Navigating Challenges and Threats Through the Next 5 Years Without good insights into demand, trends, challenges and threats, it might be hard for travel agency owners, DMO chiefs, and hotel managers to feel really confident about their travel marketing strategy — whether for 2025-2026 or the long view. With the stakes high, going down the…
🧭Navigating the US Travel Landscape for 2025-2026 The US travel industry is already navigating some choppy waters this year for a number of reasons. There’s the vascillating and painful import tariffs along with immigration rules that deter inbound international travel. And many are holding off until the fledgling Trump economy begins to accelerate in 2026….
How AI Tools Empower Your Key Personnel for Big Bottom-Line Impact It’s estimated that 25% of digital marketers have been replaced by AI powered software tools. In fact, companies are reorganizing and flattening their employee/freelance hierarchies given the pluses that AI is providing. Aside from the customer-side tools available (e.g., AI travel itinerary generators and…
Visibility is Everything Whether you’re in the travel business or in real estate sales, being discovered and getting your message heard is paramount. And I’m reminded of what SparkToro’s well-known CEO and co-Founder, Rand Fishkin said recently — that discovery is the next big marketing objective, ahead of clicks. Because as he puts it, being…
🍕 How do ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek LLM’s Segment User Intent? Search engines, those deliverers of eager shoppers in vast amounts are all in on AI. AI algorithms govern the pieces and the whole of a shopper’s topic search on Google or ChatGPT. Just this week, Google announced its improved Google AI Mode Search…
An Epic Two-Week Journey Through Italy’s Cultural Heartland If you and your special someone are seeking more than a vacation — in search of places that will give you plenty of moments to slow down, decompress, then stir your soul, ignite your curiosity, let you go with the flow and just feel good, then your…
Why Unique Content is a Powerful Selling Tool I don’t mean to be blunt, however, right now most of your content is likely not discernible from that of thousands of other relevant competitive companies and brands. And why would Google or customer prospects prefer your version of a destination or itinerary? It’s simple. Yours will…
🚀 Travel SEO: Capturing Motivated Travel Consumers Search engine optimization, when done really well can drive significant brand awareness and booking success. The image of SEO has fallen dramatically over 25 years. It once captivated marketing and business audiences then suffered when IT shops, web designers, and others tried to leverage its value to win…
🚗 The Great North American Cottage Escape: 15 Idyllic Summer Retreats for Families There’s a compelling magic in a summer spent in a rented cottage—where the rhythm of the days slows to the pace of lapping water, sizzling grills, and children’s laughter echoing through the trees. For families, it’s the sweet spot between adventure and…
🌞🍹⛱️ The Sweet Rush of Late Spring Wanderlust The sudden arrival of amazing weather with warm temps and not a cloud in the sky makes us all get dreamy about the summer season ahead. There’s a moment now in the late days of spring when the air changes with buds on trees blooming — when…
🧭 The Calm Marketing Playbook for Travel Business Owners A 5-Step Guide to Get More Bookings Without Losing Your Mind (or Budget) You’re a busy travel company owner booking flights, trips, tours, and managing your day to day business challenges. It’s not easy to break inertia on those other tasks that you know are really…
🔗How to Create & Pitch Content Occasionally, I come across or learn of an outstanding company and I like to mention them and relay how important their offer or business is. And I’ve discovered one that’s notable. I attended their online seminar this afternoon and enjoyed not only the insights into how they do their…
😇Travel Angel Investing: A Goldmine if you Choose Well Like the rest of the globe, US travel is changing dramatically, drawn back to a domestic focus which I explored in the US domestic travel market report. As an angel investor, you have plenty of industries to invest in, however, as mentioned in the travel startup…
🤖 MindTrip.ai Personalized Travel Planner It’s 2025, full of amazing marketing and sales opportunity for travel companies. A good deal of this big potential is evolving from new AI chatbot-powered trip itinerary planners. As you’ll see below, these amazing AI-powered software solutions can do a lot of work, in a fashion that is satisfying for travel…
🤖 Travel AI Agents vs AI Travel Planners AI travel technology is transforming how people plan their trips and how travel businesses serve their clients and customers. It’s making travel planning, booking, and management much easier and raising confidence in travel whether domestic or round-the-world trips. Whether it’s predictive pricing, AI-powered concierge services, or smart…
🍁Canada’s Brain Drain Rocketing Canadians choosing to move to the US and work there is nothing new. For decades, the exodus has been strong, except for the last decade where it declined. But starting in 2022, there was a notable jump in emigrations to the US. Canada’s CBC news network ran a report using US…
🚀 2025 Best Small Business Opportunity: AI Travel Agency Given the turmoil in the North American travel sector, you might think it’s an industry to stay clear of. And as an entrepreneur, you might not be licensed or have sufficient qualifications to run a travel agency. Then there is the whole challenge of it and…
🎁 Travel Incentives, Discounts and Rewards US travel companies are digging in deeper to make their trips and packages more affordable, and their brand image more powerful. Surprisingly, the solution they seek might be in techniques normally associated with losing money — offering incentives and discounts and reward points. For many of them, the strategy…
🗽Exploring the US Domestic Travel Boom A big change is happening in US travel and tourism — a shift to domestic travel destinations and vacation experiences. Such a trend is good for the economy and good for Americans by encouraging them to explore their own country by plane, train or automobile and thus support tourism…
🏞️ America’s Travel Choices in 2025: Venturing Across the Northern Border Americans will be traveling domestically, within North America this year. Rising political tensions and risks are making many focus entirely on trips across the country by train, car, bus and jet. And why not? The US is one of world’s most picturesque and diverse…
🤗 Selling Vibes to Travel Customers? Most travel salespeople would agree that the customer’s wants and pain points are the core of any selling strategy. Travel decisions are complex and emotional, and travelers tap into emotional reasoning to simplify their decision. A basically, that means they rely on the “vibes” they get about your trips,…
✈️ 2025 US Travel Market Upheaval President Trump’s plan to revitalize and reindustrialize the US, and deploy high tariff barriers is inadvertently impacting the US travel market. It’s making global travel market and US travel forecasts and even accurate views of the actual market unfolding a challenge. Below you’ll find global travel statistics in relation…
Which are the Best Stocks to Buy Right Now? Stock markets are roiling in volatility against a backdrop of lower corporate earnings. That should tell investors like yourself that the immediate upside is muted, and you may want to invest with the 6 month or 5 year outlooks in mind. On any day, completely different…
🤩 The Essence of Stellar Travel Content Arguably, the biggest weakness of most small travel companies online is shallow, mundane content. Much of it fits “best practices” in style or topics but doesn’t seem to build brand loyalty or captivate an audience enough to make a booking. And in terms of a great content experience…
🚵🏽♂️ 21 Unique Mountain Biking Vacation Destinations Mountain biking as a sport or thrilling adventure is evolving and resorts, DMOs, and tour companies are designing more sophisticated and satisfying experiences for MTBers. As new venues/trails are created around the world, and the diversity and number of riders increase yearly, the types of vacations mountain bikers…
🥬 Fresh Content and Design There’s still a big belief in “set it and forget it” in marketing. It comes from the belief that content is what it is, and can’t be improved. In fact, content must be improved based on observations and data. It’s sad that marketing managers don’t understand this and they delete…
Building your Real Estate Visuals for Online Promotions Real estate agents should avoid broker templates and leverage the selling power of attractive, custom-branded visuals for online ad campaigns, emails, newsletters social media and blog posts. Powerful visuals boost your agent brand, and they also impact your SEO performance since visitors bounce less off of pages/websites…
SEO Vs PPC vs Social Media Traffic It’s a certainty that you’ll be attracting leads from the big 3 marketing channels: Pay Per Click, SEO and social media, and paying a lot more for real, quality leads. Instagram Ads, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Google and Bing Search, Linkedin Ads, Twitter Ads, and other pay per click…
Creating Real Estate Marketing Excellence! The best place to connect to buyers and sellers today is on Google, Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. Consider them all visibility platforms first and foremost, and lead generation and loyalty-building channels secondarily. Visibility means being top of mind, and first dibs on affecting buyer and seller beliefs and preferences. If…
Visit Canada’s Beautiful Okanagan Region 🚲It was in 1985, that I rode my bicycle from Banff, Alberta to the Okanagan region of British Columbia, in Canada. That epic 300-mile trip through towering snow-capped mountain ranges, past raging glacier-fed rivers and giant red cedar and hemlock forests into a thrilling 50 mph ride down undulating mountain…
First-Time Buyers Average Age a Troubling Statistic Stats from NAR shows the age of first-time homebuyers keeps rising. Yes, it’s a problem. The stat actually reflects the greater problems of the economy and the population, that life is becoming unaffordable for most, and that few politicians and corporations are willing to do anything about it….
📒 Travel Marketing Software Good travel marketing needs the right travel marketing software. Dedicated solutions help you gravitate from outdated legacy marketing processes that actually are threatening the viability of your travel business. If you’re piecing together 10 different marketing tools that require a lot of manual intervention, you might enjoy better integration/automation through these…
China Tariffs There’s a lot of interest in the impact of the US reciprocal tariffs of 125% on China. If you’re reading this from China, it’s not a rosy outlook for your country. And the tariff is just one reason. Unfortunately, the massive trade deficit with China and other nations has left the US with…
Today’s Stock Market Update Thursday April 10, 2025: Markets are Down Today After all the drama of putting the global reciprocal tariffs into effect, President Trump announced a 90 pause on them, with the exception of China which will suffer a 125% tariff. That change likely came on the heels of China announcing an 84%…
De-Risk + Ramp Up Revenue Plenty of small business owners have difficulty launching into digital marketing. The status quo seems more comfortable, until it isn’t. Sure, investing in marketing entails some risks, but what about the rewards? There are always hesitations about trying new content strategies, creating new creative content experiences, running promotional campaigns, hiring…
When Will the Stock Market Recover? The recent plunge of stock prices on US exchanges has wiped out trillions of dollars of value gained in the last year. Prices were back to levels of April of 2024 and could fall further. Many were asking, when will the stock market recover. And this afternoon, we got…
10 Best Home Renovation Ideas With spring arising and a whole range of new cities expected to see rising demand for homes and perhaps higher prices, investors and homeowners are considering a renovation, rehab, or remodelling type project. The value and extra enjoyment and utilization you can get from the renovation or addition plays a…
20 Cities that Could Thrive in the Years Ahead We’re less than 3 months into the Trump Presidency, and with the crazy vacillation of the stock market today and yesterday, Americans are confused about whether the plan will be successful. The tumult of the change is making everyone stay put and reduce spending. Yet, we…
China’s Biggest Stock Market Loss Since the 2007 Crash As you’ll note here, China has a lot of experience dealing with market crashes. Some of the setbacks they’ve endured were astonishingly bad. The communist party found a way, but in those cases, it was exports that saved them. This time, export revenue won’t be available…
S&P 500 Forecast for 2025 As the implications of the new Trump tariffs set in, and world leaders react to Wednesday’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs on country’s dependent on US consumers, this week should be a volatile one for the S&P 500. After a remarkable bull run in 2024, the S&P 500 has given back…