Dolores Semeraro speaks to European Travel Commission ETC Iulia Niculica, Head of Administration, as shares what are the new drivers for choosing Europe today, where are travellers coming from and what type of locations do they favor and who is winning the sustainability race.

Her journey in the travel and tourism sector started 9 years ago when she came to Brussels to work for the European Travel Commission (ETC), which is an organisation representing National Tourism Organisations of European countries. 

ETC has a unique mandate – which is to promote Europe as a tourism destination in long-haul markets. 

Over these past 9 years, she had the opportunity to deal with numerous projects of the association (in marketing and advocacy), work with EU funds and on financial matters, manage public procurement, manage relationships with National Tourism Organisations and the European Commission, as well as facilitate partnerships and affiliations with external organisations. 

In her current role at ETC, she responsible for leading the organisation’s department in charge of administration and financial operations, membership matters, EU funding, and partnerships with external organisations from the cultural and heritage sector.

Host Dolores Semeraro discusses what are the costs and impact of sustainable travel choices today for both travellers and tourism industry operators today.

On this episode:
– Sustainability Overwhelm
– Powering up Sustainability choices of our desired customers
– Who spends more on Sustainable Holidays
– How Personality-based strategies are the key to a successful marriage between sustainable travellers and the tourism industry today. 

Dolores Semeraro, host of Truth Behind Travel Podcast, interviews Carissa Nimah, Chief Marketing Officer at the Tourism Council of Bhutan.

Bhutan has recently reopened borders to international tourism after 2 and half long years, and to welcome back what they call ‘guests’ instead of tourists – they rebranded the destination, a rebranding with a dual purpose, of which we are going to explain more during our conversation. 

Also how they redesigned unique experiences highlighting the values of the Bhutanese people, the culture and personality and today’s guest, is also going to explain the truth behind the increased entry fee to Bhutan which they called SDF sustainable development fee – that now sits at about 200 Dollars per person. 

Carissa Nima is not new to branding, particularly when it comes to upholding sustainability in tourism and hospitality, she previously worked as Guardian of the Brand with the Soneva Group in the Maldives pioneering many projects that are still – to this date – regarded as destination case studies.

Podcast host Dolores Semeraro interviews Charitable Travel Founder Melissa Tilling on the secret formula behind the success of her innovative business model.

Charitable Travel is an innovative social enterprise travel company that combines charitable giving with great value, choice and quality holidays, flights, hotels and cruises to worldwide destinations. #Travelforgood As a not-for-private-profit social enterprise, they sacrifice part of their commission to allow their clients to support the causes they care about while they book the holidays of their dreams at prices they’ll love.

Charitable Travel is an independent travel agent with the ability to sell holidays from almost 200 suppliers.

Podcast host Dolores Semeraro explores 3 key travel phases across the more commonly known ‘4 travel decision phases’, which are having an incredible impact on the outcome of that travel decision. 

• The SEARCH Phase
• The ASSURANCE Phase
• The VALIDATION Phase

IGLTA International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association Chairman Of The Board Of Directors  Felipe Cardenas speaks about the challenges and opportunities for the tourism industry when tapping into the LGBTQ+ clientele to build a safe and inclusive travel experience for all. 

Across the tourism industry today we often speak about embracing a more inclusive and diverse approach and mindset. But what does it exactly mean? How do we practically develop a more ‘inclusive’ company culture and what are the benefits of this approach?