View From Afar | Travel Industry News

by Afar

View From Afar is the travel industry podcast made by the travel industry, for the travel industry. Hosted by the editors of Afar, the show sits down with the CEOs, tourism experts, hoteliers, and destination leaders shaping how the world moves. These are travel industry interviews with the people actually making the decisions, from national tourism boards to the newest hotel brands, often recorded in the room where it happens, including live from major travel industry events like IPW. Every episode is a real conversation, not a press release. Afar editors talk with travel changemakers about what the next era of travel will be built on: the rise of sustainable tourism, smarter destination management, the travel innovation reshaping the guest experience, and the travel industry challenges no one wants to say out loud. Expect tourism experts interviews that move from travel marketing strategies and travel consumer insights to local tourism initiatives, destination highlights, and the future of travel and tourism development. Past guests have led the tourism efforts of entire states and cities, run major transit and hospitality brands, and steered destinations through record years and hard pivots alike. If your work touches travel, think of this as your briefing. As a travel podcast built for professionals, View From Afar delivers the travel industry news and travel industry insights that help destination marketers, hospitality industry leaders, tour operators, and travel professionals stay ahead of travel trends 2026 and beyond. It is travel storytelling with a purpose: honest, curious, and grounded in the real experiences of the people building the business of travel. Afar has spent more than a decade telling travelers where to go and why it matters. View From Afar turns that same lens on the industry itself, giving you a front-row seat to the ideas, the debates, and the travel experiences defining what comes next. New episodes bring new voices and new destinations to the table. Follow View From Afar wherever you listen, and join the conversation shaping the future of travel.

Latest episodes

Showing 20 · updated from the feed

Crystal Vinisse Thomas Wants to Uncover the People Behind Hospitality's Biggest Brands

Crystal Vinisse Thomas has spent her career building some of hospitality's most recognizable brands—W Hotels at Starwood, Hyatt's lifestyle and luxury portfolio—and she's

Sep 17
34 min

The Phoenix Tourism People Don't Know | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Phoenix⁠ president and CEO Ron Price⁠ sits down wi

Jun 10
23 min

Austin Travel and the Future of Destination Management | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Austin⁠ president and ⁠CEO Tom Noonan⁠ sits down w

Jun 9
26 min

Why You Should Visit Colorado the Right Way | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Colorado Tourism Office⁠ director ⁠Timothy Wolfe⁠ sits d

Jun 5
19 min

Louisiana Travel Beyond New Orleans, From Bayou to Byway | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Louisiana Office of Tourism assistant secretary Doug Bou

Jun 4
23 min

The Bad Bunny Puerto Rico Effect | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Discover Puerto Rico⁠ CEO ⁠Jorge Perez⁠ sits down with A

Jun 4
23 min

How Detroit Tourism Finally Caught Up to the Hype | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Detroit⁠⁠ president and CEO ⁠⁠Claude Molinari⁠⁠ si

Jun 3
23 min

Visit South Carolina and Find the Undiscovered | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Discover South Carolina director Duane Parrish sits down

May 30
21 min

The Seattle Tourism Boom Behind a World Cup Summer | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Seattle president and CEO Tammy Canavan sits down

May 28
21 min

Can American Train Travel Actually Work? | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Brightline Holdings CEO Nicolas Petrovic sits down with

May 27
20 min

The Case for Better Key West Travel, Not Just More | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Florida Keys and Key West president and CEO Kara F

May 26
24 min

Turning Surf City USA Into an Overnight Destination | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Visit Huntington Beach president and CEO John Urdi sits

May 23
24 min

How Minnesota Tourism Answered a Hard Year | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Explore Minnesota executive director Lauren Bennett McGi

May 22
23 min

The Wyoming Tourism Playbook Beyond Yellowstone | Live From IPW 2026

Welcome to a special IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, recorded live from the conference floor, Domenic Bravo⁠, executive director of the ⁠Wyoming Offic

May 20
27 min

The Travel Trends 2026 Will Hinge On | Setting the Stage for IPW

Welcome to a special scene-setter for our IPW 2026 series of View From Afar. In this episode, U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Geoff Freeman sits down again with

May 12
43 min

A Hotelier Takes the Helm at Explora Journeys

How do you bring ultra‑luxury hospitality to the high seas? For Anna Nash, President of Explora Journeys, it starts with reimagining ocean travel as a floating boutique

Feb 2
28 min

Live From ILTM: How Nayara Resort's Is Solving Tourism's Hidden Housing Crisis

Nayara Resorts is confronting one of tourism's most overlooked problems—the housing crisis that forces local workers out of their communities in remote areas—by building

Dec 8 2025
23 min

Live From ILTM: How Langham Balances 160 Years of Heritage with Modern Luxury

Langham Hospitality Group is proving that heritage brands can innovate without losing their soul, transforming historic buildings into contemporary luxury destinations wh

Dec 5 2025
17 min

Live From ILTM: Virtuoso CEO Matthew Upchurch on Humanizing the Exceptional in an Age of AI

For more than four decades, Matthew Upchurch has been a driving force behind how high-end travel is sold, experienced, and understood. As CEO of ⁠Virtuoso⁠ , one of the w

Dec 5 2025
25 min

Live From ILTM: How Matter of Form Helps Luxury Travel Brands—From Aman to Belmond—Find Their Voices

Matter of Form is proving that luxury travel brands need therapy—not to fix what's broken, but to discover what makes them singular in a sea of "elevated experiences" and

Dec 4 2025
13 min