Travel Is Your Business – travel industry podcast

Joanna Patterson of FlixBus – Next Gen Intercity Bus Service

April 19, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:30 — 35.3MB)

A mobility provider that has changed the way over 100 million people have traveled — FlixBus is now taking on the US…

Joanna Patterson, Head of Business Development for FlixBus (a unique combination of tech startup, e-commerce platform and sustainable transportation company) joins Marc Raco and Anthony DeRico.

Continue Reading →

Taylor Culver and Michael McDowell of XenoDATA Partners – Entreprise Data Strategy

April 10, 2019Marc Raco 3 Comments

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:03 — 55.0MB)

Data as a roadmap to innovation, development and customer success for enterprise companies in the travel industry with XenoDATA Partners…

Taylor Culver , Founder of XenoDATA Partners (a boutique management consulting firm partnering with you on making data strategy successful), and his associate Michael McDowell, join Marc Raco and Anthony DeRico in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

A vertical agnostic company
Why travel has a special place in Taylor and Michael’s hearts – traveling 40-50 countries
Data is a strategic asset
Learning from working at Hertz on the corporate development team
Talent in work force is versed in data and can really able to ask the right questions
What needs help now with data in the travel space?
Enterprise issues in legacy systems
Transferring data back and forth to shape experiences downstream
Opportunities to utilize data points in during the experience, not just online – such as between the taking of ticket to the time you’e in the seat of a plane
The integrated nature of Hertz communication, customer feedback, and dynamic feedback
Genesis of the. company
Opportunity – enterprise customers get the most value out of their data
The $40B niche industry – car rentals, and opportunities to disrupt

Aireen Omar of AirAsia Group – Flying into the Future with Startups and Unicorns

April 2, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 41:42 — 47.8MB)

AirAsia has an eye on how technology innovation can disrupt the areas of the travel industry…

When you’re the largest airline in a country, with more than 100 million passengers last year and ranked this year by Forbes the best low cost airline in Asia, you’re going to know a lot about what your customers need and want.

You’ll know about their behavior throughout their journey with you, and how you can grow them as a customer and your brand as an ever increasingly relevant player. In the travel industry. AirAsia Group is taking that experience and running—(or flying)—with it. With an eye on how technology innovation can disrupt the areas of the travel industry Air Asia is eyeing for expansion, and to be of value to other industry players — (and even other industries).

Aireen Omar, AirAsia Deputy Group CEO (Technology and Digital), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman for a discussion on why the airline has made a meaningful play into venture funding and startups, a search for talent worldwide, and investing in unicorns. Recorded in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

Continue Reading →

Tripp Higgins and Andy Hakes of AireXpert – Solving Communication Gaps in Aviation Maintenance

March 15, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:53 — 52.6MB)

Collaborative technology to the global airline industry that enables its customers to improve the pace and quality of aircraft maintenance, leading to significant productivity gains, lowered costs and improved safety…

Tripp Higgins, VP of Business Development, and Andy Hakes, Founder/CEO, of AireXpert (tech ops event control), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in theMouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

Continue Reading →

Anthony Derico – Where Will Travel Go Next?

March 6, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:41 — 53.5MB)

If you had an hour to sit with someone who helped build the fastest growing travel media company in the industry – what could you learn? From user-generated content, to the shift of the mobile-first environment and how trends have drastically shifted in travel, along with travel management companies, the joys of traveling with family, and why not to take your eye off the ball in the travel industry…

Anthony Derico, Business Mentor / Advisor for Quake Capital Partners and Business Consultant / Advisor to Voyager HQ, and former VP/Head of Sales for Skift and Skift table, joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

The move to mobile as the biggest travel shift
The next biggest shift?
The cellphone as a tool of travel
Skiplagged for finding cheap flights
Influencer content and maintaining an authentic voice, and how everyone is an influencer when they travel and share on social media
Making travel more accessible is a market share
Does travel have a homogeny problem to get that instagrammable moment?
The effect on business travel
Why people travel for business, the many layers of that decision making, and a possible game changer to focus on
Working for your snack
Creating amazing experiences as a brand, and really executing events that can leave an impression
The impact of the rise of startup culture on travel
Why travel as a benefit should be core to a business
How trade publications can get real stories in travel, and then thoughts on content that stands out
Inspiring children with meaningful travel destinations and experiences that make an impact

069 – James Nannos of Stay Wanderful – Surprise, Delight, Return

February 28, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:20 — 46.2MB)

Acquiring and retaining hospitality customers with surprise-and-delight rewards…

James Nannos, Director of Hotel Sales & Partnerships for Stay Wanderful (a direct booking tool to increase guest conversion and provide surprise- and-delight rewards) joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

How independent hospitality brands should think about retaining customers
Independent hospitality chains don’t have a powerful distribution network
Tangible guest rewards, differentiated experiences to guests, and then continuing conversation after the fact
How can independents get in there and make a difference
Most prefer experiences and benefits to points, most won’t get value out of points
Personalizing small but highly perceived value rewards
Most want to choose rewards
If Stay Wanderful is in many properties, how that helps still customers choose a specific property
Raising the bar of service won’t dilute the opportunity
Stay Wanderful makes it look like a hotel is giving you the rewards, like a white label solution for that hotel
The only business where customers are sleeping in palace of business—you must capture them while they are there
Independent properties fighting uphill battle
A fee-for-success model
The importance of fining out the real decision-maker of a hospitality property or brand
Why hotels are operating off of antiquating systems, integrating into an old tech stack
The helpfulness of the Cornell network
The impact of military methodology and experience on entrepreneurialism and how it connects with hotel business

068 – Kristen Vasan of Foursquare – Where People Go

February 20, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:43 — 50.1MB)

Why the original travel app is partnered with so many brands and integrated into so much technology…

Kristen Vasan, Director of Strategic Platform Partnerships for Foursquare (a technology company that enriches consumer experiences and informs business decisions through a deep understanding of location intelligence), joins John Matson in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

The state of personalization in the travel industry, gained some momentum
Foursquare was previously thought as a social networking app, but is a contextually aware location platform that sits on top of some of the biggest brands’ tech
Can build a contextually aware map of where people go
People comparing brands to one another are looking at how technological experiences compare to one another
The risk of becoming the best tech company instead of best service
Going from the check in app for locations, and how Foursquare pivoted to become a huge player in the enterprise location space
How their API plays into geo-locations for images and social media
The goal to give marketers the ability to “bake” location tech, to know where you’ve stopped, see the venue where you are, and “tap you on the shoulder”
Giving people the ability to be present and enjoy life, and only use phone when it matters most
How Foursquare reached 1 billion consumers
Brands building loyalty, having an understanding of offline behavior, a lot is still left to be done in that space
How business travel is different than personal travel
Seeing location trails of consumers and telling stories about where they go
People look to Foursquare as the original travel app
Are travel startups able to use Foursquare’s SDK and try to iterate on it
Foursquare’s database of over 105M places globally you can ingest and share with world
And — a volcano

067 – Filip Maksymilian Bloch and Daniel Flynn of Hotailors – Humanizing Travel with Technology

February 13, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 56:47 — 65.0MB)

Organizing business trips 90% faster, 30% cheaper via AI with a human touch…

Filip Maksymilian Bloch (CEO) and Daniel Flynn (Business Development Manager) of Hotailors (a next-gen AI-powered travel platform allowing organization of corporate travel faster, at a lower cost) join John Matson in the MouthMedia Network studio powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

What does Hotailors see changing in corporate travel bookings?
Hotailors wants to treat your employees right
Who’s driving the change in corporate travel?
Identifying and relating to the pain of being a traveler
Trimming down the “waste time” spent booking a trip
SMD vs Enterprise
Winning the market and becoming a unicorn
Sizing up the market
How Filip and Dan met
Narrow Domain Intelligence vs General Form Intelligence
Applying AI to the travel space
Where Filip sees AI succeeding and thriving
How Artificial Intelligence will help travel be better, smarter, cheaper, faster, and more comfortable
The competition in the travel AI space
Hotailor’s hybrid approach to travel – Merging A.I. efficiency with human touch by employing a network of 3,000 travel agents across the globe
Building a product so good, customers won’t want to leave – the key is to be faster and more robust
Hotailor’s approach to product research and development
How Hotailor built a network of 3,000 travel agents across the globe
The early struggles and mistakes made while growing Hotailors
Where Filip believes AI will be used and where he wants to see it utilized
Filip’s upbringing running hotels with his parents

066 – Andrea Bonaiuto of Eurowings Group and Brussels Airlines – Exploration and Experiences

January 22, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:33 — 49.9MB)

The growth of Brussels Airlines in the Americas..

Andrea Bonaiuto, Marketing Manager for The Americas with Eurowings Group, joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

The most effective B-to-B and B-to-C channels for Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, depending on gaol and purpose
Having a smaller budget, acting in startup style in the Americas
Working two brands
Brussels has three points of departure in North America, but Eurowings has seven gateways in North America
Local targeted events, getting people who haven’t travelled to a destination before, acquiring new customers, strategic partnerships
Tomorrowland as the largest music festival in Belgium, seeking to create a seamless customer journey experience and related experiences, with live DJs at 30,000 ft
A fun activation, working with United Airlines
Gate parties
Keeping customer loyalty when the customer may not be interacting directly with brand, consistency, quality service and experiences, and staying in front of customer
The deal with airline food, and how at 30,000 feet your taste buds change, t more he need to add more sodium
Business class menus created at a high culinary level
The “bleisure” markets
How promoting airlines is constantly changing with digital opportunities and new platforms
Virtual reality at a lot of events, experiencing what the inside of cabin and business class is like

065 – Dean Locke of Riskified – Enabling Ecommerce and Reducing Fraud in Travel

January 17, 2019Marc Raco Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:56 — 37.7MB)

An eCommerce fraud protection solution that protects travel companies…

Dean Locke, Head of Business Development at Riskified (the world’s leading eCommerce fraud-prevention company, trusted by hundreds of global brands – from luxury fashion houses and retail chains, to gift card and ticket marketplaces), joins John Matson and Bess Chapman in the MouthMedia Network studios powered by Sennheiser.

In this episode:

Travel as a high-ticket item, attractive to fraudsters because they can sell per transaction
Smaller margins mean magnification of chargebacks
How fraud happens
Gift cards are highly targeted
When revenue streams must shut down due to fraud

A Cakeboss treat
Being received in the travel space
The shift to digital payment, and preparing for cryptocurrencies
Indicators of risky transactions
The tech scene in NYC