TravelPulse Podcast: The Growth of Sports Travel

Despite looming recession fears, the travel industry continues to demonstrate strong growth, according to the Skift Travel Health Index for August 2024. The index showed a 9% increase from a year ago, led by the Asia Pacific region (up 13%) and North America (up 8%).

Sure, we here at Travel + Leisure love traveling (naturally). But just because we love exploring new places doesn’t mean that we aren’t privy to how frustrating and tiring traveling can be. From missing luggage to stolen wallets to delayed flights, there’s no shortage of things that can derail a trip. Luckily, though, some of the most common travel mishaps can be avoided with the right gear. Considering the upcoming Amazon Prime Big Deal Days event — an exclusive sitewide sale taking place October 8 and 9 — is around the corner, now’s a great time to stock up on essentials that make traveling easier. To save you time, we’ve already dug through hundreds of deals in order to bring you the best discounts we could find on products worth picking up before your next trip. 

The winner of the rapidly approaching U.S. presidential election is bound to have an outsized impact on the travel industry, a topic Skift has examined in recent weeks. But that’s not the only important politics-related matter on the minds of travel executives.

If you haven’t experienced ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode yet, you’re missing out on a glimpse of the future of travel booking.

When I was a kid, family vacations meant road trips to the beach or a national park in our station wagon. I didn't start stamping up my passport in earnest until I was in my early 30s.

Welcome back to another episode of the TravelPulse Podcast! 

Sep 30, 2024 • 6 min read

When the Van Cortlandt family acquired their sprawling Hudson Valley estate in the late 1600s, they couldn't have imagined that it would one day host a jack-o'-lantern festival with pumpkin sculptures including a Kraken, moving windmill, and Statue of Liberty.

Leaving the shores of Sicily, season three of HBO’s White Lotus is being filmed in Thailand. If you’re dreaming of a stylish beach vacation White Lotus style (minus the murder, scams, and sleeping around), you’re in luck because Unforgettable Travel, a premier luxury travel company, has just launched a White Lotus Thailand tour from Bangkok to the stunning island of Koh Samui.

Germany’s got a big secret: It’s got islands. And not the rocky, desolate, and uninhabited kind, but islands with miles of sandy beaches, picturesque cliffs, peaceful, protected forests, and seaside luxury hotels. The Germans obviously are in the know, and because of their geographical locations, the Dutch and Danes are, too. But nobody else in in the world seems to remember that Germany has a coastline on both the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, let alone that this coastline is peppered with dozens of islands. The biggest of all the German islands is Rügen in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, itself a wildly underrated area. While Rügen takes a little effort to get to, the trip is hardly insurmountable, and travelers who want to see Germany away from the big urban centers, internationally known beer festivals, and packed tourist attractions would be remiss to pass on it.

If you’re looking for a cruise but don’t like the sound of a mega-ship, river cruises offer more intimate, handcrafted experiences, taking guests to parts of the world inaccessible to larger vessels. There’s a bunch of luxury river cruise companies providing five-star service, dining, and accommodation. One of the better in Europe is Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours. With nearly 40 years of experience, Scenic’s routes range from an architectural journey through the Douro Valley in Portugal to the French vineyards and romantic towns in Budapest. They offer a range of routes, but one of the most popular is the 15-day Romantic Rhine and Moselle itinerary. It explores two of Europe’s most enchanting river valleys, lesser-known historical sites, and includes a classical concert in a UNESCO-listed church in Trier, Germany.

There have been dozens of travel tech acquisitions so far this year: That includes at least 11 deals over the past three months, which followed at least 15 earlier this year.