Arnie Weissmann

New York

Editor-in-Chief at Travel Weekly

Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly

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Articles

AI will test your leadership abilities: Travel Weekly

2 weeks ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

The other points he made that I found most interesting had to do with the leadership challenges that arise from the quickening pace of technological innovation. Palmer said that some tasks that used to take him five hours can now be done in about five minutes, thanks to AI.
Azamara expands destination-immersion programming

2 weeks ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

"We are bringing the destination onboard with culinary and cultural events," said Azamara CEO Dondra Ritzenthaler. "Until now, we did destination immersion on shore, and we are elevating that and bringing it to our guest when onboard in the beautiful places we visit around the world."The four-ship cruise line will add 150 "destination entrees," to its Market Fresh dining program, focusing on regional cuisines and local ingredients.
Aranui's new Polynesia cruise ship: More restaurants, bars and balconies

3 weeks ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

The new ship will feature two restaurants, two bars and two whirlpools, compared to one of each on the Aranui 5, the company's only vessel currently sailing. The Aranoa will also carry fewer passengers than the Aranui 5 -- 198 vs. 230. It will have 93 cabins, and 62 will have balconies. Like its older sister, the Aranoa will be a hybrid cruise/cargo ship, bringing passengers and supplies to remote islands in French Polynesia. The Aranoa will sail to the Austral Islands, 500 miles south of Tahiti.
Are you ready to faceoff against AI agents?: Travel Weekly

3 weeks ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

The speaker, Palmer Group CEO Shelly Palmer, was giving a keynote at the Association of National Advertisers' AI and Technology for Marketers Conference in Austin, Texas, last week. Palmer, a respected technology consultant to Fortune 500 companies, was using travel as an example of how the rapid advancement of AI agents is going to impact industries.
Visiting the U.S.? Prepare for 'maximum vetting.': Travel Weekly

4 weeks ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

"And pay no attention to that woman shackled to a bench. That's Ms. Lennon Tyler. "Why yes, she is an American citizen. But her fiance, Lucas Sielaff, is German. They went to Mexico, and when they returned we asked where they were heading and where they lived. He said, 'Las Vegas.' Well, to us, that was a confession that he lived in Las Vegas even though he only had a tourist visa. "She said his English wasn't very good and that, yes, they were heading to Las Vegas, but no, he doesn't live there.
Viator is surging, with a lot more to give

1 month ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

Q: Many of the local experiences booked via Viator come directly from Tripadvisor destination guidance pages. How important are your B-to-B channels? Rijvers: This category is crucial. It ranges from mom-and-pop agencies to Booking.com and Expedia. It's a very significant part of our current revenue profile. Goldberg: We have 10,000 affiliates and 100,000 travel advisor partners. They continue to be very important for us.
The growing impact of executive orders on travel: Travel Weekly

1 month ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

It's also a service industry whose prices are impacted by labor costs. And it plays an important role in our balance of trade: When people visit the U.S. from other countries, every dollar they spend is counted as an export -- a positive in our balance of trade. While there have been no executive orders with the words "tariff on travel" in them, current tariffs and emerging policy decisions amount to both increased costs and decreased revenue for travel.
Travel events company This is Beyond acquired

1 month ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

This is Beyond's events are Pure Life Experiences, L.E/Miami, We are Africa (Cape Town and Sundance), Further East, Do Not Disturb and Specialists in Entertainment Travel. Its shows are characterized by trend-spotting, over-the-top parties, sustainability efforts and a sometimes-edgy atmosphere in its venues, where one-to-one appointments are scheduled between travel advisors and suppliers.
An American, Brit and Canadian report on their market conditions: Travel Weekly

1 month ago | travelweekly.com | Arnie Weissmann

We're both among a group of journalists and travel advisors sailing the Danube from Budapest to Vienna prior to this week's ASTA River Cruise Expo. The U.S. stock markets hadn't yet closed for the day, but I was already getting alerts about what was to be the biggest one-day drop in six months.
Can Forbes Travel Guide solve the commissions conundrum?

1 month ago | hotel.report | Arnie Weissmann

These middlemen collect advisor commissions from hotels and consolidate payments from multiple properties to forward to agencies, minus a small fee. If the payment comes to a host agency, the agency must then sift through the consolidated payments and forward commissions to independent contractors, often spending significant time to reconcile the 100% commission request from the IC with the fee deducted by the middleman. "It's death by 1,000 cuts," said Josh Bush, CEO of Avenue Two Travel.