Travel Trends with Dan Christian

Send us Fan Mail People don’t just want to go somewhere anymore, they want to feel something. That emotional shift is powering the experience economy and changing how we celebrate love, milestones, and meaningful moments. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we sit down with Cody Sudmeier , co founder and CEO of Spur Experiences , to explore why gifting moments is quickly overtaking gifting things an...

Send us Fan Mail A country this slender shouldn’t hold so much, yet Chile layers entire worlds end to end: a cosmopolitan capital set against the Andes, a desert where the night sky feels close enough to touch, vast Patagonian parks that safeguard wild silence, and a Pacific island where living tradition matters more than spectacle. In episode nine of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan a...

Send us Fan Mail Big rooms. Bigger ideas. And a roadmap for what’s next in global tourism. In this event preview episode , we’re joined once again by Deborah Rothe, Director of ITB Berlin , to unpack what’s coming when more than 100,000 travel professionals from 170 countries converge in Berlin this March. From Angola’s host-country spotlight to Thailand’s major presence, we highlight the regions...

Send us Fan Mail The moment a guide stops narrating a place and starts guiding a person, everything changes. That idea anchors this season finale with Joe Pine , the visionary behind The Experience Economy and his latest book The Transformation Economy , alongside Jake Haupert , Co-founder of the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). Together, they lay out a clear and practical roadmap for turnin...

Send us Fan Mail History lovers, wine enthusiasts, and weekend escape artists will feel right at home in Niagara on the Lake. In episode eight of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor and co-host Gabe Saglie travel to Niagara-on-the-Lake , selected as part of Travelzoo’s Canada Best Bets for 2026 , alongside Brianne Hawley from Tourism Niagara-on-the-Lake to expl...

Send us Fan Mail The biggest surprise in travel tech right now isn’t a model, it’s a movement. From a 20 page memo to a Series C and $1.5B in annual sales, Fora’s rise has been powered by a community of 11,000 advisors, a product organization that ships fast, and a deep belief that hospitality is fundamentally human. Dan sat down with Co-founder and Chief Product & Technology Officer,  Jake Pe...

Send us Fan Mail A 14-hour flight with nothing but coloring books sparked a lifelong fascination. In a special episode closing out our Aviation Series, Dan sits down with his son Oliver Christian, the kid who once built LAX in the garage and could identify aircraft by silhouette, to trace the path from childhood plane-spotting to future pilot, and to explore where aviation is headed next. We break...

Send us Fan Mail What if one trip could deliver six different adventures without crossing a border? In episode seven of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor and co-host Gabe Saglie head to Colombia - selected as part of Travelzoo’s Canada Best Bets for 2026 - with ProColombia’s, Leisure Tourism Manager, María José Silvato unpack why 2026 is the right moment to g...

Send us Fan Mail Luxury is changing fast and we wanted to know what it looks like when comfort, curiosity, and real local impact meet. Luxury is entering a new era, one defined less by thread counts and more by access, education, and meaningful impact. In this episode, we sit down with Yves Marceau, VP of Product at G Adventures , to explore the launch of National Geographic Signature with G Adven...

Send us Fan Mail Flight canceled, heart rate rising, clock ticking. Now imagine a single tap that rebooks you on any airline in minutes or delivers a full refund without lines, calls, or frustration. In this episode, we sit down with Patrick Steadman, VP of Disruption at Hopper and Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS), to unpack the new playbook for certainty in an increasingly unpredictable sky. We...

Send us Fan Mail Chicago isn’t just back, it’s surging. In episode six of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor and co-host Gabe Saglie sit down with Lisa Nucci of Choose Chicago to map out the experiences and local insights that turn a short visit into a lasting memory. We explore the South Side’s moment in the spotlight, from the Obama Presidential Center as a...

Send us Fan Mail A family basement isn't where you’d expect a global luggage brand to begin, but that’s exactly where the Heys story took flight. In this episode, we sit down with CEO Emran Sheikh to unpack four decades of innovation, bold design choices, and a proudly Canadian identity that now spans 75 countries. From candy-coloured hard shells that broke up a sea of black bags to Bluetooth...

Send us Fan Mail The aviation story is bigger than fares and aircraft, it’s about how global alliances quietly choreograph your entire journey. In the our kickoff episode of our Aviation series, we sit down with Roger Blackburn, VP Commercial & Loyalty at oneworld Alliance, to reveal how 15+ member airlines coordinate routes, lounges, data, and service so travelers can move across continents w...

Send us Fan Mail Savannah never makes you choose between ease and depth; it delivers both the moment you start exploring. In episode five of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor and co-host Gabe Saglie sit down with Supriya Christopher of Visit Savannah to map out how America’s first planned city blends oak-shaded squares, layered history, and a surprisingly mod...

Send us Fan Mail Experiences - not things - are becoming the world’s most powerful growth market, and investor Michael Zeisser, Managing Partner, FMZ Ventures joins us to explain why. In this Captains of Industry episode, we explore how the shift from goods to meaning is reshaping the entire travel and experiences economy and what it means to play the long game in a world where travelers increasin...

Send us Fan Mail Ready to trade crowds for clarity and noise for nature? In episode four of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor (and co-host) Gabe Saglie head to Finland with Visit Finland’s Tarja Koivisto to map out a year-round escape shaped by wellness, design, and wild beauty. Think 188,000 lakes, 3 million saunas, and four regions that make trip-planning e...

Send us Fan Mail Start the new year with a clear-eyed plan for transformational travel. In the final episode of our Sustainability Series, we sit down with Dr. Susanne Etti, Intrepid’s Global Environmental Impact Manager, to explore how one of the world’s leading adventure brands is moving sustainability from promises to proof-phasing out offsets, investing directly in decarbonization, and expandi...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine a travel company where the business itself fuels impact, not just through donations but through ownership. That is the UnTours story. In this episode, CEO Jonathan Coleman shares how the world’s first certified B Corp tour operator became part of a foundation that invests every dollar into small businesses creating meaningful change in destinations. Jonathan walks us throu...

Send us Fan Mail A century-old highway is about to steal the spotlight again. In episode three of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor (and co-host) Gabe Saglie head to Arizona’s storied stretch of Route 66 with guest Nikki Terlesky , Director of Operations for the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. Together, they explore why the Mother Road still embodie...

Send us Fan Mail The rails are buzzing for a reason: travelers want flexible journeys, city-center convenience, and window-seat scenery without the stress. At the Railbookers Global Summit, we sat down with CEO Frank Marini and three of his senior leaders to explore how a remote-first culture, deep trade partnerships, and an ambitious AI strategy are powering the renaissance of rail travel. Frank...

Send us Fan Mail The rules of “green travel” have changed. We’re moving beyond feel-good labels to a world where travelers, advisors, and investors expect real proof, data, targets, and measurable benefits for the places we visit. To open our Sustainability Series, Shannon Guihan, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Travel Corporation, joins us to unpack what credible impact looks like in 2026 and...

Send us Fan Mail Ready to travel smarter in 2026? In episode two of our 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series , Dan and Travelzoo Senior Editor (and co-host) Gabe Saglie sit down with Andrew Young , Senior Producer, Content & Tourism Board Lead, to reveal Travelzoo’s Best Bets for the U.S. and Canada and unpack the “why now” behind each destination so you can plan trips that feel timely, meaningf...

Send us Fan Mail We’re wrapping up our 2025 events spotlights with our biggest event episode ever, a 5+ hour special recorded live at Phocuswright San Diego . This landmark episode features 25 exclusive interviews with industry leaders shaping the future of travel, technology, distribution, and the in-destination experience. This year’s Phocuswright was a standout event for Travel Trends, and we’r...

Send us Fan Mail The way travelers discover and book multi-day adventures is shifting fast, and TourRadar is leaning all the way in. In this episode, TourRadar co-founder and CEO Travis Pittman breaks down how a $200B category is rewriting its playbook around creators, mobile, and practical AI to turn social inspiration into real, bookable demand. From a new social commerce layer that links travel...

Send us Fan Mail We’re kicking off a 10-part Travelzoo Best Bets Series to explore how smarter and more meaningful travel is taking center stage and how to book it at real value. Dan and Travelzoo’s Senior Editor and co-host Gabe Saglie are joined by Jonathan Jones, Travelzoo’s Head of Publishing , who leads the team behind the brand’s most trusted deals, including the iconic Top 20. A champion of...