Travel Trends with Dan Christian

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Wellness travel is having a moment, but at its core, the idea is simple: travellers want to come home feeling better than when they left.
In this episode, Dan sits down with Robin Ruiz, Founder & CEO of WITT (Wellness in Travel & Tourism); Lauren Pronger, Founder & CEO of Well Inspired Travels; and David T. Stevens, WITT-AP, Co-Founder and Wellness Architect, to explore what wellness travel really means and how the industry can separate meaningful experiences from clever marketing.
We get practical about what hotels can do to better support travelers, and it doesn’t always require an expensive spa or the latest biohacking technology. Blackout curtains, better sleep environments, healthier food options and opportunities for movement can all make a difference. Robin explains why standards and certification matter as more hotels position themselves around wellness, while Lauren shares what clients are looking for, from burnout recovery to performance-focused travel.
Then we take wellness beyond leisure travel. David makes the business case for bringing it into meetings, conferences and business travel, where better sleep, nutrition and more thoughtfully designed schedules can improve the experience for everyone.
Finally, we get into wearables, AI and wellness technology, and why technology can be useful without replacing the fundamentals.
As wellness becomes a bigger part of travel, the question is no longer whether travellers care about it. It’s how the industry can deliver it in a way that feels genuine, useful and accessible.
👉 Listen to What Wellness Travelers Really Want Now
🔥 Special Thanks to our Season 8 Title Sponsors for their Support: Quark Expeditions,  Intrepid, Kaptio, Propellic, Repayd, and Holafly. 
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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You can feel a shift happening in multi-day travel. Travellers want the ease of an organized trip without giving up individuality, while tour operators are looking for ways to reach more customers without losing what makes their product unique.
In the second episode of our three part Multi-Day Commerce Series with TourRadar, Dan sits down with Brendan Roberts, Chief Commercial Officer at TourRadar, to explore the distribution side of the business and how the right trip ultimately reaches the right traveller.
Brendan takes us behind the scenes of the TourRadar marketplace, from how the company evaluates new operator partners to what it takes to get tours live. We talk about API integrations, reservation systems and manual onboarding, as well as why structured content matters when travellers are comparing their options.
We also get into what drives conversion. Brendan explains how TourRadar looks at quality across content, service and trust, and why strong reviews, detailed itineraries and clear accommodation information can make a real difference.
Then we look beyond direct-to-consumer sales and how TourRadar is connecting multi-day inventory with travel advisors, host agencies, consortia and retail partners through white label solutions and APIs.
Finally, we explore what AI and social commerce could mean for the category, from helping travellers understand what makes one tour different from another to the growing role of authentic traveller content and hosted trips.
For operators, advisors and anyone interested in the future of travel distribution, this episode offers a practical look at what it takes to get the right multi-day experience in front of the right traveler.
Join us next Tuesday for the third and final episode in our Multi-Day Commerce Series with TourRadar. Listen to the first episode with Travis Pittman, CEO, TourRadar here.
Learn more at tourradar.com.
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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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.
Manuel shares the story behind Nezasa, from his background as a PhD computer scientist who initially thought travel planning would be relatively straightforward to discovering just how complicated travel distribution, integrations and operations really are. What began with early tour operator clients has grown into a platform used by companies including TUI, supporting everything from complex tailor-made itineraries to dynamic packaging and collaborative planning between travelers and travel professionals.
Then we get into what Nezasa is building next with Tai, its new AI platform designed specifically for travel operations. Manuel explains why simply adding a chatbot isn’t enough and how Tai is being built to work across different AI models while allowing travel companies to create their own no-code agents. The goal is to take on many of the repetitive tasks that consume an operations team’s day, from pre-departure checks and rate sheets to reporting and other routine workflows.
We also look ahead to Tai Guard, which is designed to monitor itineraries from beginning to end, identify potential disruptions early and eventually help teams determine the best response before a small issue turns into a much bigger problem.
For travel companies trying to understand what agentic AI could actually look like in practice, this conversation offers a look at how it could become part of the day-to-day work happening behind every trip.
Learn more at nezasa.com.
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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Food has always been part of travel, but increasingly, it’s becoming a reason to travel in the first place. Instead of simply asking what there is to see, travelers are thinking about what they want to eat, where they want to eat it and the people and stories they can discover along the way. That shift is helping fuel the growth of culinary travel and changing what travelers expect from a great trip.
In this episode, Dan sits down with three people who have built their businesses around food and local connection: Annie Sim, Chief Eating Officer of The Table Less Traveled; Daniel Cerda, Founder and CEO of Eating With Carmen; and Kenny Dunn, Managing Director of Eating Europe. 
Together, they unpack what makes a great food experience, from choosing the right neighborhoods and balancing iconic dishes with unexpected finds to the role storytelling plays in connecting travelers with the people and culture behind the food. They also explore why smaller groups can create more meaningful experiences and how culinary tourism can put tourism dollars directly into the hands of family-run restaurants, local producers and communities.
We also look at how social media and AI are changing the way travelers discover food. A viral recommendation can introduce people to somewhere they may never have found otherwise, but it can also create the next tourist trap. And when AI can produce a restaurant list in seconds, the value of a great guide, personal connection and access to places travelers wouldn’t find on their own becomes even more important.
Finally, we look at where culinary travel is heading next and ask our guests a deceptively difficult question: if you could travel anywhere in the world for one unforgettable meal, where would you go?
👉 Listen to How Food Is Changing the Way We Travel Now
🔥 Special Thanks to our Season 8 Title Sponsors for their Support: Quark Expeditions,  Intrepid, Kaptio, Propellic, Repayd, and Holafly. 
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

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Multi-day travel has spent years being misunderstood, often associated with traditional coach tours even as the category evolved into something much broader. Now, as AI changes how travelers discover and plan trips, multi-day travel is getting a fresh look.
In the first episode of our three-part Multi-Day Commerce Series, Dan sits down with Travis Pittman, CEO and Co-Founder of TourRadar, to explore how the category has evolved and why its next chapter could look very different.
Travis takes us back to TourRadar’s beginnings as a London travel magazine featuring tour deals and its 16-year journey to becoming a global marketplace for organized adventures.
We also get into one of multi-day travel’s biggest challenges: distribution. With higher booking values, multiple itinerary components, deposits, payment schedules and different currencies, these trips have traditionally been difficult for major travel platforms to sell at scale. Travis explains why structured data, AI and new technology could change that, making multi-day trips easier to search, compare and book.
Then we look at who is actually booking these trips, from the importance of solo travelers and women in purchasing decisions to why interests and motivations may tell us more about the customer than age alone. Travis also shares where demand is growing and why travel advisors continue to play an important role in a purchase built heavily around trust.
Join us next Tuesday for the second episode in our Multi-Day Commerce Series with TourRadar.
Learn more at tourradar.com.
The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/