Mom's Guide To Travel

Trip Planning, Expert Tips, and Fun Ideas For Family Travel.

Speaking At New York Travel Festival And Winning With Omni Hotels

Two weeks ago I spoke at New York Travel Festival, a weekend travel event for travel industry, media, and consumers to gather and discuss the inspirational aspects of travel. It’s also an opportunity for travel industry folk to learn from and workshop with one another.

New York Travel Festival

My Panel

I sat on a panel with two other family travel writers discussing ways to make a better family travel product. We all were in different stages of parenthood, one speaker has an infant, another teenagers, and myself my 6 and 10 year olds so our workshop provided a more three dimensional look at what families need to improve the vacation experience. As a very brief synopsis of our three points of views:

  1. More sensory experiences for infants and toddlers.
  2. Educational and transformative experiences.
  3. An updated and expanded view of the family unit.

If you take a look at the slideshow accessible at Creating A Better Family Travel Product, you’ll see my specific speaking points, so I won’t bore you by recapping everything here.

What’s the Point?

My point in writing this post is to share with you why I enjoy travel shows similar to New York Travel Festival, and why you should consider attending a local one.

  1. There’s usually an educational component to these travel shows, whether it be about new products or industry trends.
  2. Travel shows provide a unique opportunity for intimate interaction with industry experts. A young woman was able to pull up a chair and sit with me and pick my brain just the same as I was able to chat with Samantha Brown at the D.C. Travel and Adventure Show four years ago.
  3. You’ll get the chance to hear at least one inspirational story and may consider new travel possibilities.
  4. (This may be the best part) You usually have a chance to win free travel, products and prizes, or book discounted travel.

I had the pleasure of working with the Omni Hotels and Resorts in awarding a free night’s stay to one lucky attendee at my panel discussion. You may have seen me write about Omni properties several times. I view Omni as a brand that “gets it” when it comes to family travel, so I thought a stay at one of their properties was a befitting reward.

Takeaway

Travel shows are great resources for travel inspiration, discount travel, and possibly a free night’s stay at a luxury hotel. If you’re in the market for any of the above, grab a ticket for the next show nearest you and share with us your experience.

If you’ve attended a travel show in the past, please share your experience in the Comments below. I’m always grateful to hear your thoughts.

World Travel Market London: Cultural Exchanges and Travel Trends

I’m currently in London at the World Travel Market learning about destinations, travel trends, and just about everything travel-related happening around the globe. This four-day business-to-business event, representing a diverse range of destinations, industry sectors, and travel professionals, is the second largest travel event of its kind in the world, second to the ITB expo in Berlin. With over 4,500 exhibiting companies, my first day could have easily been overwhelming but I approached the massive expo with expectations mirroring family travel advice that I give: “persistence, patience, and preparation.”

World Travel Market - Excel Center
The Excel Center at World Travel Market

At the end of these few days, I don’t expect to visit all of the exhibiting companies. The reality is that I have no desire to. I prepared with a mental list of the destinations I personally have an interest in visiting, doing business with, personally demystifying, and those that I want to introduce to families.

There’s a small presence of American destinations and travel writers here. And although much of the focus is on the UK market, I’ve found that there’s still value in being present at World Travel Market. As much as I’m here to learn about new destinations and industry trends, I’m here at World Travel Market for cultural exchange.
World Travel Market
Traditional Dress
In a press conference conducted by World travel Market, in conjunction with analysis and studies from Euromonitor International, several world travel trends were discussed. Analysts spoke of the attraction of “forbidden lands” to American travelers. The easing of travel restrictions to places such as North Korea, Cuba, and Myanmar is attracting young American males looking for adventure & experienced American travelers looking for unique experiences. Mitt Romney was even mentioned in the presentation in regards to what his election could mean for some of these travel restrictions.
World Travel Market Industry Session
Industry Session
On the more casual side of my first day, through talks with industry representatives of varying nature, I learned about some perceptions of the American traveler, expectations of where we might or might not travel, and some destinations’ difficulties in tapping into the American market. These conversations were conducted over the wine and foods of different countries, allowing me an opportunity to experience a the cultural side of destinations. Arabic coffee, Swiss desserts, Indonesian lemper and putri ayu, Bulgarian wine, and Malaysian appetizers were just a few of the tastes of World Travel Market for the day.
World Travel Market - Indonesian Food
Indonesian Food
Eager to find out what day 2 holds, I’ve had a chance to mull over some notes and reflect on my interactions. One point that continues to be prevalent for me is that expos and conferences have value-added outside the doors of meeting halls and on the floor of the event. Just like travel, some of the best experiences tend to be off the beaten path.

 

 

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