What do Taylor Swift, March Madness, Formula 1 and a tiny weekend festival in Florida have in common? They’re all events-based travel, a category that is bringing in a tidal wave of business -- and standing the travel-booking process on its head.

In this episode host Rebecca Tobin talks with senior editor Nicole Edenedo; Kier Matthews, vice president of global luxury sales for On Location Experiences, a wholesale and hospitality supplier for sports and entertainment events; and Douglas Quinby, the CEO of Arival, about the types of events people travel for, who’s doing the traveling, how much they’re spending and how the travel industry should be thinking about catering to them, from stans to casual fans.

This episode is part of our annual Summer Series, where we feature some of our favorite recent Folo by Travel Weekly discussions. This episode was recorded March 18 and has been edited for length and clarity.

Episode sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by JOIA Aruba by Iberostar. https://www.iberostar.com

Related links:

That's the ticket: Events travel hits the big time  https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Tour-Operators/Events-travel-thats-the-ticket

Events travel is a hot ticket this summer https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/Allianz-Partners-USA-event-travel-numbers

On Location Experiences http://www.onlocationexp.com

Arival's research study "The Power of Events: How sports and performing arts drive tourism" (for purchase) https://arival.travel/research/the-power-of-events-how-sports-and-performing-arts-drive-tourism/a