Growing Global Spanish Speaking Tourism with Civitatis

Send us a text

In this episode, we’re joined by Ismael García, Chief Marketing Officer of Civitatis, a leading Spanish-language OTA that’s reshaping how millions experience travel. From humble beginnings as a travel blog to becoming a major player offering tens of thousands of activities worldwide, Civitatis has carved out a unique space in the global tourism industry.

We discuss into their impressive growth trajectory (including a $50M raise and 30% annual growth), their strategic expansion into new language markets, and why offering 24/7 support in travelers’ native languages has helped earn a 9.1/10 satisfaction rating from over 4 million reviews.

Ismael also talks about:

• How social media is evolving into a search engine for travel inspiration
• Why Japan is becoming a top destination for Latin American and European travelers
• How curation, sustainability, and local expertise will shape the future of tourism

And for those building their career in travel? Ismael's advice: find the wave—and ride it.

👉 Listen to Transforming Spanish-Speaking  Tourism Through Curation Now

🔥 Season 5 Title Sponsors: TravelAI, Stay22, Propellic, Flight Centre, Collette, Flywire, Traveltek and Protect Group

Season 5 Launched Jan 15th. New Episodes Every Weds! Check out our first 4 Seasons.

https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
I think it's clear that the future of tourism is
linked with tourism activities.
We're seeing a lot of companiesentering the space, whether
that's banking, whether that'sbookings, airbnbs.
The human nature is to go anddiscover and travel, and now
it's easier than ever, and sotourism attractions and tourism

(00:23):
activities are going to be partof that.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Hello everyone and welcome back to Travel Trends.
This is your host, danChristian, and I hope you all
enjoyed the multi-day tourseries that we just wrapped up
in partnership with our friendsover at Tour Optima, and next
week we're going to be startingour River Cruise series, brought
to you by our friends over atCaptio.
So thanks again to all ourpartners for supporting us.
And today we're actually goingto be speaking to one of the

(00:51):
companies that's going to be atitle sponsor of Season 6.
And I actually asked them to bea part of Season 5 because this
company, civitatis, has beengoing from strength to strength
over the last decade.
They were actually founded in2008 in Madrid and they were
focused on the Spanish market.
They have raised over $100million.
In fact, they raised about $50million just in the last year

(01:13):
from one of their key investors,vitruvian Partners, who clearly
is very committed and focusedon the potential growth, which
has been pretty astounding whenyou look at the numbers.
I mean they have already takenmore than 30 million travelers
around the world.
They had 10 million last year.
They've been growing by 30%.
They're growing in places likeJapan and New York and Rome and,

(01:35):
of course, also Madrid, and theteam has been focused on
introducing local tours andactivities for Spanish speakers,
but they're continuing theirglobal expansion.
When you look at the growthpotential they have in Mexico
and Latin America, you can seewhy they've gotten the funding
and they're continuing to seethe growth and, as their CEO

(01:55):
also highlighted, that they'veactually been profitable since
day one.
So they have been using thisfunding to be able to rapidly
grow and they've investedsignificantly in technology.
That's certainly one of the bigfactors of their success, but
clearly, across the journey,it's really all been about a
strong focus on customersatisfaction, and one of the

(02:15):
things that I talked to Ismaelabout is their commitment to
sustainability.
It really has been a core focusof their business and their
commitment is very real andsincere, and so today I wanted
to get a full understanding,speaking to Ismail, about the
background of Civitatis andwhere this company is continuing
to grow and evolve, since a lotof these OTAs, or online travel

(02:39):
agencies, have been where manypartners in our industry are
looking to connect with anddistribute their tours, and
given that they have such astrong platform that is very
focused on the user experienceand I'll give you an exact
example, and you'll hear thiscome up in our conversation.
When you're looking at Rome andyou're trying to figure out
what tour of the Colosseum to do, they don't give you 150

(03:00):
options.
They give you the three optionsthat are best suited to what
your experience should be, and Ithink this is where they've
been putting a focus on theguest experience, and that is an
optimal user experience.
I think that's one of thereasons that they now have
93,000 activities across morethan 4,000 destinations, and so

(03:21):
that's one of the big reasons Iwanted to bring Ismael onto the
show and have this conversationwith him.
So get ready for manyhighlights and don't forget we
do share clips on all our socialchannels, so you'll be able to
find highlights from thisconversation on Instagram,
youtube and LinkedIn.
At Travel Trends Podcast.
We'll be right back.

(03:42):
Attention travel operators,destination management companies
and accommodation providers.
Managing payments doesn't haveto be a source of stress.
Meet Flywire, the modernpayments platform built
specifically for the uniqueneeds of the travel industry.
With Flywire, you can collectpayments from travelers
worldwide with ease, enjoyfaster payouts in your preferred
currency, reduce payment feesand offer your guests flexible,

(04:05):
localized payment optionsthey're familiar with.
Not only does Flywire simplifyyour operations, but it also
helps elevate your guestexperience and boost your bottom
line.
That means you can stopworrying about payments and
focus on what you do bestcreating unforgettable travel
experiences.
Discover how Flywire can helpyour business save time, save
money and deliver truly seamlesstransactions.

(04:26):
Visit flywirecom slash traveltrends to learn more.
That's flywirecom slash traveltrends ordinary.
Then you have to say hello toour good friends at Collette,
where guided travel gets apremium upgrade.

(04:46):
For over 100 years, collettehas been crafting expertly
guided tours that go beyond thestereotypes.
With over 170 tours across allseven continents, collette
offers something for every typeof traveler, from culturally
immersive small group journeysto single city stays and even
river cruises.
And with their industry-leadingtravel protection plan, you can
cancel for any reason up to 24hours before departure.

(05:09):
Plus, when you book air withColette, they even offer a
private chauffeur service to andfrom the airport.
Discover why travelers loveColette and why guided travel is
thriving.
Join the evolution of traveltoday at GoColettecom.
Your next adventure awaits.
That's GoColettecom.
Your next adventure awaits.
That's GoColettecom.
And now back to the show.

(05:31):
Now let's bring in Ismael tothis conversation.
Ismael, it's so great to haveyou on Travel Trends.
Welcome to the show.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Well, thank you for inviting me.
It's a pleasure to be with you.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
For sure.
I'd love to start further tothe introduction with your
background in tourism, becausecertainly you've worked with a
number of travel brands before.
You've also been a teacher.
I think you've got such aunique skill set to bring as the
CMO for Civitatis.
But tell us a bit about yourbackground and how you got into
tourism and the travel industryin the first place the first

(06:02):
place?

Speaker 1 (06:02):
Sure, well, as you said, I've worked for many
companies and specializing intech startups, two-sided
marketplaces and event ticketingindustry so more like live
events, concerts, theater, playsand that kind of industry and
at some point in my career, oneof the startups launched a
project where we startedintegrating, aggregating

(06:23):
third-party inventory, and themost obvious start was with APIs
from travel tech companies, andso that was back in 2018.
In a startup called Ticketea, westarted aggregating that
inventory and I was amazed tosee the opportunities that we
had in that space, right, amazedto see the opportunities that

(06:49):
we had in that space, right,like we were really bringing
value to users and I reallyliked that.
And so, six years later, whenCivitatis and I got in touch, it
was a direct match to me.
I tried the product back in2018.
I had an amazing experiencewith Civitatis in Budapest and I
still remember having an issuethat was sold by customer care,

(07:13):
and so that kind of experiencesstick with you as a user, and so
it really made a difference andCivitatis, for me, was really
an easy decision.
And it was more than an easydecision.
It was really something Iwanted to do in my life.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, no, it's a great company, so perfect
decision.
And I think, even your role justbefore that at Eventbrite,
where you were the global headof growth marketing.
Most of our listeners, ofcourse, are familiar with
Eventbrite I mean, pretty mucheveryone has been to an
Eventbrite event so they'refamiliar with the brand and the
fact that you were there forfive years before Civitadas and
that is, I guess, a verywell-known global brand.

(07:54):
And that's part of what I wantto discuss today, because I'm
actually very familiar withCivitadas and have a great
respect for the company and whatyou've built and really, where
you're headed, because you'revery unique in the sense that
you guys are a Spanish, you know, based in Madrid, a Spanish
speaking OTA or online travelagency.
But I think I want to make sureall of our listeners can wrap

(08:14):
their head around who Civitatisis, what you guys do.
So if you wouldn't mindactually I know you weren't
there at the very beginning, butif you wouldn't mind actually
taking us back for those thatare not familiar to tell us
about Civitatis and the journeythat the company has been on.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Sure, so Civitatis is the leading creative
marketplace for tourismactivities in Spanish, right, so
we now have more than 90,000activities in more than 4,000
destinations across 160countries.
Right, but it wasn't the casewhen he was founded.
Alberto Gutierrez, the founder,in 2008, started working with

(08:51):
travel guides to earn somepocket money to travel actually
and so his mindset was more hey,I'm going to create a few blog
posts, a few blogs that aregoing to rank on Google and I'm
going to earn some affiliationmoney, right, so affiliates
marketing was kind of the gem,the spark.

(09:12):
But then, suddenly, one day, hereceived a message from a
supplier in Prague that wantedto advertise on his websites, on
his blog, and the guy reallywanted to do some normal
advertising.
Alberto, being an engineer,thought okay, I think I can
deliver a better option for you.

(09:33):
And so, instead of including abanner on the website, alberto,
with his different mindset,found a new solution.
He instead published the tourand generated direct bookings
for this provider.
Right, which was in Prague.
And so, publishing the tour, hestarted generating real revenue

(09:54):
and bringing real value to thissupplier.
So that's how, really, cvtacstarted, and for almost six
years, alberto was working onhis own.
I did, did everything writingthe websites, focusing on SEO,
customer care, contacting newsuppliers, finances, etc.
And after that he had a smallteam of 10 people and now we are

(10:15):
nearly 400 people.
So that's Helitatis, and how itstarted.
Like you can see, it's really,really from the ground.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, I know this is the thing that always fascinated
me about the company and youknow, seeing you and the team at
various events over the lastcouple of years.
It's the company has beengrowing and growing.
Clearly there's a massiveglobal Spanish speaking market
and I really wish that we couldbe having this conversation in
Spanish.
I keep working on my Spanish,but it's not quite there yet.

(10:43):
But let's make a commitmentthat one day in the future we'll
maybe do this podcast togetherin Spanish.
But when you think aboutCivitadas today, in 2025, you
have that history and thatbackground.
But my understanding is you'restarting to expand globally
outside of Spanish-speakingmarkets.
So tell us a little bit moreabout that plan and that
objective, because clearly youhad a great audience to be able

(11:06):
to introduce all theseexperiences to in Spanish
speaking and still lots ofgrowth opportunity, and I can't
think of another.
I'm sure there are othercompetitors in that space,
certainly nowhere near on thescale of Civitada.
So, yeah, tell us a little bitmore, if you wouldn't mind,
about, I guess, the Spanishspeaking market and those growth
plans and then how you'relooking at global growth outside
of Spanish-speaking countriesand obviously targeting some

(11:27):
English-language countries aswell.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
Sure, so we again, as I was saying, the company
resorted by trying to fieldtrips for Spanish-speaking users
.
We're now offering that toother languages, so it's part of
the growth playbook as well.
So we have Portuguese, italian,french and English-speaking
users.
The core focus is still onSpanish-speaking users.

(11:51):
As you were saying, spain is,worldwide, a small market, but
LATAM is a big one, right?
There are like nearly 700million Spanish-speaking users
that we can basically offer ourinventory to, and so the play is

(12:12):
really let's go for LatinAmerican countries, and so, when
you think about that, you go toMexico, which is 150 million
people, you go to Argentina, yougo to Colombia and others, and
obviously, naturally, if youwant to target Latin American
users, you're probably going togo after, also, brazil, which is

(12:35):
a continent on itself, right,with more than 250 million users
, and so that's really how thecompany started thinking about
it.
But it's not only about thelanguage, right?
One of the things that wasreally rooted in the company's
DNA is, as I was saying earlier,having a top-notch customer

(12:59):
care service, and so thatcustomer care service needs to
be localized.
You need to give the customercare service 24-7, right,
because you have peopletraveling all around the world
in their language.
You want to serve them in amanner in which you can solve
the issues quite fast.
Simplicity is at the core of thecompany, and the quality of the

(13:21):
tools we select throughcreation is also a key
differentiator for us.
And so expanding into newmarkets, again, is not just
about translating copies, it'sabout adapting paywalls, it's
about adapting the inventory.
You have the supply, you haveright.

(13:41):
Brazilians travel a lotinternally in the country, or
they go a lot to Argentina.
They don't have the same routes, they don't have the same
corridors than Argentinians willhave, and so on, right.
And so we need to really workon that inventory that we create
with our team internally.
So that's really how we arethinking about this is expand

(14:06):
into new markets, spanishspeaking first, then Portuguese
speaking, Italian, french,adapting all the services we
have to those clients.
With this unique approach ofcreating the marketplace.
We don't want a thousand toolsfor the Coliseum, right?
We select the three bestoptions for the user.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
You mentioned something really interesting
there, ismael, and I want to goback to it, which is you talked
about, like your unique sellingproposition or what it is that
you're offering your customers,and I think this is something
that I always find fascinating.
When I get a chance to speak toa CMO like yourself and, given
part of my background, this iswhere I love marketing and I
love speaking to other reallyclever marketers that need to

(14:49):
work out what is it about thisbusiness that is special or
unique and how can I communicatethat to get new customers or
keep people coming back, and soI would love for you to actually
share some details on that andI guess what I'd specifically
ask you.
Clearly, there was thisincumbent advantage of being
kind of one of the largest andleading Spanish speaking

(15:10):
platforms, and now you'reobviously entering, you know,
multiple language markets andyou know you have really unique
activity offerings.
I know you guys have, like youknow, 24 seven customer service
and you've got millions ofreviews.
You've got so many things goingfor you when you stack yourself
up against the competition, andI'm not going to list them all

(15:31):
because there's obviously anumber of other companies that
are in the activity space, but Iwould like to hear if you
wouldn't mind sharing for us andour listeners, what is it that
really sets Civitatis apart fromall the other online travel
agencies that are out there.

Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, sure.
So what sets us apart and thatis increasingly more relevant is
that we are that creativemarketplace and we're truly
creative, right.
The example I gave you is areal example.
We have competitors offeringmore than a thousand options to
visit the concert.
We offer three, and we offerthree in Spanish for Spanish
speaking users, we offer threein Portuguese for Portuguese

(16:08):
speaking users, and so there isa team behind that really makes
sure the quality is there.
That quality is then alsobacked by our users reviews.
Like you said, we have more thanfour million user reviews with
9.1 out of 10 as a score.
That means we have quality.

(16:30):
When we see inventory or we seesuppliers that aren't matching
the quality standards that wehave, that's a plug that we
raise internally, and so we makesure that the quality stays
there, either by contacting thesupplier and trying to improve
the situation, fix those issuesthat we are, we are seeing or we

(16:51):
are being communicated, ordirectly by finding another
supplier, and and the creationgives us that opportunity to
really work hand in hand with asupplier, right, and so that's
very important.
Again, customer care, as I wassaying in language 24 7 we're
there, we're here with for the,for the client, for the traveler

(17:14):
, we are like your companion.
So, right, we make sure we offera simple experience on sites,
on the, on the website, uh,through our distribution
partners, we make sure theinventory we have is in your
language and its quality, andthere is this customer care
experience that we reallycherish.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
There's a specific pain point there and I've heard
it brought up by Douglas at theDouglas Quindby at the Rival
Conference about the challengefrom a consumer point of view
when there's dozens, if nothundreds, of options and you're
trying to sift through, as aconsumer, ones that have the
best reviews and the pricing andthe availability on the day.
So that question about thecomplexity of consumers

(18:00):
navigating marketplaces is agreat example of what Civitatis
sets you apart.
Certainly, and like what is theproblem you solve as a startup
that you've grown successfullyand being mindful of the fact
that there's customer painpoints out there and you can
address them and that's a reasonwhy people choose Civitatis.
So I appreciate you sharingthat with us because I think
that's super valuable and highlyrelevant.

(18:21):
The other thing I wanted todive a little deeper on given,
of course, you are the CMOglobally for this brand and it's
got an incredible successtrajectory, which I'm sure is
exciting for you just in termsof, like, budget resources team.
But clearly, obviously, everynew business needs to be
profitable.
You've got to be focused on ROIand so I would be really keen

(18:41):
just to get an overview of howyou're marketing the brand
globally and if you can sharesome of your marketing
strategies and priorities for2025.
And part of that, of course, isthe typical customer profile,
like who you're trying to reach,and I'll just share this Ismael
with our listeners as well,because this is where to bring
everyone along on the journey.
One of the things that I alwaysfound fascinating was the big

(19:03):
OTAs between Expedia and Booking, and Expedia was always great
at brand marketing and Bookingwas really fantastic at
performance marketing, so theyreally got SEO and SEM and
Expedia was on television andbillboards and ultimately, as
they entered each other'smarkets, as Expedia went to
Europe and Booking came toAmerica, they both had to shift
their strategies and one was 70%brand and 30% performance and

(19:27):
one was 70% performance and 30%brand, and both of them have
more or less had to start to netout where they actually are
half brand and half performance.
And so I guess that's where I'mgoing with this question for
you.
I just genuinely keen to know,based on what you can share
about how you are marketingCivitatis globally and some of
the secrets to your success, andwhere you're planning to take

(19:48):
it in 2025 and beyond.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
So we have this obviously famous local approach,
right, civitatis is focused onthe languages, so obviously we
market to the languages we serveand to those users, and Spanish
has a particularity.
Right, we are targetingdifferent continents, we're

(20:13):
targeting very differentcultures, and so we need to
really adapt that, and so wecreated a very strong brand.
I think we're very, veryvisually recognizable, and so
that is a really good anchor forus to then go and localize.
And so localizing means I go toColombia, I need to speak the

(20:36):
Colombian way.
I go to Mexico, I need to feellike I'm Mexican and culturally,
mexicans are probably closersometimes in some regions to US
cultures versus Spanish cultures, and so, even if it's the same
language, we need to adapt there.
So that's again, that'smarketing 1.0 is the basics, but

(21:03):
it matters and it's very, very,very important.
What I would say is alsocreating a brand globally is
many times and often is seen aswork from the marketing team
here.
What I think is it's also aboutthe product.

(21:23):
It's how we localize theproduct, how we localize
payments, is how we localizedescriptions, is how we localize
the inventory we select forlocal tours and activities.
I was saying, for example,brazil lots of people traveling
internally in the country andthe destinations the

(21:44):
international destinations arevery different from the ones you
can find for Argentinians, forexample, and so really having
that inventory in their languageactivities that really
resonates with what thosecoaches are looking for and
adapting the language to allusers right Content, tours,

(22:06):
customer care, it's all there.
In terms of the plans for 2025,I think there is a trend that
everybody is seeing Not going todiscover anything new here, but
it's social media.
First, users are searching onTikTok, now they're searching on

(22:28):
Instagram.
It's not anymore just adiscovery or inspiration
platform.
Now people go and search for it, they save it and really use it
to start their experience.
And it's very, very interestingbecause it complements very

(22:49):
well traditional search enginesand what we're seeing right now
with AI, with more and morepeople just going and trying to
build their journeys through AI.
But there is still that firstvisual, video inspiration and
search that you want to see,especially obviously in your

(23:11):
audiences.
We're also seeing audiences 50plus that are using those social
media channels.
So social media is a key partof the marketing plan for
Civitatis.
It focuses Spanish, spain as amarket and then a couple of

(23:32):
Latin countries that we reallywant to target for next year,
and these new markets that weare expanding obviously are
helping us reach new customers,and that's a constant challenge
right locally.
Opening those new markets andmarkets that are in constant

(23:53):
digitalization are a greatsource for user acquisition, so
that's really where we arefocusing.
Again, you are mentioning thesplit between performance and,
and Civita is a company that isalways, since its inception,
being a BGA positive, and so weare really looking at where we

(24:19):
invest the money and the valueit generates and, in parallel,
we are creating that brand InSpain.
We have a very strong brand.
Well, we are creating thatbrand In Spain.
We have a very strong brand,and we really now need to bring
that to Mexico, brazil,argentina as well.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Yeah, no, I appreciate sharing all of that.
It's such important context,and especially when I look at
the world in 2025 and thinkingthrough, you know, the next few
years with geopolitical events.
Certainly there is a strengthin Europe and there's a huge
opportunity in the LATAM markets.
I'm already very bullish onColombia, for example.
I happen to sit on the board ofa tour operator there, as some
of our listeners know, but itwas traveling to Colombia that

(24:52):
really made the difference to me.
When you see a market that isso well-primed for traveler
growth.
It's got the infrastructure inplace, it's safe, the people are
lovely, the food, theactivities it's got so much to
offer.
The people are lovely, the food, the activities like it's got
so much to offer, and that's oneof several amazing countries in
South America that you're thenable to capitalize on,
especially for Spanish speakingtravelers.
That's something that reallystands out to me, especially

(25:13):
looking at the US market forSpanish speaking Americans that
are more likely to travel toSpanish speaking destinations,
whether it be Puerto Rico orMexico and certainly South
America.
So so there's, yeah, there's.
I really appreciate you sharinga number of those insights and
highlights of what you're up to.
We'll be right back.
Are you looking for ways togrow your travel business

(25:36):
through paid media and optimizedSEO, then you have to check out
our friends at Propeleccom.
They are the leading digitalagency for growth in travel and
tourism.
Propelec offers bold digitalmarketing strategies to ensure
your travel company's success.
They have a remarkablemethodology that has actually
been implemented by TravelAIcom,and they are a leading SEO

(25:57):
agency globally and offer arange of resources a podcast of
their own, a blog on theirwebsite, propelliccom that's
P-R-O-P-E-L-L-I-Ccom.
And don't forget to mentionTravel Trends for your free
marketing audit.
In today's fast-paced travelindustry, businesses face
constant challenges keeping upwith new technologies, meeting

(26:21):
ever-evolving customerexpectations and promoting
products effectively.
The real struggle Managing itall in-house.
That's where TravelTech stepsin to transform your business.
With over 25 years ofexperience, traveltech is one of
the most trusted names intravel technology, offering
tailored solutions to fit yourunique needs.
They make it easy to createseamless, bookable websites,

(26:42):
manage and promote products andautomate everyday tasks, giving
your team more time to focus onwhat matters most your customers
.
Plus, travel tech is the go-toname in cruise technology, with
cutting-edge solutions for touroperators as well.
With cutting edge solutions fortour operators as well.
Plus, travel Tech has justlaunched Tech Talk, a new
podcast for travel professionalsby travel professionals.

(27:02):
Explore the stories behind thebiggest innovations in travel.
Visit traveltechcom slashtraveltrends or tune into Tech
Talk on Spotify and Apple.
That's traveltechcom slashtraveltrends and Tech Talk on

(27:31):
Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Founders John Leotier and ChrisJensen live from Focusrite,
where they shared how theirinnovative use of AI is
reshaping the travel industry.
If you missed it, we highlyrecommend going back to hear
their inspiring story ofbuilding one of the fastest
growing, profitable AI companiesin travel.
Entirely bootstrapped Travel AIis revolutionizing the industry

(27:53):
by blending AI efficiency withpersonalized human centered
travel experiences for microsegmentation to tailor travel
solutions.
Their mission is to enhanceevery traveler's journey while
setting the pace for travelsfuture.
Here's how you can join theexciting mission.
If you or someone you know intech or AI is looking for a new
career that combines innovationand impact, then head to

(28:16):
travelaicom or follow them onLinkedIn to explore more
opportunities.
They are growing fast.
Thanks again for your continuedsupport.
And now back to the show.
I would love to ask you howyou're utilizing AI in marketing
, because certainly marketingand technology have been the two
kind of best use cases forstarting to leverage AI, and I'm

(28:36):
not trying to put you on thespot with this question, but I'm
just genuinely curious and I'msure our listeners are too if
how you might be incorporatingAI into your marketing activity
and then if you wouldn't mindsharing, as we segue into
technology, how you're utilizingAI to scale this business more
efficiently, which seems to beone of the major undertakings

(28:57):
most companies are leveraging AIfor today.
So, yeah, I'd love to hear howyou're looking at that, both in
marketing and then as it relatesto technology.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Sure.
Well, I think in marketing, weare leveraging it in several
ways.
The first one is going to be oncontent generation, and so you
can now create images, you cannow create videos and we're just
at the beginning of this rightand so this has always been one
of the challenges in travel, andespecially in experiences.

(29:27):
You want to have great contentsthat doesn't look like
Shutterstock images.
You need 90,000 activities tobe shown, and so there is this
huge diversity where it was areal challenge to go and find

(29:49):
this content.
You cannot generate a lot ofthat, and so that's the first
way in which it really helpssolve a real problem.
We've always looked at AI as atool that is going to help reach
an end.
Right, we don't want to use AI,for using AI, it needs to

(30:11):
really help us bring value tothe user, and so, on top of that
, after creating and generatingthat content whether that's the
image, video or text we alsoobviously use it through the
platforms where we are, we areinvesting, and so the googles,
the metas, the tick tocks theyare all using ai now to increase

(30:35):
audience, improve audiencereaching and also optimization
of campaigns, and so all that isobviously tuned.
You can imagine promoting90,000 activities is not done by
a human, and so we need toleverage those capacities and it
really helps us delivercampaigns everywhere and

(31:01):
optimize those.
We just launched a new campaignyesterday.
The video, the first, theteaser is all done through AI as
well, and so this is not.
We're not only talking aboutperformance marketing and just
creating some small visuals.
We're going that far, and sothat's how we're using
marketing-wise.
On top of that, then, we aregoing to use it to obviously

(31:26):
generate internal resources,analyze data and all the
efficiencies that you can findthrough AI tools.
That's not specific to marketing, though.
In terms of technology you wereasking.
What we are doing is we'relooking at potential
improvements in how we find theinventory, how we can improve

(31:54):
some of the descriptions, how wecan filter images.
We have more than four millionreviews, as you were saying, so
we need to find efficiencies.
We can't be looking at fourmillion images or text contents,
and so sentiments and how weuse it in the technology here is

(32:14):
a clear winner.
So, again, as I was saying,really need to find those use
cases and how AI can solve those.
You've got the obvious onescustomer care, content
generation and then how it helpsus really solve this creation.

Speaker 2 (32:33):
So one of the things I'm also keen to understand,
given your background withmarketing and technology, is
your roadmap.
I've been intrigued to see someof the developments I'm also
keen to understand, given yourbackground with marketing and
technology, is your roadmap.
I've been intrigued to see someof the developments that, as a
consumer, like the fact you haveyour destination guides.
You've got Civitatis magazine,a blog, and I certainly love the
content strategy, and so I'mvery keen to know what are some
of the other initiatives that wemight be looking forward to

(32:54):
that you might roll out tobetter serve Civitatis customers
globally.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
So we're going to keep obviously expanding our
footprints.
We're going to keep adding moreand quality inventory.
A key part of the company isobviously retaining customers
and we do that through all thatI said earlier right Customer
care, quality inventory, in yourlanguage but we also see that

(33:23):
the app, the mobile app, is akey element, especially when
you're traveling, you have yourmobile phone in your pocket, and
so all that is definitely goingto be a core focus for the
company, as well as reallylooking at how we can expand
what users are experiencing whenthey are in destination.

(33:44):
So, a lot of focus on retentionand on the mobile app.
We're obviously going to keeplooking at new trends.
Going to keep looking at newtrends.
We're going to keep working onour SEO, performance marketing,

(34:08):
AI kind of recommendations thatcould happen, and we're going to
keep expanding our B2B2Cdistribution channels right,
Whether that's travel agencies,hotel partners, airline, other
OTAs that we partner with andintegration of all the inventory
that we have so that we canreally offer all that great
inventory with enoughavailability for users.
So that's really where I thinkwe can look forward to evolve.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
And you mentioned the trends, and that's exactly what
I want to get into.
Next, because you have a uniquevantage point, both as a global
travel executive, but also for abrand that is rapidly scaling,
and so you're constantly payingattention to your point about
SEO and just reallyunderstanding where the market
is.
And especially when you'relaunching in new markets as you
are and multilingual you have tobe that much more conscientious

(34:56):
of the trends and trying to beat the right place at the right
time when, all of a sudden, yousee a shift.
This is the part I love aboutour industry is that travelers
continue to travel, even despitedownturns.
And, if anything, when there'sa contraction in the market or
if there is instability in themarket, it becomes that much
more important to be able toread the signals and have
conversations with colleagues orlisten to a podcast like this

(35:18):
or be able to read reports tounderstand what traveler
behavior is shifting.
So what are the major globaltrends that you're paying
attention to, whether it bedestinations Obviously, we've
talked a bit about that Travelstyles, sustainability what are
some of the things that you'repaying close attention to that
you want to build your marketingstrategy and business strategy

(35:39):
around?

Speaker 1 (35:39):
I think the first, the main trend that we've been
seeing for years now isexperience matter, and
destinations are oftentimesselected based on the experience
you can.
You can live when you're indestination, right, and so, uh,
we are seeing that, and eventhough then on the customer
journey, it's the usual is thatI'm gonna book my flight and my

(36:03):
hotel and then my attractions,tours or activities that I'm
gonna do, destination firstthing, that that last part that
is booked is usually now andmore and more, the driver of the
decision.
The others are obviously acommodity, but what really

(36:24):
matters and stays with theperson is what they do when they
are there, and that is very,very powerful, because we're
seeing more and more DMOs alsolooking at our platforms to help
inspire users to come and visittheir countries.
It's not only just about cometo Colombia, it's about come to

(36:48):
Colombia and go to Medellin 13and experience that experience
there.
Then you have social mediadiscovery, inspiration and
search.
As I was saying, that's a big,big, big trend.
Social media and influencersare really helping.
They're helping to promote theexperience and they're helping

(37:13):
to give a real view.
It's not text that you arewriting on that you are reading
on a blog post.
It's real video that you'reseeing.
In terms of destinations, Ithink Japan is skyrocketing in
the last 12 months.
We're seeing that in Europe.
We're seeing that in LatinAmerica as well A lot of Latin

(37:37):
American people just going toJapan.
Other destinations are alsorising.
We're seeing again the Brazilin Brazil trend.
So that's for the I thinkthat's for the trends I'm seeing
globally in terms of travel.
Going back to the first point onexperiences first, what we're
also seeing is that more andmore people are digitalizing
globally in terms of travel.

(37:57):
Going back to the first pointon experiences first, what we're
also seeing is that more andmore people are digitalizing.
There is less people that justwait for the last minutes and to
book onsites.
People want to make sure theyhave their spots, they want to
make sure that they also securetheir place and they have their

(38:19):
trip planned, and even ifsometimes they end up booking a
trip 72 hours before theexperience, they've already
looked at it, they've alreadyplanned it, and one key feature
that is very helpful for us isthat we give your like um cancel

(38:40):
.
We have cancellations policyright, and so we're trying to
foster people booking bookingswindows to go earlier in the
journey and we're seeing thatmore and more people now are
booking.
Like 50% of people are bookingwith more than 30 days of
advance.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
Yeah, that's really interesting.
There has certainly been ashift there where we were seeing
a lot of last minute, nowpeople are booking further ahead
.
So those are a number of reallyinsightful trends, and I guess
the one thing I would like tojust go a little bit further on
was sustainability and thereason I want to ask that
question and I always bring thisup in my conversations because

(39:18):
pre-COVID it was not very oftenthe case that people were making
a decision for sustainability.
A lot of companies werebecoming more conscientiously
sustainable.
But it certainly has been thecase, post-pandemic and as
people have seen, likeover-tourism and over-heating of
various destinations, like thereal impacts of climate change
that people have become thatmuch more conscientious.
And we've seen companies likeBookingcom start to implement

(39:41):
green filters so you canactually choose accommodation
options, and I'm finding moreand more signals that indicate
that customers are makingdecisions based on
sustainability.
It may not always be the firsttime, but it's often the case,
and James Thornton called thisout to me, the CEO of Intrepid,
and I thought it was reallyinsightful which is that it's
not necessarily the reasonpeople book you the first time,

(40:01):
but it's the reason that peoplekeep coming back because they
want to know that you arealigned with their values, and
so when I was preparing for ourconversation today, I was
actually checking out Civitatis'credentials on this topic, and
it's actually quite substantial.
And I was quite impressed withboth UNWTO organizations that
you're a partner with, becauseI'm very familiar with them, and

(40:21):
specifically the CivitatisTraveler's Manifesto, because
for me, on there you have thingslike respecting cultural
heritage you have supporting thelocal economy, defending human
rights and really promoting aculture of sustainable tourism.
So I'd love to ask you a littlebit more about that whether you
are building sustainabilitymessaging into your marketing,
if you're seeing results fromthat, if you're building that

(40:43):
messaging into repeat guests.
So, given you have thecredentials to back this up, I'm
keen to know, I guess, what itis you are doing to market that
effectively and if you're seeingresults from it.

Speaker 1 (40:55):
Well, yes, the sustainability and
eco-consciousness for travel hasbeen part of the DNA of the
company since the inception ofit by Alberto.
He like when you think about thefirst tools he created he
started working with one-mansuppliers that were offering

(41:15):
tools and he had one of hismotivation was to help generate
local businesses right, createthis local wealth and help
countries I don't know, inMorocco, for example, in Africa
and in Eastern Europe, helpsuppliers create businesses that

(41:47):
are going to help the localculture and that are going to
help generate that wealthlocally.
And we have a number of amazingcases of people that started
conversations with Alberto, once, won emails and that now have
bigger companies and that cannow sustain and help the region
where they live and thosecommunities, and so this has
been part of the company's DNA,so it's very easy for us to go

(42:11):
and use it.
We not only market it to ourconsumers, the users, but we
also use it as a selectionfactor in our creation right.
We want to support vulnerablegroups, we want to protect the
environment, and so we encouragemore than 8,000 suppliers

(42:34):
worldwide to adopt their jobs,to protect the earth and to be
eco-conscious in practices.
Here in Spain, we are seeing alot of conversation around this
over tourism, and so we makesure that we work with guides

(42:58):
that are professional guidesthat have the licenses and that
don't go in like huge groupsthat are going to collapse
cities, right, and so this ispart of our creation.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
This is how we really bring this to market and it
just and it isn't just a wordsthat we have on a on a manifesto
, but it's really brought tolife that's great and I know
that's based on the unwto, andthis is where I think that the
uh mission is clearly alignedand something that resonates
with me, because that'ssomething that I'm paying close
attention to, because I'm alwaystrying to make decisions that,

(43:33):
ultimately, when I think aboutour kids and making sure that we
protect the planet for futuregenerations, for me, wherever I
do have the option to make thatdecision it's not always
possible to the example oftraveling to an event on a train
versus a plane.
Sometimes it's just notcurrently a viable option, but
wherever possible, I and I thinkmore consumers feel much the

(43:54):
same way.
So I definitely wanted to askyou that.
The other thing I wanted to askyou I got to have one more
question on more of a global andfuture looking, and then I
wanted to get a couple of yourpersonal insights and advice for
people who are making their wayup in the industry, which is
such a big component of ouraudience.
So, when we think about OTAsfive years from now, like 2030,

(44:15):
which is going to come fasterthan we know it and clearly you
know, you've been in this rolefor a couple of years and you're
shaping this business for thefuture and I do see a lot of
companies now that kind of havetheir 2030 or beyond mission of
what they want to accomplish,and so I would love to hear what
that looks like for Civitatisand if you wouldn't mind sharing

(44:36):
like, what are some of thosekind of major developments or,
more specifically, just thefuture of tourism and
specifically OTAs over the nextfive years?

Speaker 1 (44:45):
Sure.
So I think it's clear that thefuture of tourism is linked with
tourism activities.
Right, like, we're seeing a lotof companies entering the space
whether that's banking, whetherthat's bookings, airbnbs a lot
of of companies that are eitheralready existing in travel or

(45:07):
completely outsiders of travelare seeing the value of human
nature is to go and discover andtravel, and now it's easier
than ever, and so tools andattractions, tools and
activities are going to be partof that more and more.

(45:27):
What we're also seeing is thatit's becoming more and more
digital and so, and it'sbecoming more and more mobile
and uh, so decisions are goingto be made based on experiences.
There's going to be moreplayers working on it and, at
the same time, what reallybrings value is having companies

(45:50):
like ours that are veryspecific in their market and
that make sure that there isthis quality concept, because
there is a lot of quantity,there is a lot of offering, but
users ultimately want to haveeasy and simplicity at the core

(46:10):
of their decision process.
Right, it's it process.
It's already stressful to go toRome.
You have a hundred things to dowhen you're in Rome.
For each thing you have to doin Rome, you have a thousand
options.
I think curation is going to bea big theme for the coming years

(46:30):
.
I think our competitors wouldsay the same thing, right, it's
very good news for tourism andfor travel tech to have this
interest from other players.
Some people are going to see itas more competition, but we see
it as an opportunity, right,because it's going to help

(46:51):
create the category.
There is still to help createthe category.
There is still room to createthe category.
There is still people thatdon't think about what they're
going to do when they are indestination.
They just realize when theyland there in their hotel.
It's like, oh right, what am Igoing to do now?
And so there is still anopening market there.
I think, again, ai is going tohave a huge impact.

(47:15):
It's going to help solve moreproblems, and so we can see AI
created companies, incumbents,that are going to help solve
those issues and help go faster.
I still think, and we stillthink, that at Civitat is the
human intelligence, the humantouch, is going to be key, right

(47:37):
, we're not going to solveeverything through AI,
especially in travel.
When you're going to betraveling and you want to feel
that local culture you're goingto have, you want to have this
local guy that tells you aboutthis spot and why you need to
have this local guide that tellsyou about this spot and why, uh
, you need to be at this spot at6 32, because it's gonna the

(47:59):
sun is gonna shine on thismonument and it's gonna take a
pink color, right, all thosethings that human touch is is
still gonna happen, but it'sobviously gonna be, uh, make
much more efficient by by it.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
Yeah, and I just want to highlight, too, exactly what
you're saying, which is thatthere is a very bright future
ahead for the travel industry.
I think many of my listenersare familiar with me quoting
stats about demographics, whichstill excites me that you know
we're going to see a doubling oftravelers between 2024, the
last numbers last year is about400 million to 800 million in
2050.

(48:34):
And you just think about thegrowth year over year and
there's clearly going to bespecific verticals that are
going to see an even greatergrowth because of consumer
behavior changes.
To your point about peopleactually being more interested
in experiences, deeper immersion, local destination so the
companies that are actually notonly benefiting from the
demographic shifts, they're alsobenefiting from changing

(48:56):
consumer interests.
And that's where I'm certainlybullish on Civitatis and it kind
of gets reconfirmed andvalidated that for me today
having this conversationtogether.
So I just had a couple lastquestions and then I want to
make sure that people know howto follow up with you or connect
with the team, and obviously webe staying in in close touch as
well.
But one of the things that Iwanted to ask you, given the way

(49:18):
that your career, you know thatyou've risen to this level of
prominence and well deserved,and that was clear on our
discussion.
But for the younger you andthis is this is always the what
I'm, I guess, mindful ofwhenever I'm interviewing I'm
always trying to think of myself20 years ago as I was riding my
bike in a lonely planetlistening to podcasts of like
what were the questions I wouldlike to ask that could improve

(49:39):
my role today, either my careeror the company I'm working with
or for, to be able to be moresuccessful.
So I'd love for you to be ableto share whether it's one or two
pieces of advice for aspiringprofessionals looking to join
this industry or advance in thisindustry what has been some of
the keys to your success thatyou would like to share with a
wider audience.

Speaker 1 (49:59):
I think the first one is passion.
Right, find something whereyou're passionate about, whether
that's marketing, whetherthat's IT, whether that's travel
and it looks like a verygeneric thing thing, but you're
gonna wake up every morning, uh,for for a few years and so make
it your passion, or or work insomething that passionates you

(50:23):
already.
That would be the first one.
The second is is find the waveand serve the wave.
Right?
I'm a Google AdWords son.
I started doing marketing backin 2007.
I discovered Google AdWords andI was like an SEO and I was
like, wow, okay, this is amazing, I can do this and that let's

(50:48):
just go and find moreinformation about it.
And just go and find moreinformation about it and just
trying to find industries andcompanies that are very good on
that wave right, and you have alot of waves.
They come and they go.
You had the AdWords wave, youhad the community managers wave

(51:09):
talking about marketing, and sofind that wave that is trending
now and, if it fits your passion, just go and learn.
You don't need to douniversities, you don't need to
do a lot of studies, everythingis on the internet and I think
you can learn a lot by justdoing right, like, test, learn,

(51:34):
repeat, test learn, test learnand just like do things.
And so I think that that is myadvice serve that way.
And when you serve that way,which is also one way I built my
career, which was like, hey,I'm gonna, I'm interested in
AdWords, I'm gonna, I'm gonnalearn about AdWords.
And then okay, I'm interestedin AdWords, I'm going to learn
about AdWords.
And then okay, I'm going tostart learning about SEO.

(51:56):
Oh right, cool, seo.
Oh, there is a lot of peopleranking here.
Oh, those people don't have abusiness.
Oh, they're affiliates.
Okay, I'm going to learn aboutaffiliate marketing.
Oh right, okay, I have nowconverted a lead into a buyer.
Okay, how can I make that buyer?
Repeat, oh, email marketing,right, push notifications, and

(52:18):
so just trying to be on thecareer, don't try to focus on
the whole thing.
But I think T-shaped careersare interesting.
So enter one spot deep, learnabout it and then you can expand
.

Speaker 2 (52:30):
That's terrific advice, and I'm going to just
underline why I think so for ouraudience.
Is that what, essentially,you're recommending first of all
is to take initiative, and thatresonates with me because, if I
look at both of our backgroundsand our career trajectories,
there's one thing that wecertainly have in common, which
is that we came up asperformance marketers in an age
of where it was primarily brandmarketing, and I think that's

(52:52):
one of the reasons that both ofus disrupted established
marketing, because we sawsomething that was truly cause
and effect, you know, directresponse with performance
marketing, and that certainlyhas changed the whole game of
marketing, and so that's a greatexample you mentioned is take
initiative, because you know,actually roll up your sleeves
and learn how to do paid search.
The same now applies forleveraging AI tools and the

(53:14):
people that are coming up andthe amazing talent I'm seeing
kind of behind us, if you willthat are coming up, that are
taking these tools andleveraging them and being able
to rethink how we market andreach customers.
That's really exciting.
And the other thing youmentioned, too, about riding the
wave I really smiled with thatone, because that, to me, is
like you have to go where theopportunity is where there's a
swell, where there's and this iswhere I'm excited for both of

(53:35):
us that you know, at the stagein our careers where we've
already spent, you know, 20years in this space or
thereabouts like, the next 20years are going to be that much
more exciting, based on thegrowth potential, we'll be right
back.
Did you know that over 20% ofpeople who purchase a ticket
will upgrade to a refundableoption when given the choice?
By offering Refund Protect, youmake it easy for your customers

(53:58):
to protect their ticketpurchase against emergency
circumstances like illness,injury, accidents and more.
Whether you're an airline,hotel group, tour operator,
ticketing platform, ota ortransport solution, when you
partner with Protect Group, yourcustomers get peace of mind and
you generate extra revenue.
With a Trustpilot score of 4.8stars and over 31,000 reviews,

(54:21):
they treat your customers astheir own, earning the highest
customer ratings in the industry.
To find out more, check outProtect Group at protectgroup.
That's protectgroup.
Hey, travelers, are you lookingto book your next adventure?
Then you have to meet our goodfriends at Flight Center, the
travel-obsessed experts ready tomake your next dream trip a

(54:42):
reality.
For over 40 years, they've beenopening up the world to
travelers from the UK, australia, new Zealand and now Flight
Center Canada is celebrating anincredible milestone 30 years of
helping Canadians explore theglobe.
From their first store inVancouver in 1995 to becoming
the official travel agencypartner of the Toronto Raptors
this year, they've been at theforefront of delivering travel

(55:05):
experiences At Flight Center.
Travel is more than a passion.
It's their expertise Fromflights and accommodations to
cruises and tours and evenbusiness travel.
They handle it all, whetherit's crafting a tailor-made trip
or tackling group bookings.
They've got you covered, pluswith exclusive perks like their
new bundle and save $500 on tourand cruise packages.

(55:26):
There's never been a bettertime to plan your getaway.
From the smallest getaways tothe biggest bucket list trips,
your travel goals are just acall or a click away.
Visit flightcenterca slashtravel trends to explore the
latest deals, learn aboutemerging travel trends and start
planning your next trip.
Hey travel trends listeners,I've got a question for you how

(55:46):
much money is your websiteactually leaving on the table
right now?
One of our episode sponsorsStay22, has just dropped a new
tool that's kind of a no-brainer, and it's called the Stay22
Revenue Calculator.
It shows you in seconds howmuch you could be earning with
their AI-powered monetizationtech no extra ads, no clutter,

(56:07):
just clean additional revenue.
Publishers are already seeingup to 40% more RPM without
changing their setup.
So go check out stay22.com,slash travel trends and hit
revenue calculator.
That's stay22.com slash traveltrends and check out their
revenue calculator.
You might be leaving more onthe table than you think.

(56:27):
And now back to the show.
So my final question for youtell us favorite destination and
maybe one of the experiencesthat really stands out to you
that people should check out.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
I think favorite destination I'm going to bring
it home I'd say Switzerland.
I was born and raised there andI always enjoy going there and
enjoying.
Whether that's winter or summer, you always find lakes,
mountains, hikes to do, and soI'm gonna say that one and then,
in terms of things to do, myother destination that that is

(57:04):
very close to my heart is isCanary Islands.
I try to go there every year.
I'm going there in a few daysand the experience I really
enjoyed there was doing a nightwalk and looking at the stars
from El Teide, which is thehighest mountain we have in

(57:25):
Spain.
It's a volcano.

Speaker 2 (57:51):
And so very, very amazing, amazing sets looking at
the Focusrite conference.
But I want to make sure thatpeople can connect with you and
also get in touch with Civitatis, because I'm sure there's lots
of people that are just comingto know your business and your
brand that would like to partnerwith you or to take one of your
travel experiences.
So if you wouldn't mindfinishing off by telling us
where to connect with you andlearn more about Civitatis?

Speaker 1 (58:12):
Sure thing.
So you can connect throughLinkedIn.
I'm available there and veryhappy to answer.
If you want to send me an emailor reach out, it's pretty easy.
It's ismail at Civitatiscom.
If I can't answer you, I willmake sure your email lands where
it needs to land.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
Fantastic, that's great.
Thank you so much for this.
I really enjoyed it, and I'msure you'll have a few people
sending their CV over saying Iwant to work with you guys and
that's.
It's literally something thatwe've seen.
Which I think is wonderful isthat and I know what that was
like myself, as you're coming upand you see people that you're
like, oh my God, I could learnfrom you, you could be a great
mentor, and all of a sudden, youstart getting applications.

(58:52):
So I'm sure that will be one ofthe outcomes and for those of
you who are listening to thatand having that thought, go for
it.
This is the opportunity.
Reach out to Ismael.
He's, as you've heard, afantastic leader and onto
something really exciting withCivitatis, and I'm sure their
team's gonna be expanding, solanding.
So they already have now 400team members.
But, yeah, I can't thank youenough for making this possible.

(59:12):
I look forward to keeping intouch and wish you and the team
continued success.

Speaker 1 (59:17):
Thank you, Dan.
The pleasure was mine and itwas a real honor to be with you
at Travel Trends.

Speaker 2 (59:22):
Thanks so much for joining us on this latest
episode of Travel Trends.
I hope you enjoyed theconversation with Ismael Garcia,
the CMO of Civitatis, and oneof the things I just wanted to
highlight.
When you look at the teambehind Civitatis, it really is a
very impressive group ofindividuals that clearly have
fun working together and there'sa strong team dynamic very

(59:43):
focused on collaboration, whichis exactly why companies like
this thrive when they're focusedon technology, and the guest
experience reminds me very muchof working with the team at
WeRoad and if you look at theAbout Us section of the website,
you'll see exactly what I mean.
And then, when you think aboutwhat they've come up against,
where there are so manychallenges to running a global
business at this scale, there's,of course, cultural barriers,

(01:00:06):
language barriers, there'slogistical complexities and
there's massive competition inthis space, which is why it is
so remarkable to see theirgrowth and how well Civitatis is
standing out in the marketplace.
And the other factor that manypeople don't see is this the
regulatory compliance that'sinvolved in running a global
business at this scale.
So when you think about allthose challenges, it's just that

(01:00:28):
much more remarkable to look ata success story like civi
status and to be able tochampion their growth and
potential.
So I'm thrilled that we'regoing to get a chance to partner
with them with season six ofour podcast.
So you'll hear more about themover the course of next season,
which will start in september.
But I also wanted to highlightto all of our listeners that we
just announced our ai summit v2.

(01:00:49):
That will be going live the endof October.
You can pre-register now on ourwebsite at
TravelTrendsPodcastcom.
We'll have early bird ticketsready for sale shortly and we'll
be announcing the speakers andthe content for those couple of
days.
So don't miss out on thatopportunity.
And then, of course, we'retraveling a lot in the next few
weeks.
I'm in Miami next week at theAviation Fest, I'll be at the

(01:01:11):
Adventure, travel and TradeAssociation in Denver at the end
of May and then Focusrite inEurope in June.
So definitely reach out ifyou're going to be at any of
those events and I'll lookforward to meeting you there.
But thanks again to Sivitadasand to Ismael Garcia, and I look
forward to having you all joinus next week as we kick off our
River Cruise series.
And we are going to be speakingto Ragnar, the founder of Captio

(01:01:34):
, and I can tell you, this isone of my highlights of season
five, so I can't wait for you tolisten to my conversation with
Ragnar.
I'm convinced that he needs toco-host some episodes in the
near future, and so I'm thrilled.
He's a big fan of the show andwe've become great friends, and

(01:01:56):
it was really terrific to beable to have that conversation
with him, which we'll bring toyou next week.
So make sure you are subscribedon the streaming platform of
your choice to be notified whennew episodes go live.
And until next week, safetravels.