Three Vancouver-based vegan influencers joined Intrepid Travel at a launch event this week to highlight the company’s first three vegan food tours, set to launch in 2019.

Zach Berman, Steph Yu and Erin Ireland joined the pilot trip to India and helped shape the final itinerary. All three agreed that the tour offered the opportunity to dive into local foods and culture in a way that’s often not available to those with dietary restrictions.

“Our guide pre-vetted the street food,” said Berman, “which was some of the best food. They use a lot of ghee, so it would otherwise be hard to know what has dairy.”

“We had four meals in the homes of Indian people,” Ireland said. “There’s nothing like a home-cooked meal. Our guide hooked it up so we were connected to the locals.”

“We stopped to eat at a highway roadside eatery,” Yu said. “I was blown away by the food.”

Berman noted that knowing all Intrepid guides are full-time employees provided an added layer of comfort. Kasi Dundas, Intrepid’s PR Coordinator for North America, added that all guides are paid fair wages in the local currency.

Mark Nessle, Senior Business Development Manager – North America, told PAX that the vegan trips are serving a clear need in the Canadian market.

“The biggest thing for agents to know is that consumers are looking for niche trips,” Nessle said. “We want to make sure that when our guests are travelling, they are able to live, eat, and be comfortable in a way that suits their lifestyle.

Response from agents has been “massive,” Nessle added. “We didn’t anticipate how much of a market there would be,” he said. “It’s really great to see, and to be on the forefront of the vegan travel movement.”

A recent study at Dalhousie University found that nearly 40 per cent of British Columbians under 35 are vegan or vegetarian.

“From the travel agent’s perspective, that means nearly half your clients under a certain age are vegetarian,” Dundas said.

While the new line of tours is specifically designed for vegan travellers, all Intrepid food tours can be customized for those with special dietary requirements, Nessle said. “We harness local leaders in the destination to bring it to life the way people want to experience it.”

“We try to make all travel inclusive to everyone,” Dundas added.

The launch event, which featured vegan food and cocktails inspired by the tour itineraries, was also a fundraiser through The Intrepid Foundation for KOTO, a vocational training program for rural and underprivileged youth in Vietnam.

Intrepid’s first three vegan food tours take travellers to India (Delhi, Jaipur, Agra), Italy (Venice, Bologna, San Gimigano, Rome), and Thailand (Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi, Bangkok). Unveiled less than two weeks ago, the tours will appear in the 2019 brochure that launches in November. In the meantime, agents can learn more at intrepidtravel.com/ca/vegan-food-adventures.

This post originally appeared on PAXNewsWest.com in 2019. 

Hosting the International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Championship was a tourism boon for Copenhagen and nearby co-host city Herning.

Hotel occupancy of Copenhagen's 22,000 rooms was nearly 100 per cent for most of the tournament, which wrapped up Sunday (May 20) at Royal Arena. Compare that to 86 per cent occupancy in May of last year, according to statistics from Wonderful Copenhagen. The municipality estimates that the tournament has resulted in 60,000 bed nights…

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Phocuswright Europe, Europe’s largest meeting of travel industry executives, investors and startups, wraps up today (May 17) in Amsterdam. With the theme of “New. Power. Distribution,” the conference focused on ways travel companies can better connect with consumers in the modern marketplace.

Executives from Facebook, Best Western, and Lufthansa shared a common message: The top priority for travel brands and tourism professionals is to proactively reach out to potential customers on the platforms they already use, with targeted, personalized offers presented at the right time and the right price.

“Instead of waiting for people to search for your products, your products can search for the right people,” said Nikhilesh Ponde, Head of Global Travel Strategy at Facebook. “This makes upselling and cross-selling seamless. You can do this at scale in a personalized way.”

The capability to innovate, particularly with regards to logistics and distribution chains, is a critical element for all tourism sectors, said Giovanna Manzi, CEO of Best Western Italy. “Our task is to balance the heritage of our brand with a vision of the future for us,” she said. “In order to build a lasting company, we have to face change.”

“Trends show us we’d better get organized to respond to customers’ needs,” said Heike Birlenbach, SVP, Sales, Lufthansa Group Hub Airlines, highlighting the company’s heavy investment in IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) program. She noted that “digital, individual, and easy-to-use solutions” are required to meet customer expectations for the airline industry.

“If we are honest, the airline industry is not there yet,” she said. “But this is the way forward.”

In a panel discussion on the future of airline distribution, Birlenbach said she expects within five years, Lufthansa will have “fully dynamic product bundles offered at the right time, with the right bundle.”

Gianni Pisanello, Vice President, Amadeus NDC-X, Amadeus IT Group, said he expects to see a lot of innovation from airlines in coming years as they develop new products. Still, he noted NDC is “not a disruption, but an evolution” as airlines modernize their packaging and distribution.

The next Phocuswright Conference takes place Nov. 13–15 in Los Angeles with the theme Power Paradox, examining the contradiction between domination and innovation.

This post originally appeared on PAXNewsWest.com in 2018.

ITB Berlin wrapped up Sunday after five days of trade and consumer interactions with more than 10,000 exhibitors from 186 countries and regions spread across the 26 halls of the Berlin Exhibition Grounds.

The show was booked to capacity, with a five per cent increase in business volume over 2017. Approximately 110,000 trade visitors and 60,000 consumers visited the trade show…

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