Encore: Why can't we be friends? Forming productive travel advisor-supplier relationships

Trade Secrets is on a holiday break. We're sharing some of our favorite episodes until we return. This week, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Royal Caribbean’s Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales and trade support and service, and Jamie Margolis, owner of the Dream Vacati…

Season 5 finale: Emma and Jamie’s top 25 predictions for travel in 2025

In the season finale of Trade Secrets, co-hosts Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann share their top 25 travel predictions for 2025, covering everything from trends in the travel agency and tech landscape to destinations and travel styles they have their eyes on for the coming year. They also share so…

2024 rewind: What trends shaped the travel industry — and impacted agents — this year

From ASTA’s fight against American Airlines’ distribution strategy to the Taylor Swift effect on the travel industry, 2024 was bursting with headlines that affected travel advisors. This week on Trade Secrets, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada talk about the major travel trends and events …

How do I find and maintain work-life balance as a travel advisor? (Feat. Stephanie Lee)

Balancing work responsibilities with the needs of personal life has become exponentially more difficult for travel advisors as workloads have increased. But it’s also critically important to find time for friends, family and hobbies outside of work, and to develop systems at work that improve effic…

Demystifying DMCs: What are destination management companies, and how can travel advisors best work with them?

What’s the difference between a tour operator and a destination management company (DMC)? How can advisors find DMCs to work with, and what are the top do’s and don’ts of working with them? What if a contact at a DMC ghosts a travel advisor? Hear the answers to these questions and more in this week…

Oh, the places you’ll go! Destination weddings, honeymoons and beyond, feat. Jennifer Doncsecz

This week, Trade Secrets takes on the world. Jennifer Doncsecz of VIP Vacations returns to the podcast to discuss her specialty: destination weddings and honeymoons. She talks about everything from getting started selling destination weddings and honeymoons, to turning those travelers into clients …

Trade Secrets at Virtuoso Travel Week, part 3: How can travel advisors get ‘commissions with a comma'? (Feat. Dondra Ritzenthaler)

In this episode, the final in a three-part series of Trade Secrets recorded on the road at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada welcome Azamara CEO Dondra Ritzenthaler. She discusses leaving her retirement to helm the small-ship luxury cruise line, the impor…

Trade Secrets at Virtuoso Travel Week, part 2: As a travel advisor, how do I break into the world of luxury travel sales?

Trade Secrets is on the road again, this time at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. In the second episode of a three-part series recorded on-site in Las Vegas, Megan Vatnsdal, owner of Onyx & Evergreen Travel and affiliate of Four Hundred, talks about how she’s spent the past few years building her…

Trade Secrets at Virtuoso Travel Week, part 1: What are the latest trends in luxury travel? (Feat. David Kolner)

Trade Secrets is on the road again, this time at Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. In the first episode of a three-part series recorded on site, Virtuoso executive vice president David Kolner shares updates on Virtuoso’s annual event, how advisors are selling so much right now, the different habit…

Inside the Trade Secrets mailbag: Answering your most pressing questions (Feat. Chad Burt of Outside Agents)

This week, Chad Burt of Outside Agents joins Jamie Biesiada and Emma Weissmann of Trade Secrets for our annual “mailbag” episode, featuring travel advisor listener questions on a variety of topics. During the episode, we’ll dig into advanced use cases of generative AI, airline loyalty, host agency …