebounded. Answers vary, whether one is looking at supplier/advisor revenue, trip volume, hotel occupancy or some other metric. But thanks to the wide adoption of virtual meetings and interactions, some aspects of the travel industry look unlikely to ever return to their pre-pandemic levels.

The panelists also share how recent rounds of layoffs and concerns about a potential recession might impact travel companies and choices around booking.

Episode Two: How Travelers are Getting Choosier

Last year saw a boom in travel as destinations reopened worldwide. But as that excitement has cooled and prices have risen, travelers of all types — leisure, corporate, meetings and more — are making their purchases with greater discernment. In this episode of Travel Talk, thought leaders from across Northstar Travel Group share what factors are shaping travelers’ choices and how the travel industry is responding, along with how the high price of airfare and accommodations are making a trip’s value proposition increasingly critical and how travel advisors’ role has shifted from navigating changing restrictions to defining the benefits of a given trip.

Episode One: Destinations to Watch in 2023

In this inaugural episode of “Travel Talk”, panelists discuss what destinations are drawing the greatest interest from travelers across a range of industry sectors, including leisure, sports, meetings and corporate travel. Roundtable members discuss how economic changes, the growth of remote work and an eagerness to move past pandemic-driven travel restrictions is causing a shift in which destinations are attracting visitors plus the international events that are headed to the United States in the years to come.