The Skift Travel Podcast

On today’s episode of the Skift podcast, we’re discussing the next generation of Chinese travelers, what they want, who is trying to deliver it and what it all means to the rest of the world. Joining us are Adam Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises and Michael Zakkour, a consultant at Tompkins International here in New York who co-authored the book "China’s Super Consumers: What 1 Billion Customers Want and How to Sell it to Them."

In 2016, business travel spending is expected to increase to $1.25 trillion. It’s a massive industry that’s going through big changes. Helping us sort through what’s real, what’s hype and what’s important in business travel is Mike McCormick, Executive Director and COO of the Global Business Travel Association, and Evan Konwiser, VP Digital Traveler for American Express Global Business Travel.

In this week's podcast we discuss smarter and more efficient bike-share programs, how wise cities set aside politics for transportation progress, and the ways contactless payments make everything easier for tourists. Joining us for the podcast is Hany Fam, a 20-year veteran of MasterCard and its President of Enterprise Partnerships and Seth Schultz, Director of Research, Measurement & Planning at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

For this episode we're focusing on the urban environment and talking to our friends at MasterCard about how cities and technology companies are working together to make smarter, more seamless environments. Joining us for the podcast is Hany Fam, a 20-year veteran of Mastercard and its President of Enterprise Partnerships, where he is focused on bringing the company's network, analytics, products and solutions to areas outside of its traditional payment sphere. Along with Fam, we hear from Seth Schultz, Director of Research, Measurement & Planning at C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. C40 is a 10-year-old network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change.

Family travel is one of the fastest growing segments in tourism, accounting for a third of all leisure trips. This podcast looks at the family travel segment and what it has become as generations have aged, the economy has changed. Guests: Rainer Jenss, president and founder of the Family Travel Association and George Fleck, VP of global brand management for Le Meridien and Westin

In this week's episode of the Skift Podcast, we're asking why the United States is not a vacation nation — and why it matters. We hear from Gary Oster, managing director of Project: Time Off, a coalition started as an initiative by the U.S. Travel Association to promote the benefits of taking vacation. We also welcome Dr. Ken Matos, senior director of research at the Families and Work Institute.

In this podcast, we’re talking about the question of marketing and selling travel in a time of crisis, whether that means vacations to Paris after the recent terror attacks or cruises in the Caribbean in the midst of a Zika outbreak. We’re joined by longtime travel agent Yaron Yarimi, who has reassured or redirected customers around trouble spots for more than two decades; and Cristyne Nicholas, previous president & CEO of NYC & Company, and now co-founder and CEO of Nicholas & Lence Communications, a strategic communications firm.

For this episode we take a deep dive into how Marriott is reshaping how brands — both in travel and beyond — rethink their role in content production and distribution. Marriott International has been a pioneer in this area, launching its own studio in late 2014 to create content for the company’s brands. We speak to David Beebe, Marriott International’s vice president of global creative and content marketing.

A report published by CB Insights showed 2015 as one of the greatest year for travel tech funding, with more than $5.2 billion invested across 348 deals. What does this year hold for startups? To help walk us through what’s happening on the venture capital front, Skift reporter Alexandra E. Petri and Skift News Editor Dennis Schaal sat down with Marcelo Ballvé, Research Director at CB Insights, and Krish Jagirdar, associate at Brand New Matter, which has investments in Rocketrip and Yatra and consults with early-stage startups on transforming their businesses.

Gone are the days of foldout maps and paperback guidebooks meant to help travelers navigate new terrain. Today’s it’s all about mobile apps, which in a highly-digitized environment are valuable tools not just for consumers to understand and explore new terrain but for businesses to better comprehend consumer habits and trends. To help walk us through what’s happening with local discovery, we sat down with Dennis Crowley, co-founder and executive chairman of Foursquare, and his colleague Sarah Spagnolo, editor at large for the company and a veteran of travel publishing.