The Travel Industry Afterparty

Originally Recorded on Saturday, June 19, 2021, 4:23 PM

00:00 Intro

00:40 Brian claims the audience can smell fear

01:00 Gov. DeSantis of Florida Sues the CDC over Cruising regulations and wins

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article252215988.html

https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/royal-caribbean-reveals-hefty-fines-restrictions-for-unvaccinated-cruise-passengers-out-of-florida

Topic Summary: The state of Florida sues the CDC over the regulations the federal agency imposed upon cruise ships. The state of Florida argues that the agency is overstepping its power and does not have the ability to regulate cruise companies. They go on to claim that by doing so it would be causing undue economic harm. Brian and Tad read out the article and discuss the basics of the case. The state won in a federal court. This limits the Center for Disease Control’s ability to regulate cruise companies only when they are sailing out of Florida. This ultimately causes a lot of confusion and a lot of headaches for the cruise company. Many of the companies are torn on this ruling. As of now the CDC can appeal the ruling or adjust the regulations to adhere to the state law. This is a heavily partisan issue that ultimately will cause more confusion than anything else.

13:10 Tad Gives his opinion on the ruling.

34:30 Brian throws a curveball at Tad Big cruise ships return to Venice against the wishes of the city.

Topic Summary: Many cruses have used Venice as picturesque stop and docking location. This has upset many of the residents of Venice and has caused a great deal of long-term damage to the sinking city. The new boats showed up due to the new cruise port outside of the city not being ready for boats yet.

40:00 Lighter news, Yay! Tad brings up the EU’s major push to reopen travel.

Topic Summary: This is naturally deceptive because the EU is only making recommendations to the member states. However, it is a great step in the right direction. (Note: this is before the delta variant began to surge)

43:00 Brian Talks about how some travel restrictions can lead to people getting stranded.

Topic Summary: On a trip to New York, we found out that many hotels will not risk state sanctions and will turn out of state travelers away. It is not common, but it has happened.

50:20 River Cruises are coming back to Europe.

Topic Summary: River cruising is much different than what many people think about with cruising. The boats are often flat bottom barges and are much smaller than other “big boat” cruises. These are very similar to group tours in how they are structured. They are designed around the idea that the journey is as important as the destination. It is a very charming and quaint way to see Europe and is very fun. Brian in particular is a big river cruise fan. He spends the next several minutes geeking out and talking about all sorts of river cruise highlights.

56:02 Tad wants to go to Ireland and beyond. And Brian is shopping for him.

Topic Summary: Eventually this topic devolves into a breakdown of the difference approaches that some tour companies choose to take. Tad and Brian get into a big ol’ rant about the pros and cons of different tour company’s mentality. Quantity vs Quality and how deep different companies do and do not go. Ultimately you get what you pay for....

The delta variant is just beginning to spread to other countries outside of India. All the while, the CDC has lowered their risk assessment for over 100 different countries. But did they really? Turns out, no, they just changed the rules, making post covid travel even more complicated. (https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/cdc-eases-travel-warnings-level-4-countries). How much of this is politically motivated? How much of this is to support the upcoming Olympics? We don't know because we are not political analysts! However, we are travel experts! Instead, we dive deep into what this means for people planning to travel and discuss how people can stay informed, what information matters, and what does not. There is a lot of interest in traveling to Europe this summer and fall. It is now more important than ever to be informed before you travel.

Speaking of international travel, just ahead of the G7 Summit, everyone's favorite airline CEO made a bold statement urging leaders to reopen borders and allow travel between the UK and USA. This statement hinged upon the claim that airlines have followed the science and done everything to keep passengers safe. This statement came just weeks after the very same CEO was refuting scientific studies done by the CDC and claiming that closing the middle seat was just "a gimmick." So apparently, in the world of Airline CEOs, following the science comes with the asterisk of "only when it is convenient".

The National Parks are turning people away and guests are outraged! Many people are making inflammatory statements about how it is their right to visit the national parks and it is unconstitutional to restrict access to the parks. It would seem that many of these people do not understand that the National Parks were created for the goal of preservation and conservation, not tourism. We do want people to visit the National Parks and we also want to protect these places. Over-tourism is becoming a massive problem for the National Parks system as revenge travel is in full swing here in the United States. A few of the National Parks are limiting guests during peak times in order to not cause damage to the already delicate ecosystems. But fear not, these limitations are temporary, applied as needed and often lifted after a few hours. (https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/national-parks/national-park-reservations)

Covid has sent massive ripples through all of human society. Travel especially is being forced to evolve. We take some time to talk about some of the ways we think that travel will change in the coming years. Some of the changes will come slowly, but many are inevitable like vaccine passports, mask mandates, pricing structures, escrow, and travel insurance just to name a few things. These are all going to be very interesting within the industry.

Finally, on a lighter note ,we drop the news and talk about where we want to go and what we want to do. Travel has always been something that stirs the soul but what specifically stirs us is often different and always changing. For Tad, it's always things rich with history with a lot of adventure. Tad loves WWII and the Cold War in particular, so some of the old decommissioned military installations in Normandy are on the top of his list. For Brian, it is all about beautiful views, cultural experiences, and luxurious relaxation. Two very different perspectives that meet in the middle to gush about the the Egyptian River Cruise that Margaret wants to do.

The Travel Industry Afterparty Episode 1: Are we finally ready to travel again? Yes? No? Maybe? Please? Originally recorded on June 6, 2021.

For the very first time ever, Tad and Brian get in front of a camera and microphone to talk travel. Todays topic: is it finally safe to travel and all the mixed signals that are being given off by the entire world. On the one hand vaccines are rolling out at a healthy rate here in America, but on the other Covid19 is surging in other parts of the world. All of the big travel companies are declaring it safe to travel while the CDC warns caution. We talk a lot about the disconnect between these two realities and how the average consumer can stay informed and plan their upcoming travels effectively.

We start out sharing some personal stories about our recent experiences as travelers. Brian took a recent trip to Utah and Arizona. Renting a car post-covid is a nightmarish experience. The primary driver behind this is because most of the big companies liquidated large portions of their fleet of vehicles. Combine that with the enhanced cleanliness standards making it take twice as long to turn around vehicles that have been returned and the end result is a massive vehicle shortage. Brian got to experience this firsthand as his reservation got canceled on him as he showed up to pick up his rental.

National Parks in America are bursting. No one is wearing masks where they are supposed to be. Everything is more expensive. Somehow it is all worth it. The majesty of Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon make all the hassle worth it.

Everyone's favorite Airline CEO is claiming that closing off the middle seat was a gimmick and did not make travelers safer. Coincidentally he is claiming this right as airlines are attempting to justify filling their planes to the brim once again now that vaccines are being rolled out. This is something we always knew was coming, but a new study by the CDC offers conflicting data. Tad and Brian go back and forth for a bit debating the merits of both sides.

Finally Tad & Brian start a good old fashion rambling rant on each others feelings regarding would they travel domestically, internationally, and overall where is their comfort zone.