Why Travel Advisors Matter More Than Ever with Host Agency Reviews

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Travel advisors are experiencing a resurgence, but the story goes far beyond increased bookings. As travel becomes more complex and consumers seek expert guidance, advisors are proving their value as trusted partners who can navigate disruptions, personalize experiences, and provide support when it matters most.

In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Shayna Zand, Managing Director of Host Agency Reviews, for an inside look at how the advisor industry really works and what it takes to build a successful travel business today.

The conversation breaks down the host agency model in simple terms, including the benefits advisors gain through accreditation, supplier relationships, training, community, and higher commission opportunities, as well as the trade-offs involved. Shayna also shares the story behind Host Agency Reviews and how it has grown into one of the industry's most trusted resources, helping advisors compare host agencies, access educational content, and make more informed business decisions.

For those considering a career in travel, the discussion gets practical. Shayna explains why finding a niche is often more important than trying to be everything to everyone, how advisors can market themselves effectively, and what warning signs to watch for when evaluating host agencies.

The episode also explores the growing role of technology and AI, from CRM systems and workflow automation to tools that reduce administrative work and free advisors to focus on relationship-building, service, and expertise. Along the way, Shayna offers candid insights on profitability, burnout, and the mindset required to turn a passion for travel into a sustainable business.

Learn more at hostagencyreviews.com.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Travel
Trends Podcast.
This is your host, DanChristian.
And today we have a specialspotlight episode on host agency
reviews, which was founded bySteph Lee back in 2012.
It's an amazing organizationthat he has built to now 60,000
subscribers.
They run events over the courseof the year.
I've had the privilege to speakat a few of them and to know

(00:27):
Steph over the last few years.
But one of the uh excitingdevelopments is they appointed a
new managing director that StephLee specifically went out and
recruited, and that is ShaynaZand.
Now, Shayna Zand is a greatfriend and industry colleague of
mine.
She worked at Intrepid for morethan a decade, spent the next
few years at WeTravel, and forthe last two years, has been

(00:47):
working closely with Steph andtaking the lead with host agency
reviews.
And I thought this businessdeserves a spotlight episode to
showcase how much positiveimpact they have on the travel
community, especially traveladvisors across the US and
Canada and globally thatparticipate in their webinars,
their conferences, and benefitfrom their newsletters.

(01:09):
I'm a huge fan of host agencyreviews and everything that they
do.
And so I thought, what betterway to show that appreciation
than to bring Shayna onto thepodcast and do this special
spotlight episode.
So on that note, I'd like towelcome my good friend and
industry colleague, Shayna Zand,to the podcast.
Shayna, welcome to TravelTrends.

(01:29):
Thanks so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so excited to be here.
Just yeah, thank you.
Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 (01:35):
As you know, and you everyone heard for that
introduction, I'm a huge fan ofyours personally and
professionally, and obviously Ialways look forward to seeing
you at industry conferences.
You've kindly spoken at a numberof our events.
You've also kindly invited me tospeak at a number of the host
agency review events, which Ireally appreciate.
But I really wanted to bringthis spotlight episode together
to shine a light both on hostagency reviews, but on yourself
specifically, since you are sucha key part of the whole travel

(01:59):
industry.
And I think people will get thatsense over the course of our
conversation.
All the things you've done, allthe things you're involved in.
And so let's let's let's let'sstart there.
Tell us a little bit about yourbackground in travel, Shana, and
how you got into this industryin the first place.

SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Wow, no pressure at all.
Honestly, it's so funny.
Like I've been so I've been inthe industry for about 15 years
now.
Um, but I actually, believe itor not, kind of started as like
a like an accountant, like taxspecialist.
That's where my background is,which I honestly now is a
fantastic thing.
I'm so glad that I have thatbackground of understanding um,

(02:34):
you know, PLs, accounting,taxes, and how everything works.
But I think anyone who knows meknows that's clearly not for me.
And I just always lovedtraveling, you know, my summers
through university, I wouldbackpack for months on end and
just loved it.
And so I applied.
Um, I was just like, I want towork in travel, adventure in
particular, and just kind ofapplied for anything I could

(02:55):
find and found it with IntrepidTravel.
And I was there for just over 10years.
So kind of got to grow up in thetour operator space, you know,
with the DMC network, the touroperators.
And I essentially managed allthe contracts with all of the
host agencies and consortium,and then went on to the tech
side of travel, which reallyinteresting, especially as

(03:15):
that's becoming incrediblypopular and also incredibly
important for efficientlyrunning your business.
And then about a year and a halfago, Steph reached out and said,
Hey, what do you think aboutcoming over to host agency
reviews?
And that was the easiest yes Ithink I've ever said in my
career.
So it was it's very exciting tobe back working with the hosts

(03:36):
in the consortium that I didwhen I was working with
Intrepid.
So yeah, that's it's been a lotof fun.
But yeah, that's kind of mybackground accounting into
adventure travel, obviously,right?
Obvious transition.

SPEAKER_01 (03:48):
Yeah.
And there's one important partyou left out.
I'm just gonna add it here forall of our listeners, too.
Is so uh Shayna also happens tobe Canadian.
It's always great to have fellowCanadians that are globally
successful.
So Shayna happens to be based inToronto.
You went to school at McGill inMontreal.
You uh not only worked withIntrepid and We Travel, as you
mentioned, and now the managingdirector of host agency reviews,

(04:09):
but you're also the chair andboard member of Tourism Cares.

SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
Uh yeah, been on the board for five and a half years.
Uh been the chair for the lastyear and a half.
Uh, it's been absolutelyincredible.
I sit on some committees forsome other associations as well
on the responsible travelcommittees.
So that's a big piece.
Honestly, Intrepid Travel reallybrought that drive and that love
and the importance ofresponsible travel to me and how

(04:34):
I got involved with tourismcares.
And yeah, it's been five and ahalf years on the board now.
So it's been incredible.

SPEAKER_01 (04:39):
And this is where I wanted to highlight the fact
that you know you have a keyrole in the industry because
people gravitate to you.
And I also, you know, I saw itat the Adventure Travel World
Summit when we were in Panamalast year, and you had had you
had a birthday celebration,which is cool.
You kindly invited me, and itwas at this amazing rooftop.
And I just saw all the peoplethat came together for your
birthday.
And you the the thing thatalways stands out to me is the

(05:00):
you know, you are we are allproducts of our environments,
the people you choose tosurround yourself with or the
people that choose to you knowto to be by your side, and you
have such a loyal group offriends and a lot of people in
the industry that just loveworking with you, and I think
that transcends companies androles.
And so the fact that and I Iwhen I discovered because uh

(05:21):
when I interviewed Greg uhTakomara from Tourism Cares, and
we joked about the fact thatyou're actually his boss now
because you're the chair of theboard.
It's okay.

SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Him and I joke about that too.

SPEAKER_01 (05:32):
Yeah.
But the fact that you know thatyeah, he has that respect for
you, got the respect for him,you obviously and there's
there's uh and there's certainpeople that their commitment to
the industry goes beyond any uhorganization they're a part of,
and especially when you make acommitment to being involved
with an initiative like TourismCares.
Like it is such a so telleveryone actually that might be

(05:52):
helpful too.
Tell everyone a little bit abouttourism cares, Shane.
For those people who may not befamiliar with that organization.

SPEAKER_00 (05:58):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
I yeah, Tourism Cares is nearand dear to my heart.
And actually, I mean, a lot ofwe have so many incredible
suppliers that work with TourismCares.
It was actually one of thethings I loved when I came over
to host agency reviews was thatSteph was already a member.
I didn't even have to talk toher about, okay, this is, you
know, something that I'm a partof.
It's incredibly important to me.
Um, but tourism cares is anonprofit in the industry that

(06:21):
is really dedicated to advancingsustainability and meaningful
travel within the travel andtourism industry.
So providing resources,education, programming, uh so
that we can create a positivesocial, environmental, and
economic impact for communitiesaround the globe, which is why

(06:42):
we were in Panama.
We were in Panama as well fortourism cares, and we work a lot
with ATTA as well.
But uh that's that's whattourism cares is, and and it's
an incredible, incredible boardof 23 members from all around
the industry.
And Greg is a fantastic leader,and the team is just, yeah,
outstanding.
But that's what we focus on andwork with so many others in the

(07:03):
industry to continue that.

SPEAKER_01 (07:04):
Well, and this is so being involved in tourism cares,
I know, is like personally veryimportant to you and obviously
professionally very rewardingand to be a part of that
community, which then extends toa lot of people who work in the
travel industry that have agenuine interest in giving back
and have the right, I would say,mission alignment with the
travel industry and the focus onlong-term sustainability and and
uh a lot of the things that thatconnect us around making sure

(07:28):
that the local communities arebenefiting from tourism.
And uh so there's there's somuch that goes along with that.
And obviously, you know that wewe talk about sustainability uh
throughout our podcast, and Ialways ask every executive on
it, but you certainly walk thewalk in that regard, and your
involvement there is you know,as you said, like it's been over
five years and you've taken on amore active role.
And that also shows the to methe fact that you're not only

(07:48):
really engaged, but you're alsoclearly doing great work because
your role has been elevated.
And and and then the other thingI just wanted to highlight too
for our listeners.
I think most people knowIntrepid Now is nearly a
billion-dollar global adventuretravel company.
It's gone from success tosuccess, and certainly your time
there, you know, having a decadeat Intrepid, shaped your career
and obviously a big part oftheir success.
And WeTravel, we actually justdid a spotlight episode about

(08:11):
WeTravel that I definitelyencourage our listeners to check
out because I know you had animportant role there.
And we collaborated when you'reat WeTravel, and they've just
raised, you know,$100 million tohelp scale AI and multi-day
touring, which was two words Iwould never thought I would see
put together.

SPEAKER_00 (08:26):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (08:28):
So let's let's bring everyone.
So this is where when we thinkabout your role today of
managing director of host agencyreviews, you've had all these
significant accomplishments, andabsolutely Steph chose the right
person to come in and lead thebusiness.
And we'll we'll talk about Stephtoo, because obviously we both
adore Steph.
But tell everyone a bit abouthost agency reviews, because I
think that brand is well knownto people in the travel advisor

(08:50):
and host agency community, butdefinitely probably not more
broadly.
When I mention host agencyreviews, I usually get the what
is that?
Oh, what's can you say thatagain?
What is that?
And I'm like, host agencyreviews?
Oh, you don't know about youdon't know host, you've never
been to a horror event.
You don't know about the so telleverybody, Shana, what host
agency reviews actually is andgive everyone the background on
on the business, please.

SPEAKER_00 (09:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
So about so for those of you whodon't know Steph Lee, which I
think most of you do know StefLee, uh, she founded uh host
agency reviews about 12 yearsago.
Out of this idea, this this ideaof host agencies was becoming
all the rage.
And there are host agencies thathave definitely been out there
for longer than the 12 years,but something that was becoming
increasingly popular in theNorth American market was this

(09:32):
idea of host agencies.
There are, you know, 120,130,000 travel advisors plus or
travel agencies in NorthAmerica.
And a lot of them areindependent.
So meaning that they own andoperate their own businesses.
And so the idea of a host agencybecame incredibly popular for a
multitude of reasons.
I kind of look at a host agencythe best way, if you don't know

(09:54):
what it is, is to think of itlike a club that you can become
a member of.
And with that, if you are amember, you get all the benefits
of being a member of this clubor of this host agency, right?
One of the biggest benefits thatyou get is that you actually
have the accreditation tolegally sell travel as your own
travel agency.
Um, you get increased commissionlevels, a community of other

(10:15):
entrepreneurs and businessowners and travel agency owners,
the supplier relationships andrelationships are a beautiful
thing in this industry, one ofmy favorite things.
When Steph started thisbusiness, it was travel agencies
did not know what a host agencywas or how they fit into kind of
the space in the travel space.
And the idea was to educatetravel advisors.

(10:39):
It was all about educatingtravel advisors on what are host
agencies, what's the franchisemodel, what is going independent
look like, and what's being anemployee look like.
Kind of like the four differentchoices you have in terms of
becoming a travel advisor andeducating them on what that
looks like.
And then it became kind of adirectory, a database of host
agencies.
So all the host agencies havedirectories with us where they

(11:00):
fill them out and they fill outall their details, you know,
what kind of tech they use, whothey are, why you would want to
be a member, everything likethat.
So it started out like that, andthen it just continued to grow
with more and more content,right?
So we have, I think, over 500blog articles now that answer
any and every question that hasever come from travel advisor.

(11:20):
We work with so many of thehosts, they're so wonderful in
supporting the content,supporting all the advisors that
come to the site, courses on howto just get started and run your
business.
And then now it's grown intodirectories for travel agency
software and technology and fortravel insurance and for
consortium.
And so for us, it's kind of thisone-stop shop for travel

(11:42):
advisors.
It is completely complimentaryfor travel advisors, especially
as they're starting theircareers, to learn what's out
there and to understand thespace because it is complex and
there's a lot to know.
And so we wanted to provide um asafe, kind of unbiased space for
them to come and learn and alsofigure out, you know, 85% of
travel advisors are members of ahost.

(12:02):
So that's significant.
And we want them to feel likethey can compare and contrast
them to see which one's the bestfit for them, but also
understand what they are, what'simportant, green flags, red
flags, all the things that youshould be looking for as well
when choosing one.

SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Yeah, well, and host agency reviews certainly has
become the central resource fortravel advisors in this space.
I think people now have a betterunderstanding of how you got
involved.
You mentioned Stephanie, and Ijust wanted to highlight her
again for a moment here becauseshe obviously was so uniquely
positioned to start thisbusiness, given her, you know,
she grew up in the travel agencyworld with her both her parents
in this space.
And she has such a compellingstory, and she's very open about

(12:37):
uh her health challenges thatshe has had in the last several
years, which is why she's had totake a step back.
And again, that's why you knowthe fact that you were able to
step in and take this businessforward, and she obviously's
still involved.
Just share a little bit moreabout uh Steph and her role and
her continued involvement,because obviously we all adore
Steph and uh and just clarify alittle bit more as far as what's

(12:58):
appropriate to share about hercondition, just so that people
are aware, because again, shedoes share that quite openly,
and so I don't want to saysomething and people you know
just start reaching out like ifthey don't know or don't
understand what's going on.
But yeah, if you wouldn't mindsharing that, I think that would
be helpful for our listenerstoo.

SPEAKER_00 (13:11):
Yeah, so I mean, Steph is probably one of the
most special people that I know,and what she's built, the
honestly, the the honor that Ihave to come in and just
continue to elevate what she hasbuilt for this industry is so
beautiful, and I thank her somuch for that because honestly,
in my career, I've never beenhappier.

(13:32):
It's just the team I get to workwith, but you know, working
alongside Steph and learningfrom her every day is
incredible.
She is probably the nicest humanyou could ever hope to meet.
But I think what people forgetsometimes, and you shouldn't
forget, and I'm gonna say thisloud and proud is she's one of
the smartest people that I'veever met.
And she has.
She's been going through quite afew health struggles in the last

(13:53):
few years.
She is incredibly open about it.
What I will share is that somedays she has some good days, she
has some bad days, uh, but sheshe's still involved.
Um, her and I still catch upregularly every week.
So she is definitely stillinvolved from that aspect.
But what I love is that myselfand our team have been able to
let her step back, take care ofherself, use the energy that she

(14:15):
has with her friends and withher family, and know that her
business is in good hands.
And so that she can do that andwe can run her business for her.
So yeah, and her parents are,you know, we're owners of Travel
Quest, it's now World V.
And I got to spend some timewith them last week.
They have a Family Slackchannel, which is very cute.
That's how they all communicatewith each other.
And apparently, photos of mewith her parents were taking

(14:38):
over the Family Slack channel.
So uh that was a lot of fun.
Her, if anyone knows knows herparents, uh they're just they're
also a Bonnie and Walt.
They're a ton of fun.
And they've been a huge supportof me as well, right?
This is their daughter'sbusiness and someone that they
love and cherish so heavily.
So it's really nice to have thatrelationship with her parents as

(14:58):
well.

SPEAKER_01 (14:58):
That's great.
Thank you, Shana.
I appreciate sharing that thatcontext uh for all of our
listeners because I think thatfor those people that already
don't know uh Steph, obviouslythat's all the more endearing to
anyone that would come quicklycome to understand those things
about her and just theimportance of host agency
reviews, the what she's builtand uh the incredible legacy
that continues and what you'renow continuing to scale.

(15:20):
Because the part that stood outto me as I got to know Steph
over the years is what she'sbuilt is quite meaningful and
and has a huge impact on theindustry.
And when you look at the eventsthat you guys run and the
sponsor engagement and thenumber of travel advisors that
participate, so many people thatuh especially this host
agencies, and host agencies, ofcourse, where you have a lot of
home home-based agents thatbelong to a host agency, you

(15:43):
know, this is this is theirworld, this is their community,
this is how they connect witheach other, this is uh who they
how they know who to partnerwith.
And so and I know when companiespartner with host agency
reviews, ourselves included, yousee an outsized benefit and so
much wonderful engagementthroughout the travel advisor
community.
So these are all the things I'mI'm keen to get into on our
conversation today because youknow, when we talk about the

(16:04):
state of the travel advisors in2026 and beyond, host agencies,
marketing, technology, some ofthe challenges in the industry,
and what the future is.
These are all the things I'mkeen to unpack with you.
And the the last thing as wesegue into that is with your
background being you know,having a solid understanding of
the trade and the importance ofthe trade, what drew what drew

(16:27):
you into this spacespecifically?
Obviously, you it seems like thestars aligned personally and
professionally for you to takeup this opportunity, but you
seem to genuinely have a passionaround travel advisors and this
side of the industry, which youabsolutely have to have.
And so tell I've I've never hada chance to ask you that before,
and here we are having thismoment.
So, yeah, what drew you intothis space?

(16:48):
What is it you enjoy so muchabout it?

SPEAKER_00 (16:50):
Well, I think so.
When I initially had started inthe industry with Intrepid
Travel, uh, one of the things Iwanted to do is I like working
in different areas of thebusiness.
So I'd started on theoperational side.
I was a tour leader, did run themulti-day tours out in Western
Canada, and then I went onto thesales team, and then I joined
the BDM team.
So I was seeing the businessfrom different departments and

(17:11):
different aspects, and I lovedthat part of it.
So I could understand theoperational side of things, the
sales side of things, and thenkind of the B2B industry side of
things as well.
And so I enjoyed that.
And then when I got onto the B2Bside, when I started as a BDM
many moons ago and working withtravel advisors and just my love
of people in general, because Ilove, I love getting to know

(17:33):
people.
I think that's what drew me intotravel in general was just when
I would travel and I'd backpackor I'd go on trips with family
growing up.
I just loved meeting new people,right?
Whether they were othertravelers, whether they were
locals who lived in thecountries that I was visiting, I
just enjoyed that.
And then that I that kind ofcommunity I found within the
travel agency space, right?
Where travel advisors just lovegetting to know each other, love

(17:57):
sharing their stories, lovesharing their wins, their
mistakes, their everything.
And they're just such openpeople.
And that's just kind of mypersonality as well.
So I think I was just drawn ininitially with that.
And then because I hadespecially the operational
background of having been on theground as a tour leader,
building out like product andtrips and that, that I found

(18:18):
really helped me in terms ofhelping the industry understand
how trips run, how they operate.
You know, when they would askquestions, I would be able to
easily kind of express, well,this is why it happens this way.
This is why it can't happen thisway, or why it doesn't.
And so then it just kind of keptgrowing.
And I kept growing within thatkind of industry B2B space and

(18:41):
just fell in love with it.
And even at We Travel, worked alot with travel advisors over
there as well using theplatform.
And so this just felt like sucha fun and natural progression.
And I now I know things from theagency side, but I also
understand things from thesupplier side as well.
So it can kind of bring it alltogether.

SPEAKER_01 (18:56):
Well, and as you know better than anybody, I
mean, this space has it it'sevolved considerably, but it is
having a renaissance.
I mean, the travel advisorspost-pandemic have had a major
resurgence in travelersembracing working with partners,
and I have I have some views onthat, and I'm sure we'll we'll
get into that as as we gothrough the conversation, but
why that's the case, becauseI'll just say, you know, people

(19:17):
love people and people trustpeople, and it's like that's you
know, uh over technology, andwe're we're already seeing that
right now with the fact thatyes, you can plan a trip using
Chat GPT or any other uhgenerative AI tool, but you
won't book it using those tools.
You will then speak to somebody.
So it's great for research, butthe thing that agentic AI has to
overcome is trust, and that'swhat agents have, and that is so

(19:40):
incredibly valuable.
And so you know, you've seenthis space say it's it's evolved
considerably.
And and as I want as we segueinto talking about the role of
travel advisors today and getyour your perspective on the
industry and how it's changingand where it's going, I want to
make sure that everyone followsalong with the nomenclature
because anytime I'm speakingabout this space to someone that
is not familiar with the tradeor with travel advisors or what

(20:04):
used to be known as travelagents, that's obviously one of
the one of the title hasevolved.
And I know Virtuoso and MatthewUpchurch has been a key part of
that with elevating the roles ofa travel agent to a travel
advisor, that they're not anorder taker, they're not just an
agent that is just they areactually advising like a bank
advisor, like a like a and sothe the elevation of this

(20:24):
industry has actually been oneof the things that's contributed
to its renaissance.
But when you think of a traveladvisor, they may belong to a
consortia, a host agency, andthose are the terms that I want
to break down.
So I think most people know whata travel advisor is, but would
you mind giving everyone a bitof an overview of consortia's
host agencies and essentiallywhat enables a travel advisor to

(20:47):
do what they do?

SPEAKER_00 (20:48):
So a travel advisor is or travel agency is, you
know, someone who starts theirown travel agency to sell travel
to their clients.
Like I said, 85% of traveladvisors are members of a host
agency in North America.
Probably a little bit more.
We use kind of this data that wegather from our annual report
and survey that we do everyyear, which actually our survey

(21:09):
is currently out right now.
And last year I think we had3,500 travel advisors complete
it, which is pretty incredible.
The host agency to me is theoperational support for the
travel advisor.
So a travel advisor becomes amember of a host, right?
Typically, that means there's anannual fee and there's a
commission split, which meansthat the host is taking a
portion, a small portion oftheir commission, and the

(21:31):
advisor is keeping thepredominant amount of their
commission anywhere, typicallyfrom a 70-30 split to some hosts
do 90, 10, or even 100%,depending on how many sales you
bring in and so forth.
But with that, with a host, thetravel advisors get a multitude
of things.
One, they get a community ofother entrepreneurs and travel

(21:52):
agencies, right?
So while you still run and ownyour own business, you're an
independent contractor or an IC,as we would say in the industry,
you still run and Operate yourown business, right?
The big thing you get is you getthe iatta credentials.
So essentially the legal abilityto sell travel, and that iatta
is the host agency's iatta thatyou operate under, right?

(22:12):
So that's a big thing.
You don't need to go out and getyour own, right?
You also get because it's notjust you as an independent
travel advisor, you know, have acommunity of anywhere from 50
other advisors to 5,000 plusother advisors, depending on the
host that you work with.
Every host is a little bitdifferent in size and just also
in what they specialize in.
You also get their contractswith suppliers, right?

(22:35):
So suppliers like touroperators, cruise lines, hotels,
et cetera.
And the commission levels thatthey negotiate on your behalf
are significantly higher thanthose that you would get if you
were just independent on yourown.
Plus, the relationships, becausehosts host, hosts host their own
events.
So you get to meet a lot of thesuppliers.
And we've always, I mean, you'vetalked about it a lot, I have as

(22:57):
well, that relationships areeverything in this industry,
right?
You get to know everybody, thesupport that you get.
You also get that personalizedsupport from the BDMs, so the
business development managers orthe national account managers
from that supplier because theysupport your host.
So you get things, you getthings like that.
There's also operationalsupport, marketing support.

(23:18):
Some hosts have lead programs,so are sending leads your way.
Speaking of Virtuoso, I know Iinterviewed this wonderful
travel advisor not long ago onour travel agent chatter
podcast, who majority of herleads come from the review
system that Virtuoso has.
And that's where she gets a tonof her leads from.
So hosts really support theday-to-day operational kind of

(23:39):
life of the travel advisor.

SPEAKER_01 (23:42):
That's great.
That's an excellent overview.
Yes.
Yeah.
No, that's terrific.
I think that, and one thing I'lljust quickly add to it that's
come up in conversations as wellis that difference between
consortia and hosts, whichobviously Shayna did a great job
providing the overview.
I'll just give a few exactexamples from, you know, on the
consortia side, you've gotVirtuoso signature, travel
network, travel leadersensemble.

(24:02):
Virtuoso, the interesting, youknow, you can listen to the
Matthew Upchurch episode, whichhas been one of our most
downloaded ever.
We did an episode with him uhlive in person, and we actually
did one with their uh team froman event in Calgary, and you'll
get a great sense of theVirtuoso Network, which is
essentially, as they woulddescribe, a country club, and it
connects both the traveladvisors and the suppliers.

(24:22):
And their Virtuoso travel weekin Las Vegas each year is called
the Fashion Week of Travelbecause essentially it's the
runway where you know all thesebrands come together and
showcase their offerings, andtravel advisors get to pick and
choose who they want to workwith.
But once they're part of thatcommunity, they get access to
Virtuoso rates and all thebenefits that come from being
part of that consortia, thatkind of country club.

(24:43):
But the host agency isultimately the core of their
existence and uh in terms ofwhat they're able to sell how
and how they're and whattechnology they have access to.
And the one I just wanted tocall out there too, when we
think about host agencies is uhfora.
So you have comp host agencieslike Avoya that we worked with
for many years, you know Avoyavery well.

(25:04):
It was started by a family, it'snow been bought by a private
equity firm, but uh as thisspace continues to scale.
Global travel collection, giftedtravel network.
There are some exceptional hostagencies out there.
Um but fora is a good example ofthe modern day travel advisor
that are taking advantage of thefact that technology exists now
to become a travel advisor withfora and be able to sell their

(25:27):
sell trips, cruises to many oftheir friends and become an
advisor.
And so a lot of people havediscovered this industry by
virtue of fora in particular.
I know Turn is another, and uhbut I would just highlight too,
we have an episode about foratravel that I recorded with Jake
that I would encourage for thoseof you who want to understand
more about this space to have alook at that.
But yeah, anything else, Shana,you wanted to add about the the

(25:49):
landscape before we segue intothe role of a travel advisor
today?

SPEAKER_00 (25:53):
Sure.
I think I think what we've seena lot of is the hosts really
leaning into the technology andtechnology that's being uh
developed and AI tools that arebeing developed specifically for
the travel advisor, not just, ohyeah, here's a CRM that anyone
and everyone can use, but rathersomething that's focused on
you're building thisspecifically for travel agencies

(26:14):
and advisors.
So it's really incredible tokind of see that taking place.
In terms of like the travelconsortium, I mean 99% of hosts
are members of a consortium.
So they are an incrediblyimportant cog in this entire
travel agency ecosystem becauseevery, pretty much every host is
a member.
And then travel consortium alsohave independent travel

(26:36):
advisors, but they really helpthe hosts, the advisors grow
their businesses by giving themaccess to things as well that
they may not get on their own.
But there are, you know, mostall the hosts are members of the
consortium.
So there's always with theconsortium, if you're looking at
them, higher commissionopportunities, marketing
programs as well, additionaltraining and educational

(26:57):
programs, which is great.
And the technology toolsgranted, a lot of the hosts have
really been leaning into theirleaning into their own.
If everyone's kind of beenseeing the trade media and some
great announcements, you know,TPI and vacation planners.
So a host and a franchiseleaning into working with Turn
and Travify.
Travel Leaders Network justannounced their integrations

(27:18):
with, I believe it was Turn,Travify, Planet Easy, and I
think Vacation CRM.
So really embracing thetechnology and kind of seeing
everybody play a part in that.
Um, and a lot of things too.
I know Virtuoso does, you know,exclusive perks or amenities for
clients that all the hostmembers get, you know, to take
advantage of.
So it's it's a great uh it'sgreat relationships throughout

(27:40):
and all valuable pieces of thatecosystem.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (27:43):
And I'm as you're running through those, for those
people who work in the industry,they're saying, yep, yep, yep.
And then other people are like,oh my God, their minds are being
blown right now as they'retrying to process all these
different elements of how thisindustry works and how it's all
stitch together.
And and so to to kind of broadenout a little bit and kind of
just give an overall state ofthe travel advisor industry, one

(28:04):
of the things I'd love to uhhave you share with all of our
listeners is how people areentering the industry, where the
growth is coming from, some ofthe misconceptions that people
have about being a traveladvisor.
And you're already talking aboutsome of the big shifts you're
you're seeing.
And I'll just add one thing,Shana, for context too, for our
listeners, having just been atthese three Virtuoso conferences

(28:25):
doing a keynote on AI, thenumber of people that came up to
me afterwards that obviouslythey were keen to understand
more about AI, but I was keen tounderstand who they are, their
background.
Most of the people that spoke tome were retired, and it was
their second career.
And so they're retired teachers,they're retired from even
software companies.
People come to I used to workfor IBM or like, and these are
people in their 60s and 70s thathave decided that they're going

(28:46):
to make a late-stage careertransition.
They love always love travel.
They love talking travel allday.
And so this is you know, andthat amazed me, just the number
of people that fit that categorybecause they they have a
community of people that trustthem with their travel
recommendations, and they'reabsolutely loving this industry.
There was one gentleman that wasjust in North Vancouver, he
lives in North Vancouver, he'dcome across the event, and he

(29:07):
just turned 70 and he startedsix months before, and he had a
10-year plan for how he wasgoing to grow his business.
And I was, I was it if anything,it just like it it uh it gave me
such great enthusiasm for ourindustry that actually so
there's the second career, andthen also uh we're seeing
younger uh people using likemillennials that are working

(29:27):
with travel advisors, and manymillennials coming into the
industry and serving high networth clients and and doing
luxury travel.
Like you're seeing growth in somany different areas.
So I'd love for you, Shana, towalk us through how you see the
state of the industry and whatpeople are coming into the
industry and where you're seeingthe growth.

SPEAKER_00 (29:41):
Yeah, of course.
So we're like you said, stillseeing incredibly strong
interest in the industry and newadvisors kind of coming into the
industry daily, especially forpeople that are looking for more
flexibility, enjoyentrepreneurship, or quite
frankly, are just ready for acareer pivot.
And I think that that ishappening more and more,
especially kind of coming out of2020 and kind of everything that

(30:04):
we've experienced in the lastfive to six years.
The host agency model for me hasmade the industry a lot more
accessible because people canstart their career with a whole
aspect of support already inplace.
With the host agency model, itreally helps to you to feel like
you've got that support from thebeginning.
And at the same time, I thinkwe've kind of talked about this

(30:26):
where travelers are reallyunderstanding the value of using
an advisor and speaking to aperson.
I even had, I'm heading to Maltain a few weeks, and my flight
from Munich to Malta gotcanceled.
But Shane, it's okay, we'regonna get you to Munich.
You're fine to get to Munich,but we're gonna cancel your
Munich to Malta.
And I was like, well, great.
I don't get me wrong, loveGermany, but I want to get to

(30:48):
Malta.
And I called someone and spokeon the phone with them for 10
minutes versus trying to figureit all out online.
And I mean, my advisor, to behonest, spoke and I just felt so
much more at ease, right?
That it just got sorted andeverything was, you know, and
that's, you know, for me what'sso important.
And I'm a millennial.
So, you know, if there's anyonethat's gonna be using technology

(31:08):
and booking things directly, itwould be me or a Gen Z.
Um, and that's just not whatgoes through my head.
So also, I think some of theshifts that we're seeing is that
advisors are operating much morelike serious business owners
than ever before, right?
They're thinking about systems,about marketing, about
profitability, branding,scaling, as opposed to kind of

(31:29):
like a side hustle, if you will.
And we've seen a huge shift aswell towards kind of
specialization.
So niche positioning instead oftrying to sell everything to
everyone because this industryis so large and there are so
many different kinds of lanesthat you can go down.
They are feeling far morecomfortable with technology and
AI.
And I think that is becausetechnology is being built for

(31:52):
what they do on a daily basisversus trying to use technology
that was never built for them,but that sure you can use this
CRM, but it's not built for whatthe travel advisor needs.
And a lot of that has been builtand is being used pretty
consistently now, which isexciting.
And clients I find too are alsolike for me, I value advisors

(32:13):
very differently now, not justfor booking the travel that I'm
gonna do, but for expertise,their support, their problem
solving.
Problem solving, I think, is thebig one, right?
I have had more cancellations,reroutings in the last year than
I have ever had in my 15 yearsof traveling the world.
And I've been to almost 90countries at this point.

(32:34):
So the problem solving that Iget to go to someone and they
get to solve it for me and I canrelax is such a beautiful thing
and worth every single penny, inmy opinion.
So, yeah, those are some kind ofshifts that I find we're seeing.

SPEAKER_01 (32:46):
That's great.
And when someone comes, and Iwant to position this for our
listeners as someone coming intothe industry so that with this
episode, we can reach as manypeople.
You know, with our podcast, youknow, our mission is to try and
help people advance theircareers or grow their companies
and also welcome people into thetravel industry.
That was sort of our key themepost-pandemic was that as people

(33:07):
came back to the industry, wewanted to make sure they were
armed with the information theyneeded to be successful in their
careers.
And we've certainly seen a lotof people thankfully benefit
from the podcast that way.
Jacqueline Grossman, who worksat Kensington is a good example.
I still need to do a podcast onpeople our our listeners, and to
kind of I'm keen to do that.
But so just but I wanted toframe it up that way so that our
listeners know the intentionwith our conversation and some

(33:28):
of the additional questions I'mkeen to ask you since you're so
knowledgeable in this space.
And one of them is when youbecome a travel advisor, one of
the things you need to do isstart marketing yourself.
And so I want to talk about thatfirst, and then I want to talk
about what host agencies youshould be a part of and talk a
bit about technology and andjust people aware of some of the
challenges.
But for marketing, this is oneof the things that I see, you
know, typically, especiallyolder generation still using

(33:50):
Facebook quite heavily, youknow, they're using social
media.
That's one of the things that'sbeen that's allowed the growth
of this category is mobile andsocial media.
You can work from anywhere, um,you can be accessible on your
phone, and you can use socialmedia to market yourself.
But you work closely withadvisors on marketing.
What if someone's starting fromscratch today?
What should they focus on first?

(34:11):
What do you think provides thebiggest opportunity for them to
market their market themselvesas a travel advisor?

SPEAKER_00 (34:16):
Yeah, so here's my thing.
And I I think you have to startwith clarity before visibility.
I think who you need to figureout who you want to serve, what
types of clients you're lookingfor, what you plan to sell, um,
and how you want to build yourbusiness.
I think sometimes, you know,advisors go out there just to
get out there and just to beallowed on social without any

(34:38):
kind of focus.
So, you know, a niche, um, and alot of advisors go down that
route of kind of choosing aniche or a niche or an area of
focus to me makes marketinginfinitely easier for you as an
advisor.
So especially early on.
But even if you're not startingout with a niche, there's always
reasons why you got into theindustry, whether it is that you

(34:58):
love river cruising or adventuretravel or whatever kind of niche
or style.
It doesn't mean that that's allyou sell, but that's what you
want people to be drawn intowanting to work with you based
on that.
So make sure for me that youhave some clarity on that.
Relationship building for me isstill huge in this industry.
So when we're talking about kindof partnerships, the local
networking, communityinvolvement.

(35:21):
I think that, you know,something I used to do as a BDM
all the time with traveladvisors, actually, specifically
in Ottawa of all places, was weused to go to the running room
and their local running room,and we would have an event with
their run club where we wouldtalk about, you know, trekking
Everest or Killimanjaro.
And that was how they wouldstart to also market themselves

(35:41):
within their local communities.
Local businesses want to cometogether, a local travel agency,
a local run club, why not?
Right.
And build a group out of that.
So I think some advisors forgetthat that is such a smart tool
and tactic and how you kind ofstart to gain more clients
within your own community aswell.
I do think that social mediamatters.
I am not a social media guru atall.

(36:03):
But like I said, I think itworks best when there's already
a clear message and positioningbehind it.
Facebook is still huge in thetravel agency space, whether
it's you being in differentgroups with suppliers or where
clients are coming from,especially kind of in that
boomer era.
And you still, for me, I meanInstagram and LinkedIn are great

(36:25):
for other purposes, you know.
Uh, but Facebook is still quitebig in the advisor community for
a multitude of reasons.
But that would be kind of focus,focus, clarity, and focus.
Don't just splash everything andanything and storytelling.
I can't express that enough.
Talk about who you are, whatyou're doing, and share, share

(36:45):
what your travels are like aswell.
People love that.

SPEAKER_01 (36:47):
And I know that you guys run webinars, and the
reality is in our conversationstoday, we're just only going to
be able to scratch the surface.
So those those are some greatinitial suggestions, but I
definitely want to encourage allof our listeners to not only
engage withhostagencyreviews.com, but also
sign up for the webinars.
They've got a blog, your socialchannels.
Like this is, you know, it wellwithin your wheelhouse of

(37:08):
expertise, can share on this.
But to touch on all the topicsthat will be of interest to our
listeners, just to go back tohost agencies.
And uh the reason I I bring thisup again, I think we've
explained it and you've you'vedone a great job of giving an
overview of what host agenciesare and who they are.
But in terms of deciding who topartner with, that obviously is
such a, and I know you have tobe mindful of who you recommend,

(37:29):
because you obviously just needto recommend all the different
options that are out there.
But in terms of deciding on aplatform you want to use, it can
be overwhelming.
What are the most importantfactors that they should be
considering?
What are some maybe some redflags or what what should they
look out for with who theyshould partner with to
effectively run their business?

SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
So I think something to note forany travel advisor who's
listening is that not every hostis built for every advisor.
And that's okay.
That's what you want, right?
New advisors for me should lookclosely at support systems.
So the onboarding and educationthat you'll receive,
accessibility to the host agencystaff team, the community that

(38:10):
they have.
I know mentorship is a huge one.
A lot of some of the hosts arewonderful about pairing you or
partnering you up with anadvisor who's been around for
seven or 10 plus years to learnfrom them.
I do, I also say you shouldunderstand their business model
clearly, what the fees are,commission splits, the con your
contract with the host, thetechnology that they use, and

(38:32):
what expectations they have ofyou and what expectations you
have of them.
Have these conversations rightfrom the beginning.
I also always tell advisors tothink about where where they
want their business to go in twoto three years, not just what
you need today.
As much as you can, you know,sometimes that is easier said
than done.
Red flags that I would look outfor.
Lack of transparency for me is abig one.

(38:54):
I mean, you will not find thatwith many hosts.
Many hosts are incrediblytransparent, right?
If you see unclear contracts,right?
I always recommend going to geta contract reviewed by a lawyer.
We actually have a blog with alist of, I think, 20 plus travel
lawyers.
So you can always go to one ofthem if you're getting vague
answers around commissions orfees specifically, because

(39:14):
commissions and fees are how youmake your money or overpromising
on results, right?
If I love hosts that are very,very real and understanding
that, you know, commissions donot get paid until time of
travel.
That is not a host agencydecision.
That is the supplier side,right?
So you don't, you know, youdon't get paid at time of
booking unless the client'straveling right away.

(39:37):
So I, you know, you want to makesure that hosts are being very
transparent with thatinformation.
If everything sounds likerecruiting language and there's
very little operational details,I would say red flag to start
digging in further or to startspeaking with somebody else.
I would say also, you know,being host agency reviews, one
of the biggest things we talkabout with all the hosts that we
work with, and we work withmajority of them, is reviews are

(40:00):
everything.
So if you go on our website andreviews are completely outdated
or non-existent, I would saythat's something to consider,
right?
You want to hear from otheradvisors, other people that are
in your shoes, and that'sincredibly important.
And honestly, if a host istrying to be everything to
everyone, advisors should beasking harder questions about
what they actually do best.
And know that there are hoststhat are really small and really

(40:21):
focused on a niche, and thenthere are some really large
hosts that have a huge amount ofmembers and advisors and a huge
community, right?
What type of support do youneed, right?
Not every host is built foreveryone.
And I think that that's the mainmessage that I want to get
across for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (40:36):
Yeah, that's great.
That's super valuable advice.
And one of the things thatobviously comes with a host
agency is the technology thatthey offer you.
And so I want to just talk abouttechnology for a moment in
general terms, because that'sobviously something that people
need to weigh up for themselveswhen they're looking at these
different organizations.
And it's certainly one of theadvantages that companies like
Forra has, because they'rereally a technology company that
has entered this space thatknows travel.

(40:56):
And there's a lot of greattravel companies that have
become more technologycompanies.
And there's lots of, as youmentioned, a list of technology
companies that have createdreally powerful solutions to
serve travel advisors.
Most of the investment has goneto B2B.
So it's it's literally theinvestment is there to create
technology to better servetravel advisors.
But Ben travelers traveladvisors are trying to figure

(41:17):
out what platforms they shoulduse.
What would you say, from atechnology point of view, that
travel advisors should be takinginto consideration to make sure
that they're really competitive?
What is what is the tech that'sreally empowering travel
advisors today?

SPEAKER_00 (41:30):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think so.
CRM systems and workflow toolsare becoming non-negotiable at
this point because advisors needways to stay organized and also
need ways to scale efficiently,right?
At the end of the day, a lot ofadvisors are independent on
their own.
They do not have a team.
Don't get me wrong, you have thesupport of your host, but this
is your business that you run atthe end of the day.

(41:51):
So anything that can beautomated for you, supportive,
and CRM and workflow tools forme are a complete
non-negotiable.
And there's great ones out therethat you can choose from.
So there's not just one option.
Um, I think advisors are alsopaying more attention to
marketing tools as well.
So email platforms, socialscheduling, forms, automations,
and things like that.
So that's those are things tokind of keep in mind.

(42:13):
I always say, especially forthose of you that are starting
your own business, is that youdo not need everything from day
one.
Take a look at what youabsolutely need.
I have I have a list.
I use click up as my projectmanagement tool.
I have a backlog list of whenthings come to mind, ideas of
different tools or somethingthat I can do.
And I put it on the backlog listand I look at it once a month
and I see that, okay, is it isthis time to bring this forward?

(42:36):
So you don't need everything allat once.
And I think that is important toknow.
AI tools, I know you've broughtthis up, are becoming a part of
everyday workflows, especiallyfor brainstorming, content
support research, admin tasks.
Do not be scared of AI, right?
They are here.
It is here to help support youas an advisor.

(42:56):
It is not a replacement of you,right?
So it really can help me, itreally not me, it can help you
save time on repetitive tasks,like any content that you're
drafting, itineraries thatyou're prepping.
I mean, you'll notice a lot ofthe tech tools that you're using
have AI integrated and built in.
So you still bring the emotionalintelligence, the relationship

(43:18):
management, the personalization,right?
Let AI take on the other side ofthings for you, is the way that
I like to think about it.
But technology for me haslowered those barriers and
really made it easier foradvisors to run more
sophisticated businesses withouthuge teams, especially at the
beginning when income is slowerto come in because your income
is based off of bookings andcommissions and all of that.

(43:41):
So I think that right now theadvantage now goes to advisors
who combine strong relationshipsand expertise with smart systems
and efficient workflows.
And that can all be achievedwith what's out there today.

SPEAKER_01 (43:52):
Yeah, that's great.
And so that's uh and there's somuch more to cover on this
topic.
One of the things that ShaneShane is very involved in our
travel trends community.
She She's been very active inour AI summits last two years.
She'll be back as a speakeragain this year.
So we'll we'll definitely divefurther into this with her in
those conversations.
But also, as I already alludedto, there's lots of other
resources that they haveavailable on this.

(44:12):
Yes.
And so one of the things Iwanted to make sure we do cover
in our conversation today issome of the challenges that
people should be aware ofentering into this space.
And then also I want to kind offinish with talking about the
future.
And the reason that I want tocover some of the challenges is
that the reality is that yes,this sector is growing.
There's lots of greatopportunity.
And you're, you know, you cansee some amazing examples of
people that have moved into thisspace.

(44:34):
And I'll give an excellentexample of Ellie Wagner, who
runs Wagner Bespoke Travel basedin Los Angeles, in Santa Monica.
I met her at the Forbes TravelGuide.
She was on an episode of ourshow.
And she's, you know, gone fromdoing like a million dollars a
month to two million dollars amonth.
And those are numbers thatMatthew Upchurch has shared on
our podcast.
And that, you know, she's like,Oh, yeah, my business is
growing.
But like it's staggering how andshe's a former lawyer, a

(44:57):
corporate lawyer that lovedtravel, decided to transition.
She's uh a mom with two youngkids, and uh and she's and she's
now I think she has a team ofsix, and like it's so there's
these uh really inspiringsuccess stories like Ellie.
But the one thing about ourindustry, and I say this as
someone that was raised by asingle mom, there's a reason why
it's a female-dominatedprofession, and the same with
many real estate professions aswell, is because of the way the

(45:19):
cash flow works in thisbusiness, is that you know, when
you know you need a salary andyou get commissions, a lot of
these models are based ongetting more substantial
commissions, which can be verylucrative, but you need someone
to travel and then have and tobefore you actually get your
commissions.
So it can be lean up front,which is why I also mentioned
that some of the people in thisindustry are retired.
And my aunt is a retired teacherand she works in Expedia Cruise

(45:41):
Center, she absolutely loves it,but she, you know, she she's in
a strong enough financialposition.
So you either have people thatare entering later that are able
to, you know, not rely on amonthly salary, or you have
people that have started thisindustry earlier that have a
salary position and then haveand and actually make great
salaries with a combination oftheir income plus the

(46:03):
commissions that they make.
And so I just wanted tohighlight that as one of the
challenges of getting into thisspace, depending on your
financial position and how therunway you need before you can
start earning a more substantialincome.
So that's one thing I would justcall out from the onset.
But Shana, anything you'd add tothat specifically, but also what
other challenges should advisorsbe aware of that are not talked

(46:23):
about enough when people getexcited about getting into this
space?

SPEAKER_00 (46:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I love this space, but Ithink it's always important to
understand where thosechallenges lie.
I think burnout andsustainability are bigger issues
than people realize.
A lot of advisors are runningbusinesses that are very
dependent on them personallybeing on the time all the time,
being available to theirclients.
And it's why I put emphasis onthe right technology platforms

(46:50):
to help support when, you know,when maybe you need to sleep a
little bit.
But those are that's somethingto consider.
There is also that pressure toconstantly market, create
content, learn about newtechnology that's available,
respond instantly, and deliverhigh-touch service to every
client that you have.
So those are things to considerwhen you're thinking about is it
quantity over quality, right?

(47:11):
Do you need to have 200 clientsor do you have 50 really strong
clients that, you know, travelconsistently?
You know, what does that looklike?
Another challenge is that, andthis is a great problem to have,
is that many advisors aregrowing faster than their
systems and workflows canhandle, right?
They're growing so quickly andthey haven't implemented a

(47:31):
different workflow or brought ina CRM yet, and they just haven't
been able to stop growing.
And so when do you stop, pullback, and be like, okay, I need
to set this up and then I cancontinue.
Um and I also don't think wetalk about enough about
profitability versus salesvolume.
Revenue doesn't always equal ahealthy business because the way
they make their money iscommissions and charging fees.

(47:53):
So I do talk about kind of like,you know, right now there's, you
know, different shifts ordownturns sometimes within the
industry, things that arecompletely out of our control,
you know, like some situationsthat are going on right now.
And, you know, I talk a lotabout diversifying your revenue
streams.
Uh so charging fees, havingspecific niches, different types

(48:14):
of clients.
So when there is a downturn inone spot, you still have clients
traveling kind of to anotherarea of the world or a different
style of travel.
I do think that advisors thatcontinue learning and adapting,
whether that's with tech,marketing, or consumer behavior,
are usually the ones that willstay competitive long term.
No career path is stagnant.

(48:34):
No, you know, everything changesand evolves.
Be open to it, learn about it.
You don't have to love it, butmake sure that you continue to
be a part of that conversationand continue to learn.
And that's to be honest, that'sfor host agency reviews, that's
what we continue to provide isall that education that all of
these incredible hosts andfranchises and consortium help
us with so that we can help ouradvisors continue to evolve and

(48:59):
feel comfortable with theevolution of this industry.

SPEAKER_01 (49:01):
Yeah.
Well, let's let's talk aboutthat and kind of finish on that
topic, which is how it is goingto evolve in the next few years.
I mean, it's crazy that we're,you know, midway through 2026
and people will be listening,and you know, the 2030 is not
that far away.
So, you know, even talking aboutthe next three years of how
things are going to change.
I know.
And we've only just, you know,we touched on AI, and obviously

(49:22):
that is a uh a very importantfactor that's changing every
three months.
But let's you let's talk aboutthe future of the advisor model
and and go back to where ourconversation started too, Shana,
with the fact that people trustpeople.
And one of I always say, andyou've I know you've heard me in
my keynotes talk about the factthat with travel advisors, the
moat is the moat, we uh use thatterm in the startup and

(49:43):
investment world where you knowwhat is your competitive
advantage?
And one of the things that Ialways call out for travel
advisors is the personalrelationship, is their moat.
Is that if their tra if theircustomers rely almost solely on
their recommendation for wherethey go on their next holiday,
that's their absolutecompetitive advantage.
They need to maintain thatrelationship.
And so, yeah, when you thinkabout the future of travel

(50:04):
advisors, I think we're both wesee a bright future for them.
But I'd I'd love to hear yourtake on this because I'm sure
you get asked that all the timewhen you're on other podcasts
and speaking at industryconferences.

SPEAKER_00 (50:14):
Right.
Where do we see this kind ofgoing in the next three, maybe
five-ish years?
I can't believe 2030.
Did you really have to call thatout?
Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_01 (50:22):
Um we supposed to have flying cars like 10 years
ago, and you know, like we haverobots cleaning our houses,
like, yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 (50:30):
I mean, I guess we do have the robot cleaning our
houses, but yeah.
Cleaning is like my my happyplace.
I don't want to give that up toa robot.
I used to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 (50:39):
Right now it's a right now, it's a Roomba that it
can't even get past a sock.
So I mean, we're still like atthat at that point.
I know.

SPEAKER_00 (50:46):
I was at the I was at the airport in Asheville,
North Carolina, and they hadlike a cleaning, like a little
cleaning robot going around theairport, and my bag was just
sitting in front of me, and it II felt like the robot would like
try like going up to my bag, andthen I felt like it was like
staring at me, like, excuse you.
And then we would just standthere for a minute and it would
be like a good 60 seconds beforewe'd go around.

(51:07):
I had to test the theory, like,how long was it gonna take to
just go around my bag?
And then I nicely moved my bagout of the way.
But anyways, I digress.
So yeah, no, so for the traveladvisors, I think that we will
continue to see the gap between,I think we had a lot of
part-time and more hobbyistsversus six, like, you know,
those that made this their, youknow, entire full-time job and

(51:29):
highly successful advisors.
And I think that will become alot more visible.
I think they will continue toposition themselves as experts
and business owners, hence theword advisor and why we no
longer call them booking agents.
I think that has really evolvedover the last five to 10 years
and will continue to evolve kindof into 2030 and beyond.

(51:50):
I think we'll see this industrybecome even more
professionalized as we have,again, over the last kind of
five to 10 years, morespecialized and more technology
enabled.
So things like AI and automationis going to handle a lot more
administrative work because thesheer amount of administrative
work that advisors do that isnecessary for their business,

(52:11):
but it's not them selling orbringing in new clients is
incredibly high.
And this will give advisors alot more space to focus on those
relationships and the strategyand clients that are best for
them versus just being in thatadministrative task work that
needs to get done, but a lotmore of that will get automated.
So those are some things that Isee kind of coming up in the

(52:33):
next few years.

SPEAKER_01 (52:34):
All right, Shana.
Now I have two last questionsfor you.
One that I'm really keen to askyou since you've got so much
great knowledge and advice forthose listening to this that
want to advance their career,especially in the trade side of
this business.
So, from this conversationtoday, what would be one tip you
would like to leave with ourlisteners?

SPEAKER_00 (52:52):
So, for any travel advisor listening, one piece of
advice that I wish you all knewbefore starting was I really
want you to know to treat itlike a business from the
beginning, that it's not just apassion project.
Don't get me wrong, I am verypassionate about this industry.
But building trust, referrals,consistent income takes time.
So patience and consistencyreally matters.

(53:15):
And honestly, uh, I think, and Ithink I've mentioned this
already, Dan, is focus less ontrying to do everything and more
on building strong relationshipsand a reputation that people
remember.
So that would be my advice toyou.

SPEAKER_01 (53:28):
All right.
And now the final question,Shana, I want to make sure that
everyone listening to this canconnect with you and follow up
for more information about hostagency reviews.
What would be the best way forour listeners to connect with
you and to follow up after thisepisode?

SPEAKER_00 (53:42):
In terms of how to get in touch with us, please
feel free to reach out.
We love hearing from advisorsfrom others in the industry.
We work with the entireindustry.
You can visit us athostagencyreviews.com.
You can email us at hello athostagencireviews.com.
And please go play around on thewebsite, check out, you know,

(54:03):
our podcasts, our content.
If you're looking for a hostagency, if you're looking to
understand more of the traveltechnology software, we do have
our big event coming up in a fewweeks called Harwired, because
we're cute like that.
So our travel agency technologyweek.
So many of the hosts are joiningus to speak and give their
insights into what not onlytheir host is doing, but also

(54:24):
just general insights for theadvisor industry in general.
We've got 15 back-to-back demos.
Uh, we've got a launch pad,which is new this year, which
are brand new, brand newtechnology coming into the space
so that you can see them, whatsome tour operators are doing
for you in the back end in thetechnology space.
So come and check that out.

(54:45):
But everything is athostagencyreviews.com.
And we would love to hear fromyou.
Thank you so, so much, Dan, forhaving me.
This has just been an absolutepleasure.
And yeah, thanks again.

SPEAKER_01 (54:58):
That's fantastic.
Thanks so much, Shayna, forjoining us for this special
spotlight episode of TravelTrends.
I hope everyone's enjoyedtoday's episode featuring Shayna
Zand, the managing director ofHost Agency Reviews.
Thank you to you, Shayna, and toSteph Lee for our continued
collaborations.
I really enjoy being a part ofyour recent conference, and I
want to make sure that everyonesigns up for future conferences.

(55:20):
So make sure you check outHostagencyRiews.com, follow them
on LinkedIn and their socialchannels, and make sure that you
register for their conferences.
And don't forget, Shayna willactually be joining us for our
summit this October.
So make sure you are registeredwhile we have free
subscriptions.
Thanks again to all of oursponsors for that.

(55:41):
And if you're interested in morespotlight episodes, make sure
you check outtraveltrendspodcast.com slash
spotlights.
And make sure you're subscribed,of course, on the streaming
platform of your choice.
And we do post clips andhighlights on all our social
channels, which you can find onLinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube at
Travel Trends Podcast.
Thanks again for joining us, anduntil next week, safe travels.