Latest / GowayPro Travel Tales / Travel Trends for 2025 with Goway Travel
Transcript
- 0:00Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goay and welcome to the GoayPro Travel Tale podcast.
- 0:07Happy New Year and welcome to 2025.
- 0:10New Year brings with it new opportunities and today we, Renée, our Director of Sales, Risa, our Director of Product and myself, Professor Goay, we're going to discuss what we
- 0:24know and what we predict will be most popular.
- 0:28and trending for 2025.
- 0:31Now, that's a tough call because Go8 is on all seven continents, but we'll spotlight what is hot now, now being sort of in the last part of 2024.
- 0:41And what we think will be the few unsuspecting destinations that you or your clients should know about as we move into 2025.
- 0:56travel far and travel often.
- 1:00So, Reece, let's just jump straight into it.
- 1:01So what was popular in 24 in general terms?
- 1:05And do you think that will continue to 25, the ones that were popular in 24 destinations?
- 1:12Wow.
- 1:12Two-part questions to start.
- 1:14Thank you.
- 1:17Well, you know what?
- 1:18Definitely, mean, know, trends are really hard to capture, but numbers really don't lie.
- 1:24So what we did see is, you know, some of our top destinations, Australia, New Zealand, were definitely on the top of the list.
- 1:31know, GOA is known for their South Pacific destinations.
- 1:36So that is definitely going to continue for 2025.
- 1:41Europe was a huge, you know, boom in 23, 24, and it's going to continue in 2025.
- 1:50We've seen huge numbers in Italy and Greece.
- 1:53are the traditional destinations.
- 1:55But we also see, and it's not surprising, France following the Paris Olympics.
- 2:02There's more and more visitors interested in France.
- 2:07And also some new destinations that are a little bit on the radar, but they're slowly coming up like Portugal.
- 2:15We've seen a lot of great numbers in Portugal.
- 2:18And then in Asia,
- 2:20Japan and Thailand.
- 2:21Japan was pretty much dominated a few months of our year where it was actually hard to get availability.
- 2:29So Japan, think for everyone was a huge win.
- 2:35And then in Latin America, although Peru struggled at the beginning of the year, it did pick up.
- 2:40And so we're still seeing Peru and Costa Rica at the top of our list.
- 2:44Good.
- 2:45That heartens my heart.
- 2:46So I used to look at it.
- 2:47It's always, I always want to just let me in there somewhere in the mix.
- 2:50So as recent mention, um, now that's all, uh, that's all tied to sales, but it's also, um, based on the inquiries we get.
- 2:59Um, but as Reese said in the early introduction there, basically the numbers don't lie.
- 3:05Now I'm going to pass a numbers question over to Renee, our director of sales, and she loves her numbers, loves her spreadsheets.
- 3:11So Renee.
- 3:12Same question, but on a more specific note, what were our top 10 destinations for 2024 based on sales?
- 3:20And do think that will continue into 2025?
- 3:23Absolutely, Don.
- 3:24So as Risa alluded to earlier, Australia and New Zealand continue to top the charts.
- 3:29We had a great 2024.
- 3:32However, I'm pretty confident that we'll have an even better 2025.
- 3:35We're seeing more lift to the South Pacific, especially from gateways in the USA.
- 3:40More lift typically means cheaper seats.
- 3:43And we also have a really strong Canadian dollar as well as a US dollar to the Australian and New Zealand dollar.
- 3:49So it's a great time to travel.
- 3:51So I think that that will be on the hot list for 25.
- 3:54Italy and Greece continue to also be in our top 10.
- 3:58They have been ever so popular post COVID and it really hasn't stopped.
- 4:04As well as that we have Japan.
- 4:07Japan we had a
- 4:08booming year in 2024 and 2023.
- 4:11I still think that we'll continue to see that in 2025, but we might see some more emerging destinations such as South Korea and India.
- 4:21I think that they might start to creep up and Vietnam as well.
- 4:26then we do have South Africa.
- 4:28Obviously, Africa is also very dear to our heart and South Africa continue to stay in our top 10.
- 4:35Kenya and Tanzania.
- 4:36Tanzania.
- 4:38I also think it's going to come back in 25.
- 4:40They're in our top 15.
- 4:42But I do think that we're still going to have those people wanting those experiential travel in Africa on safari.
- 4:49So I think that that will also hit our list next year or this year, I should say.
- 4:54Exactly this year, we're on 25.
- 4:56I always find it interesting that Kenya and Tanzania are not always in top tens because they I kind of just sound the most iconic site sounds.
- 5:05out there in the world.
- 5:06I understand Italy, Greece being always popular, but it does interest me that Tanzania and Kenya are not in the top 10, at least currently for us.
- 5:17you mentioned India.
- 5:19Risa, know we're starting to, like we do have product for India.
- 5:23Anyone out there wants to travel to India with Goa, we can definitely help you.
- 5:26But I know we're in a bit of a product push for India.
- 5:29Is that correct?
- 5:30Just to add to that popularity.
- 5:32Yeah, we are.
- 5:33And thank you for mentioning that, Renee, because I think definitely India is up and coming.
- 5:38What we did actually with our India product is we revamped it a little bit because right now India is still a very, you know, it's still a very affordable country.
- 5:49think most Asian countries are very affordable when you're on the ground.
- 5:53But what we did is we ended up revamping it by adding more private guided experiences, more immersive experiences.
- 6:01And we just sort of upped the product line a little bit so it matches more so our other product lines.
- 6:08So this is definitely still within budget, but it's definitely not the cheap and cheerful as what it was in the past before.
- 6:18People are getting a lot better experiences and more, yeah, just more unique experiences.
- 6:24So yes, look out for India.
- 6:26Yeah, and even with the upgrade in product in regards to levels of, you know, yes, cheap and cheerful if you want.
- 6:34But the thing about India is even when you get into luxury, it's still very, very affordable compared to a lot of other, other countries out there.
- 6:41And for those who are part of the travel academy or want to be, because of the growing popularity of India, there will be soon a LMS module on India.
- 6:50I'm just currently working on Ireland at the moment.
- 6:53So that'll be hitting the shelves very soon as well.
- 6:55So
- 6:55As we develop the product internally, we'll also develop the educational base for all of our travel partners out there.
- 7:02I'll leave, I'll throw this question at both of you.
- 7:05Now we discussed our sort of top 10 and those out of the top 10.
- 7:08Outside of those ones, which countries do you think might surprise us and maybe surprise people out there that you think will be popular for 25?
- 7:19Let's go with Risa first.
- 7:21Yeah, I'll take.
- 7:25You know what, think Renee, you have mentioned it, or we had talked about it in the past, but I think Vietnam, you had mentioned as one of the destinations that are off the beaten
- 7:33path.
- 7:34We definitely see that one as growing.
- 7:37In other areas, I know that this is one of the favorite destinations for our Asia product manager is Bhutan, you know, in the Himalayas, Albania, part of the Balkan region, that
- 7:49whole area in the Balkans region, Serbia.
- 7:53Montenegro Albania is growing.
- 7:56Namibia is also growing as well in it, or I think is sort of a hidden gem in South Africa.
- 8:04Okay, Renee, you were going to jump in there and I cut you off.
- 8:08do you concur with this?
- 8:11Have you got a few more you want to throw in?
- 8:15Absolutely.
- 8:15Reese's spot on.
- 8:16The only other destination that comes off the top of my head would be South Korea.
- 8:21Obviously, we've saw so much popularity in Japan and I think that South Korea is going to be that next one.
- 8:27Great for culinary and K-pop.
- 8:29We're finding that children are telling their parents they want to go to South Korea.
- 8:33It happened a lot with Japan with anime and I think we're going to start to see that and the whole gaming kind of travel, which is a really new interesting concept.
- 8:44Yeah.
- 8:44And also from a South Korea point of view, you've got, you got Squid Games 2 just came out.
- 8:50I was very late to the party.
- 8:52I only watched Squid Games 1 over the Christmas break.
- 8:55There you go, Reese.
- 8:56That's one thing I did over Christmas.
- 8:58I watched Squid Games.
- 8:59So there's that popularity as well.
- 9:01And to your point, did a, think it was a webinar with the Korean tourism board and K-pop was and is a very popular pool for people.
- 9:11looking for a destination.
- 9:13I'm going to throw in a Latin destination, which it probably won't gain popular, but it's worth considering.
- 9:18It's, it's Guiana.
- 9:20And I've just finished a webinar, sorry, podcast with our grounds operator there, which will be coming out in about four or five weeks from this particular podcast.
- 9:31And I knew a bit about it, but speaking to Tony, amazing destination as well for up and comers in the Latin world.
- 9:39So on that point, Risa,
- 9:41What type of travel styles do you think will become or are becoming more popular?
- 9:46Like we talked destinations.
- 9:47Let's talk about ways to travel within any destination.
- 9:52Yeah, you know, I think that again, is, know, Renee, you hit upon some of the some of the sort of trending areas like gaming is popular, popular culture like TV shows.
- 10:05I also think multi-generational travel.
- 10:09is now more than ever, I think post COVID especially, you you see a lot of multi-generational families traveling together, the grandparents, the parents,
- 10:19grandchildren, great grandchildren, more and more we see this because we're getting requested for, you know, double rooms or connecting rooms or things like that.
- 10:29So I think multi-generational travel is definitely on a trend that's gonna continue for 2025.
- 10:36One sort of trendy depth,
- 10:39trendy sort of area is nocturism.
- 10:43don't know if you guys have heard about that.
- 10:46It's a unique nighttime travel, like stargazing.
- 10:50Never heard of that term anyway.
- 10:53Yeah, it's a new one that, I mean, I don't think it's going to blow us out of the water in terms of sales, but it's it's trending similar to culinary travel or sports travel or
- 11:07things like that.
- 11:09So Renee, when you're at the travel shows and you do attend a of our shows in partnership with our account managers who are out and about continuously, are you being asked about
- 11:18certain ways to travel?
- 11:19You know, as in an agent company that says, can go away, do this type of travel, be it art and culture or, you know, experiential type of travel ideas.
- 11:28Are you getting hit with those questions?
- 11:32Absolutely.
- 11:33I feel that it's almost taken over more so than people asking for destinations per se.
- 11:39So they're coming to us with these different travel trends and asking, do we accommodate single solo women or multi-generational families?
- 11:48A huge trend in 2024 was group travel as well, anything of 10 or more.
- 11:53In fact, I think our groups department moved over six groups, which is huge in 2024.
- 11:59And we're already seeing those numbers increase for 2025.
- 12:05I do think it's very popular to come to go away with questions regarding trans wellness as well.
- 12:11People just wanting to stay longer in destination and feel more connected rather than going to those usual, you know, 10 countries in one week type situation that we've seen in
- 12:22the past.
- 12:23So I do think it's popular, Dawn.
- 12:25And I think people really want to live their passions overseas.
- 12:29They want to, if they're into photography or wildlife or whatever it may be, they want to incorporate
- 12:34that into their trip and they're going to their travel advisors and saying, where can I do photography overseas?
- 12:41What destinations would you recommend?
- 12:43Right now we will touch on wellness in a minute, but something that you brought up in a meeting the other day, Renee was a term like everyone got used to staycations due to COVID
- 12:54and then also budgets will often push people to a staycation.
- 12:58You mentioned the term workcation.
- 13:00So can you expand on that?
- 13:01Cause I've not heard that term either.
- 13:05No problem or bleasure travel, whichever way you want to look at it.
- 13:10Yeah, I mean, what we're seeing, a study was recently done in the US that 72 % of respondents were going to combine business travel with leisure travel, hence pleasure in
- 13:212025.
- 13:22So I mean, we all travel, everyone does in the industry quite a bit.
- 13:26So why not tap on some leisure travel to that business trip?
- 13:31So I think it would be
- 13:33remiss for anyone not to talk to their clients that are traveling for business as well to see if there's an opportunity to incorporate some leisure travel onto that trip as well.
- 13:41And I must admit, I do that.
- 13:43have a, like we go to Mexico, my family and I annually at least, and I'll often do exactly that.
- 13:49You know, take a week of just sitting on the balcony, staring at the sun and the other week doing that, but while working.
- 13:56yeah, that's a very good, again, I've not heard that term, workations, which makes perfect sense.
- 14:02opposite of staycations.
- 14:05on the wellness subject, now, Risa, this is something that you've been on behalf of the company spearheading for the last little bit in behind the scenes, pushing the wellness.
- 14:14Now we've always had wellness, but we've never really had it at the top of our list, so to speak.
- 14:19But we have seen a desire for more wellness style travel.
- 14:23So can you expand on that from the go away world?
- 14:28Yeah.
- 14:28And it's a, it's a great segue from Renee's Bledger.
- 14:32because I've heard you say that Renee before, but in my mind I'm thinking, what is this term again?
- 14:36So thank you for clarifying it.
- 14:40you know, you know, business pleasure.
- 14:42So I think wellness and you know, I'll talk a little bit about wellness and then go into sort of what Go Away is offering in terms of a wellness travel program.
- 14:50But yeah, I think it's gaining traction.
- 14:54The term itself is in our everyday language.
- 14:57I don't know when they publish those dictionaries, but I'm sure if it's not there, it's gonna be published soon.
- 15:03But yeah, when we talk about wellness, it's just a balanced healthy lifestyle and that includes physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
- 15:12And I think there are a lot of reasons why this is gaining popularity post-COVID.
- 15:19you know, everybody was sort of confined to their small spaces.
- 15:23And when you're confined to a small space and with not a lot of people around you, you have a lot of time to think.
- 15:32And I think people and companies now are really reorganizing their lives and their businesses around, you know, the better health of employees and of individual people
- 15:44themselves.
- 15:45So yes, I mean, it's definitely up and coming.
- 15:48And in terms of travel, we did dabble in it.
- 15:51Again, it's such a moving term right now that it's really hard to define.
- 15:56But we did dabble in it offering some long stay packages in more of the wellness spa retreats.
- 16:06But now we have a few more packages we developed over the last year in the beginning.
- 16:10Well, I mean, coming out of this year.
- 16:13And yeah, they're a little bit more robust.
- 16:16So they include, you know, different things, activities like cooking classes, yoga, Pilates, includes hiking, being in nature, learning new, you know, learning new
- 16:29activities, know, hand weaving, coffee making.
- 16:33So anything that really stimulates the mind and body and really get us out of our sort of automatic, you know, automatic drive that we're on.
- 16:4324 seven.
- 16:44So yeah, I mean, I'm really excited about this.
- 16:46Yeah.
- 16:47I think that's important.
- 16:50on the definition of the word wellness, I think we were at, at a meeting or something, we were talking about, you know, basically what the definition is.
- 16:57And people brought up that, well, wellness for me isn't a spa treatment.
- 17:02Wellness for me is doing a trick through the forest or something like that.
- 17:06So to your point, it's cleansing or easing, whatever word you want to use there.
- 17:11the mind and that can be anything from a spa treatment or a yoga session through to maybe trekking or even riding a bike somewhere through the, uh, through the countryside.
- 17:21Now on that, that's also a nice sort of segue to, um, something, a term that we use here at Go Way, um, as it's becoming more and more popular back to, think, um, I think Renee
- 17:32mentioned it when she was talking about locations, um, is the linger longer, take a bit more time in a area and or country versus trying to cram.
- 17:41too much into a short space of time.
- 17:43So do you both agree that we're seeing a much higher trend and requests for that type of travel style?
- 17:49It's more of a base of the way the itinerary is constructed linger longer.
- 17:55Absolutely Don on average our clients travel 14.2 days, not 14 but 14.2 days.
- 18:04itself just shows you because typically a North American does only travel for five days but with Go Away it's 14.2 so it is showing that they are traveling for longer for sure
- 18:13and then when we actually break it down by itinerary we are finding that when they go to say Europe they might only focus on one country but really go into the regional parts of
- 18:23that country as well and actually get to experience it.
- 18:26mean one night in one destination you don't truly get to experience it do you?
- 18:31We are definitely seeing that trend from our side.
- 18:35the back of that, Risa, something I mentioned in our LMS training modules about getting around and seeing any country in the world and something I've been lucky enough to do on a
- 18:44continuous basis.
- 18:45think both, both you and Renee have experienced it as well as private guiding.
- 18:50Now, what I do say in the training programs, it is generally more expensive than group touring, et cetera.
- 18:56But to Renee's point of experiencing something in depth,
- 19:01and having that extra time, to speak.
- 19:04Private guiding is the way to do it because you have naturally a private guide, vehicle, itineraries and sites and sounds can be built to exactly what the client wants.
- 19:14And there's flexibility within that itinerary because you can stop and start as you please.
- 19:21this is an obvious question for you, but do you support and encourage people to look at private guiding as a style of travel?
- 19:29definitely.
- 19:29And, you know, we've seen it over the last couple of years where we've increased our requests and bookings for private guided experiences.
- 19:38You know, again, it's, you know, post pandemic and, you know, people want to have that flexibility.
- 19:43They want to have that autonomy to decide, you know, how and where and when they want to go.
- 19:49Now, you bring up a good point about costs, but I always say to our destination specialists when we're training, I mean, when you are, you know, three plus or more
- 19:57people,
- 19:58You know what, consider the cost because you'll probably have a much richer experience.
- 20:03You'll engage a lot more in the destination.
- 20:07You'll have your own private expert guide who you can, you know, just sort of ask all your questions.
- 20:13It's just going to be a much more immersive experience.
- 20:17And yeah, I mean, I think this whole conversation, what we're talking about is that unique experience that GoAE can offer.
- 20:26Yeah, I agree.
- 20:29It's that immersive side of it that you might realise.
- 20:35I remember we did a river cruise in Eastern Europe, which was a large group and it was fantastic, don't get me wrong.
- 20:42But then we took a private transfer, I can't remember where from though, from the port to the airport.
- 20:47It was about a two hour drive and we had a private driver and guide and that
- 20:53That two hour transfer was like a tour unto itself because he was a local.
- 20:57He spoke to me about everything from politics to because the war in Ukraine had just broken out.
- 21:02It was a neighboring country.
- 21:03It was amazing transfer of all things.
- 21:06I never, never would say I'd have an amazing transfer, but it was simply because of the private aspect and the guide was so proud as well, discussing culture, history, everything
- 21:16else.
- 21:17So I can't, I can't recommend it high, highly enough.
- 21:20And to your point, Reza, I think if you have a
- 21:22larger group, three, four, five, six, then the costs actually can benefit, like not be expensive shared amongst the group.
- 21:30It's a very, very affordable way of doing things.
- 21:32Now that is one unique way that Go Way puts its itineraries together.
- 21:36Risa or, and Renee for that matter, are there any other aspects of our itineraries, Go Way's itineraries that make us different?
- 21:42Now it's a hard one to answer.
- 21:44I know that, but I'm going to, I'm going to throw it at you.
- 21:49I could say it's the product.
- 21:51that's Reese's team, but it honestly guys are constantly out there in destination talking to tourism boards and really researching what it is that the consumer wants.
- 22:01And I think that we are a very nimble company in that we are constantly evolving our product.
- 22:06And a lot of our partners always say how amazing our website is and the breadth and depth of the products that we can offer.
- 22:14The fact we have over a thousand suggested itineraries on our website, I think is a testament to
- 22:20and her team and what an incredible job they do.
- 22:23I have to give that shout out to Risa and her team.
- 22:26I do think they're constantly looking at new trends and we truly customize.
- 22:32Nothing goes out the door the same at Go Away.
- 22:35Every single client, we really want to make sure that we've customized something unique and special for them.
- 22:41also want to add, you know, like the destination specialists themselves, you know, they, you know,
- 22:48They take the requests and customization of all the itineraries.
- 22:52We actually provide one fam trip per year for all staff that are eligible.
- 22:59So this is really hands-on experience.
- 23:02So getting staff in the destination, because we know that, know, firsthand experience is amazing.
- 23:11can add that.
- 23:12Yeah.
- 23:13yeah.
- 23:15And it's key as well, because I think...
- 23:17Exactly.
- 23:18Like, you know, in all honesty, if someone's, I'm to use, you know, my area of expertise, Latin America, someone wants to go and see Peru, they're going to do, you know, with us or
- 23:26with anyone else, they're going to do the big, the big sites.
- 23:29And that's pretty much the same with everyone, but it's, it's the little attention to detail that the girls have just mentioned.
- 23:36and that local knowledge where it, it changes it a little bit, you know, in that we know the best or a really cool restaurant because we've just been there and seen it or our, or
- 23:46our local offices.
- 23:48you know, introducing a new product.
- 23:50so it's that ongoing training and firsthand experience at our destination specialist and the company as a whole engage in on an ongoing basis, which gives us, think that little
- 24:01one up, when people come to us, particularly as Renee mentioned, 90%, 95 % of what we do is customized particularly to that particular booking.
- 24:14now I just did an interview
- 24:16talking to our partners in Bavaria.
- 24:18And one of my questions was, is Bavaria in summertime less crowded than some of the other big cities of Europe?
- 24:26The answer was generally not really because it's as popular as anywhere else.
- 24:30But I have noticed when I've been speaking to people and I'm sure you have as well, Renee, when you've been out the travel shows, that people are wanting to get away from the crowds
- 24:39now.
- 24:39And Risa, you brought it up earlier that Europe is busy, busy, So Risa.
- 24:45What are some of the old school experiences, I guess, so off the beaten track, less crowds, a little bit more remote that you would suggest people go on or that are becoming
- 24:58popular as we move into 25?
- 25:02So I guess in terms of destinations, mean, there's, you know, how I look at things,
- 25:10It really is, you know, how you go into the destination.
- 25:13I can go into Italy and have, you know, an immersive experience full of crowds and, definitely in the, in the middle of Rome.
- 25:21But I think in every country, there are areas where you can find, you know, you can get away from the crowds.
- 25:28but some of the bigger destinations, I think that, you know, to avoid the crowds or, or, you know, you can also combine this with emerging destinations.
- 25:37We do have quite a few of them.
- 25:38I did take a small list here that I'll read off.
- 25:43Europe, I have Slovenia.
- 25:45If some of you don't know where Slovenia is, it's just north of Croatia, just east of Italy.
- 25:54It's a very tiny country that's full of nature and culinary.
- 26:00There's other areas that I mentioned before, like Bhutan and the Himalayas.
- 26:05Laos is a...
- 26:06great combination so you can combine like perhaps a busy Vietnam trip with Laos and Laos and Cambodia.
- 26:14So you can get that mix of, you know, avoiding the crowds without, you know, feeling that you're, you know, you're, completely, you're missing out.
- 26:25and I'll, I'll throw in that shoe that I recently learned is, in Nicaragua, in, in central America.
- 26:33In the colonial city of Granada, learned there's like these little islands that are just off the coast that, you know, little boats go to.
- 26:39So, you know, there's a lot of exciting destinations, you know, even what we consider busy destinations where we can find, you know, less tourists.
- 26:49Right.
- 26:49So I guess the point there would be, yes, there are countries which will take you away from crowds, but there's again, as Reese said, don't, don't, don't shy away from the big
- 26:58and the famous, but when you're there, get off.
- 27:01or get away from the Rome's and the Paris's, which you would do obviously, particularly on a first time trip, because there's so much more to France or Italy, et cetera, et cetera.
- 27:11And again, back to our destination specialist knowledge.
- 27:13They know where to get you to, to have an amazing, authentic immersive experience, but maybe getting away from some of the bigger crowds and the hustle and bustles.
- 27:24So on that emerging destination question, Risa, are there any brand new countries?
- 27:29that GoAE is looking at introducing in 25 or the near future?
- 27:33Yeah, there's a few destinations that we have our eye on.
- 27:36Of course, I won't give it all away.
- 27:38We have to leave some surprises.
- 27:41in the last two years, we launched a new product line, North America.
- 27:45So that's been steadily growing.
- 27:48One of the big things in United States, there are road trips.
- 27:52And so we've revamped our of road trip.
- 27:54actually all over in all of our destinations, but in particular in North America road trips, think 50 % of our itineraries are road trips.
- 28:03It's very easy to get around and we've made them more inclusive.
- 28:08So, you know, more premium accommodations, inclusions of excursions, exciting excursions, you know, going from, you know, Arizona, Colorado, California, you know, the
- 28:21the desert route 66.
- 28:23So we have a huge amount of product that's just launched there.
- 28:28Then we have Greenland.
- 28:29So an exciting new destination.
- 28:31it's actually part, it's situated geographically in North America, but it is part of Europe or considered part of Europe, actually part of the kingdom of Denmark.
- 28:41So that's a new destination.
- 28:42I think it's a unique destination that we're going to be excited about.
- 28:47Samoa, we're
- 28:48We had a small program, I think, before where we're vamping it.
- 28:54Tenerife.
- 28:55So I recently visited Tenerife last year, which is a mix of, you know, European Spain and the Caribbean.
- 29:02So it's an interesting destination, very popular for Europeans.
- 29:06But now with the new flights, it's coming for North America.
- 29:10And yeah, I mean, I think that there's some more to come, but maybe we'll wait for the next podcast.
- 29:18Okay, so there you go.
- 29:19So we have some existing, which are getting more of a spotlight happening on North America, which is a great product line and obviously very, very easy for the US and
- 29:30Canadian clients out there to jump on.
- 29:32It's just basically sitting there waiting for them, Kara Vreese and her team putting it all together for us.
- 29:38Samoa, which is an interesting one as well.
- 29:42Again, I think that will probably take up most of the Pacific islands.
- 29:47There's only a few that we wouldn't do after we had Samoa into it.
- 29:51Now, if you have any questions about any travel trends, destinations or anything else like that, we have account managers all over the US and Canada.
- 30:01And Renee, if agents need to reach out to them in person or otherwise, how can they do that?
- 30:08Certainly, Don.
- 30:09So if you go to www.wacp.com, which is our dedicated travel advisor website, you'll have Meet the Team being one the headlines and that's where
- 30:17have all the accountages contact details there.
- 30:20We also attend roughly about 175 shows a year.
- 30:25So you may very well see them out and about with a big conference, a trade show.
- 30:31We are also hosting our own road shows in 2025.
- 30:35So you will see a collection of them in spring in Canada and coming to the US in the fall.
- 30:42So stay tuned for information about that because I will be there.
- 30:47And I think Don will be joining us.
- 30:49I will be for most of them.
- 30:51we just had a of a technical issue there with Renee's voice chopping it a little bit.
- 30:56just in case it didn't come through, she said they're out there all over the place, about 175 shows they attend per year and they're always available virtually.
- 31:04we are, this is a question I'm going to finish off with Renee, is we are celebrating our 55th anniversary this year.
- 31:12And as such, we are having some road shows in Canada.
- 31:15up in the March period and then some in the US later on the year.
- 31:18As Renee said, stay in touch with us because all that will be announced very, very soon.
- 31:24So on that note, Renee, what is happening for our 55th year in business in regards to our celebrations?
- 31:31Sure, I can't give you away.
- 31:33However, what I can tell you is we do have those road shows in the spring and the fall.
- 31:38There'll be nine in Canada and four in the USA.
- 31:41So stay tuned for that.
- 31:42We also have our five fan
- 31:45that we will be hosting that's in collaboration with our passport to a free fam winners.
- 31:49That will be announced very soon.
- 31:51So that's a very exciting thing that we're doing this year.
- 31:55We also have a new VIP club that we're launching.
- 31:59Now I'm not gonna give any more than that, but that will be coming as well.
- 32:04But I think this whole 55th year that we're having, the marketing team has some incredible initiatives that we'll be doing.
- 32:12So I can't give that away because that's Mitchell's base.
- 32:15But it is going to be an exciting year for Go Away.
- 32:18So I think most of that came through.
- 32:19But just quick in summary, we have five fans happening.
- 32:22We have our road shows that were mentioned and we have a new VIP club coming into play very, very shortly.
- 32:29And as Renee mentioned, all this will be announced through our marketing channels very, very soon.
- 32:33It's going to be very, very exciting year.
- 32:36I'd like to thank Renee and Risa for joining us today.
- 32:38Excuse our little technical issues there that we had near the end.
- 32:42I think we're overloading the internet with all our information.
- 32:45But again, if you have any questions about any of our destinations, be it established or new, please reach out to either your account manager who can assist you.
- 32:55Again, as Renee mentioned on goapro.com, you can see meet the team and you'll see where they're all their base.
- 33:00They are account-based, i.e.
- 33:02they work with certain consortium agencies, but it doesn't mean you can't reach out to any of them if you're not unsure.
- 33:07Please do that.
- 33:09Our destination specialists are always there willing to help regardless of what destination you're looking at.
- 33:14and or travel style.
- 33:15You've got the two ladies I've introduced you today.
- 33:19You have Renee, our director of sales working in the background with our account management team, making sure all our travel partners out there are well looked after.
- 33:26Any questions or concern, you can reach out to her directly or again, ideally your account manager and Reese and her product team in the background, making everything we discussed a
- 33:36real thing, a happening thing, something that you and your clients can book on and have an amazing time.
- 33:43an established destination, an emerging destination, a really funky, unique travel style, or if you have a group, we have a groups department all there willing to help you.
- 33:53So again, I'd to thank Renee.
- 33:56Thank you for having me.
- 33:57Our pleasure.
- 33:57And Risa also, thank you for your time this afternoon.
- 34:01Thank you very much.
- 34:02was a pleasure.
- 34:03Excellent.
- 34:03And everyone out there, thanks for listening.
- 34:04And again, we really appreciate your time and we will talk to you soon.
- 34:10Thanks.