Check-in Podcast by TMR

Episode 14: Checking-In with Sherwin Banda

For African Travel’s Sherwin Banda, the travel and hospitality industries found him, not the other way around. The industries provided an escape for Banda, a way out to a different life out of the regular constraints he faced growing up.

 

In this episode, Banda shares his story, from his humble beginnings in apartheid-era South Africa to now overseeing one of the leading Africa-focused tour operators in the industry. He talks about what he loves about Africa and how travel, a force for good, is one of the driving forces in preserving the continent’s environmental beauty.

Episode 13: Checking in with Vicki Freed

With almost four decades in the industry, Royal Caribbean’s Vicki Freed is a cruise industry icon, but getting into the travel industry wasn’t always the plan for Royal’s senior vice president of sales and trade support and service.

In this episode, Vicki talks to TMR’s Dan McCarthy about how hearing a conference keynote by Carnival’s Bob Dickinson changed the course of her career and changed her aspirations from IBM to CCL.

Episode 12: Checking-In with Ellen Bettridge

Uniworld CEO Ellen Bettridge shares a start in travel to so many successful people in travel—her first job in travel was as a frontline, retail advisor. In this episode, Ellen talks to TMR’s Dan McCarthy about that start and about the confidence she brought with her from that original position to other stops throughout her career from Amex to Silversea to Azamara, and now to Uniworld. 

Episode 11: Checking-in with Michelle Fee

While there are so many factors that go into being able to keep consistent success in the travel industry, one of the ones that may be overlooked is anticipating change. In this episode, Michelle Fee of Cruise Planners speaks about how, as a frontline travel agent in the 1990s, she saw where the travel trade was trending and bet on those instincts, creating Cruise Planners, one of the industry's most notable host agencies that is just three years away from celebrating its 30th anniversary. 

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Follow Dan McCarthy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMcCarthy_NY 

Episode 10: Checking-in with Jenn Lee

Jenn Lee, the vice president of sales and marketing at Travel Planners International, is one of the most vocal and vibrant personalities in the travel trade, but her road to success has not been a straight line. 

Lee, who now lives just a short distance from the Florida hometown she grew up in, speaks about her history in the travel industry during this episode of TMR’s Check-In. Lee recounts her career, including going from an hourly employee of the Publix supermarket chain to becoming the first-ever employee of Marriott Vacation Club, and now leading one of the fastest growing marketing and support agencies in the travel trade. 

Episode 9: Checking-in with Kristin Karst

AmaWaterways' Kristin Karst has come a long way, both physically and metaphorically, since her humble beginnings in Dresden, Germany. 

In this episode, Kristin joins TMR to talk about her childhood, including growing up in Eastern Germany prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and how she ended up working in hospitality. She also talks about growing AmaWaterways into the river cruise powerhouse it is today, including the philosophies that make the company so successful, and the future of the business.

**Subscribe, like, and comment for more #travelagent content** 

Subscribe to TMR's daily newsletter here: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/tmr-sign-up 

Follow Dan McCarthy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMcCarthy_NY

Episode 8: Checking-In with Chris Austin

What makes someone successful in dealing with the changes in roles, and locations, that a long career in the travel industry can bring? 

In this episode, TMR editor Daniel McCarthy talks  Chris Austin, the current chief sales officer at Explora Journeys, the new luxury cruise brand from the MSC Group. Austin’s 30-plus-year career in travel spans segments, from hotels (Austin spent almost two decades at Starwood Hotels) to established luxury cruise lines (he’s the former SVP of global sales and marketing at Seabourn). 

Austin speaks about his time growing up in Bournemouth, England, his most recent move from Seattle to Miami, and why he pursued a career in travel in the first place. 

**Subscribe, like, and comment for more #travelagent content** 

Subscribe to TMR's daily newsletter here: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/tmr-sign-up 

Follow Dan McCarthy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMcCarthy_NY

Episode 7: Checking-In with Vanessa McGovern

Being comfortable taking risks has long been part of the formula for success for so many entrepreneurs and for GTN’s Vanessa McGovern, it was no different. 

Vanessa joined TMR’s Dan McCarthy for Check-In episode 7 to talk about her career in travel and how being comfortable taking risks, including leaving her home country of Canada, has helped her go from a youth counselor aboard a Celebrity Cruise ship to one of the industry’s leading entrepreneurs.

**Subscribe, like, and comment for more #travelagent content** 

Subscribe to TMR's daily newsletter here: https://www.travelmarketreport.com/tmr-sign-up 

Follow Dan McCarthy on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DMcCarthy_NY

Episode 6: Checking-In with Brian King

Marriott is the largest hotel company in the world, a massive public company that has a bigger international presence than almost every other travel company. But, at its heart, it remains very much a family business. 
 
In this episode, TMR editor Dan McCarthy talks with Brian King, the current president of Marriott's Caribbean and Latin America divisions. King has spent his entire career at Marriott, from his humble beginning at a Marriott-owned, and now-defunct, theme park near Chicago, to now helping Marriott expand into an all-inclusive powerhouse in the Caribbean. 
 
King talks about how it feels to work for a company like Marriott, what makes Marriott different, and the legacy of Arne Sorenson. 

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Episode 5: Checking in with Betsy O'Rouke

How does someone go from dreaming about being the first female Secretary of State to a 30-plus year career in travel? For Betsy O'Rourke, the Chief Marketing Officer at Xanterra, that's exactly what happened. In this episode, Betsy talks about her career in travel and her time with companies such as Hilton, Wyndham, Royal Caribbean, and more, including what she loves most about the industry. She also touches on her favorite National Parks and how, when she was part of US Travel Assocation, her and her team helped lift the industry back up after 9/11.