Travel Trends with Dan Christian
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Travel Trends with Dan Christian
Event Spotlight - Preparing for Phocuswright Europe Barcelona June 2025
Mark your calendars—Phocuswright Europe is heading to Barcelona from June 10-12, 2025, bringing the premier travel technology conference to the iconic Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, just steps away from the luxurious Gran Meliá hotel. With a new venue and an executive-driven agenda tailored specifically for the European market, this event promises to redefine the conversation on the future of travel.
Why is Phocuswright Europe a Must-Attend Event?
At the core of Phocuswright Europe is an intentional focus on senior leadership and decision-makers. “Our speakers are all CEOs and presidents,” shares Pete Comeau, Managing Director of Phocuswright. “The attendees are typically director-level and above.” This unique concentration of C-suite executives creates a high-impact environment for organic partnerships, quick deal-making, and live discussions that shape tomorrow’s travel landscape.
Key Highlights You Can’t Miss
- Dates & Venue: From June 10-12, 2025, connect with top travel leaders at the Palau de Congressos de Catalunya in vibrant Barcelona.
- Intimate Networking: With a select 600 attendees, this exclusive event offers unparalleled face time with C-level executives, compared to the larger 1,500-person U.S. event.
- Tailored Programming: Focused on European-specific challenges, including:
- Ground transportation innovations
- Sustainability-driven travel initiatives
- The evolving vacation rental market
- The rising demand for experiential travel from European consumers
- A-List Speakers: Hear from top executives at industry-leading companies such as Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Rail Europe, Accor, Airbnb, and Google.
- Global Startup Pitch Finals: For the first time, the Global Startup Pitch competition will hold its finals live at the event, spotlighting cutting-edge travel technology startups.
- Content Curated for Europe: Florence Kaci, Senior Director of Phocuswright Europe, brings over 14 years of experience curating content that addresses European-specific market needs, including real-world AI applications and case studies on travel distribution.
Exclusive Offers & Perks for Travel Trends Listeners
Listeners of Travel Trends receive an exclusive €100 discount with code TRAVELTRENDS25 when registering here. Better yet, using this code guarantees you a spot for a live interview on the Travel Trends podcast, recorded straight from the event stage.
Phocuswright Europe 2025 is where the future of European travel takes shape, fueled by trailblazing ideas, high-level connections, and actionable insights. Don’t miss your chance to be part of pivotal conversations and game-changing innovations.
Season 5 Launched Jan 15th. New Episodes Every Weds! Check out our first 4 Seasons.
https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/
You know I think that's always been true to our brand is try to really lean into senior level executives. You know the speakers are all CEOs and presidents. The attendees are generally director level and above.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone and welcome to a special event spotlight episode of Travel Trends. This is your host, dan Christian, and today we're going to be exploring the Focusrite Europe event that is happening June 10th to 12th 2025 in beautiful Barcelona. I'm going to be there for the very first time and I'm so looking forward to it. I've been to many Focusrite events in the US over the years, but this is the first European event that I'm going to have the privilege to go to, and, given my enthusiasm and anticipation, I wanted to create this special spotlight episode and bring together two extraordinary individuals Pete Como, the managing director of Focusrite, who you've heard from on this podcast before, and Florence Couchy, who is the senior director of Focusrite Europe. Now Pete and Florence combine to bring this event together, but Florence leads us locally, since she's based in the beautiful south of France, and I wanted to have the opportunity to speak to them both, which I had the privilege to do live at ITB Berlin in the Focusrite booth, and so we're going to talk to Pete first and then we're going to go over to Florence and learn all of the insights and the highlights of what they're looking forward to the speakers, the sessions, the themes, all the things that we need to be paying attention to going into Focusrite Europe 2025 to make the most out of that conference before we start, is they have kindly offered all of our travel trends listeners a special 100 euro discount over whatever the prevailing price is at the moment of a focus right europe ticket. All you have to do is go to focus right europecom, click on new registration and then add the discount code travel trends 25. We also have a live link on our website so that you can just dynamically go through to book your ticket. So you can check that out as well on TravelTrendsPodcastcom, but you should otherwise just be set to use the discount code right on Focusrite Europe's website. The other thing I wanted to highlight, too, is that, with us being there, we're going to have a booth and a great setup to record podcasts at the event, just like we've done at Focusrite USA the last two years, and we'll be back at Focusrite San Diego in November 2025 as well, for those of you who are marking your calendars and making plans for that event.
Speaker 2:But the one I wanted to highlight to all of our listeners headed to Focusrite Europe if you use that promo code, my commitment is that every listener that books a ticket using our Travel Trends 25 discount code will be guaranteed to be interviewed and included in our Focusrite Spotlight edition from Europe. I have already heard from a few listeners that have booked their ticket and emailed me to let me know, so I definitely encourage any of those of you that do feel free to drop me a line, dan, at Travel Trends Podcast, so we can schedule time to record at Focusrite Europe in Barcelona, and, for those of you who won't be able to join us, we will have a highlight video from the event itself. So be sure to subscribe and look out for that coming out in a few months time. Otherwise, I look forward to seeing many of you there and I'm keen now to bring in Pete Como into this conversation. So one of the things I just wanted to start our conversation with Pete is I wanted to pick up exactly where we left off in San Diego.
Speaker 2:Do you remember what you said to me when I came up to you on that last night? There was an after party and I came up to thank you for bringing travel trends, giving us the opportunity to record, because you know I love Focusrite. It is literally my favorite, or one of my favorite, but it's like the Oscars of travel for me and you know strongly I feel about the Focusrite company and team and yourself. Do you remember what you said to me that night?
Speaker 1:I don't remember specifics, although I suspect it was somewhere around. You know how well you you really amplify the messages of our of our audience and and people love being on your podcast. It's a really important part of them coming to our event and I think that's what makes our partnership partnership so strong is they feel like they're getting value out of being there and also getting value out of the audience that you bring to them.
Speaker 2:That's lovely. The exact comment you said to me that really warmed my heart at the time was like you're part of the family now.
Speaker 1:Yes, that is true, yeah.
Speaker 2:That is true as well. So I was like, oh man, what an honor to be invited into the Focusrite family.
Speaker 1:I may have said family. We are using the word community a lot more I may have said family.
Speaker 2:We are using the word community a lot more and I think that's also something that speaks to our brand and also speaks to what we try to do here is bring people together around travel tech and topics and really embrace them as part of the community. You know, being here in Europe together this is my first time at ITV Obviously you're familiar with this conference and you have a presence in Europe with the Focusrite Europe conference. I literally want to dive right into that, because if people want to learn more about you and more about Focusrite, they can obviously listen to that fantastic interview that we did. But what I wanted to dive right into is the fact that our relationship has continued to evolve in advance. So a big thanks to you and to Jean and the team, because you guys kindly invited me to Focusrite Europe in Barcelona for the very first time. So we're going to be at the event for the first time.
Speaker 2:We've actually just highlighted on our podcast that anyone listening to our Travel Trends podcast can actually get a hundred euro discount. It's a Travel Trends 25, but there's a unique link on our website, the dynamic link, and I also said at the very end of that podcast on the African Safari series. I highlighted that. Anyone who uses that link, I will guarantee them that I will interview them at Focusrite Europe. So there's an additional incentive to book and to come and I'll make sure that you get on the show. But yeah, pete. So thanks so much for that opportunity. Let's talk about Focusrite Europe. So, thanks so much for that opportunity. Let's talk about Focusrite Europe.
Speaker 1:What I've heard already is that there's a new venue for this year. So tell us about the theme for Focusrite Europe, tell us about the venue and what people can expect Convention Center, palau de Congressos de Catalunya. That's right next to it and it allows us to bring people in, keep them at a really nice resort-style hotel and also provide amazing conference facilities and, more importantly, amazing places to network. And that's what we're all about, as you know, is bringing together a community and providing a platform for them to meet others, to do business, to do partnerships, to learn what's new in the ecosystem. We're also bringing the finals of our global startup pitch to Europe this year Very cool, so that's something that we used to do virtually.
Speaker 1:This is an event that we do in collaboration with wit, um, so suhoon and the web and travel brand. So we go out and scour um all around the world to find interesting startups and we're bringing them to barcelona this year to to pitch um. So that's something new. That um, we think, will add a really nice element to the event. So we're going to produce that on the Tuesday, you know, and it's also. It's really about providing that space that allows for people to connect, and that's what you know. That's what our brand is all about, and we're really looking forward to that.
Speaker 2:Well, it's certainly one of the things that got highlighted over and over again.
Speaker 2:When I was at Focusrite in San Diego and we had the opportunity when I was at Focusrite in Phoenix, I had and you're going to be at San Diego coming up and, um, but yeah, when I was at Focusrite Phoenix, we produced a two-part series, as many of our listeners know, at the end of season four, and we literally put it at the end of season four because when you listen to the conversation that I had with Pete and many of our listeners have followed our journey and what I highlighted to him is I always saw Focusrite as kind of the New York Times on the Sunday New York Times you could kind of get the sense of what the industry was going to be, what was going to be happening in the industry over the next six months.
Speaker 2:Pete kindly corrected me and said well, we're more like three months because the world's changing so quickly, but nevertheless, the compliment remains the same is that when you go to Focusrite you have an opportunity to see what is really going to shape the industry. And the other thing that came up in all those conversations and I highly encourage people to actually listen to that two-part series because we spoke to many CEOs and executives and various people that come together for Focusrite. It gives a pretty good overview of the whole ecosystem, and one of the things everyone kept talking about is the fact that you get access to decision makers. So you know, you're not only just networking, but you're networking with the person that can actually make a decision on whether there's going to be a deal or a partnership to be had.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it is important and and you know I think that's always been true to our brand is is try to to really lean into senior level executives. You know the speakers are all CEOs and presidents. The attendees are generally director level and above. So that's always a really important part because we know we, you know the price tag on a Focusrite conference is relatively high and we understand that, although we are, you know, offering a nice discount to Travel Trends members. So we're excited about that as well. As far as content, this year we're bringing our theme from our global event to our European event, but it's going to be a very different conversation because, of course, we'll take the content and localize it for the most important trends and topics that the European market cares about no-transcript.
Speaker 2:Focusrite from USA to Europe, and given I haven't had the chance to attend Europe yet and I'm so looking forward to it, I'd love to also talk about some of the things that are different and unique, because some of the guests that I had a chance to interview in Phoenix had been to Focusrite Europe and they were so impressed with it that they couldn't wait to come to the US event. So let's talk about, I guess, the difference in the size and scale, because Focusrite USA, the audience is what about 1,000, 1,500 people? 1,500, yes, and then so obviously it's a large conference. How does Europe compare? What is the numbers you're typically looking at for that conference?
Speaker 1:So the Europe event is about a little less than half the size, so about 600 people, which is, I mean, we love the 1500 people that we bring together to our global event. But the Europe event is a little more intimate. You can talk to everybody there on site if you want. It's a really good mix of technology companies, hotel suppliers you know smaller hotel chains that maybe we don't get at our global event. They come to Europe because they can get that a bit more intimate experience Airline executives, of course, online travel companies like Booking and Expedia and Tripcom, and the big players in the market will be there.
Speaker 1:But you know the topics are. There's a lot more rail discussion, which obviously you know is is very, is very timely and specific for for Europe. There is a lot of of discussion around sustainability and how do you build a sustainable destination. Digging deep into that, and we're bringing together destinations and distributors to the same discussion to try to figure out how can we, as an industry, not just manage tourism once the travelers get to destination, but also, you know, educate them, and Mitra presented some of this today at ITB how do we educate travelers on what traveling more sustainably means and how they do it and I think that's a big gap that we've seen in the uh in the market.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure it's interesting. You mentioned rail travel because, uh, pete, kindly let me record in their Focusrite booth to interview the CEO of Railbookers, frank Marini. Uh, which was a fascinating conversation. I definitely encourage you to listen to that, and one of the other topics that we're focusing on in season five is with the Bjorn, the CEO of Rail Europe, and so Rail, absolutely. Here we are in the heart of Europe, in Berlin, and certainly many people have actually traveled to this event on Rail, and the questions I've been asking them is around sustainability. So obviously this is where the content adjusts to the local audience. I know from the US experience it is an international event. It is, you know, it is obviously predominantly US based. However, there are people who travel from around the world to be there. How does that compare to Europe? And I guess I'm really excited that the idea of it being a smaller, more intimate event really genuinely excites me, especially when we'll see the contrast from being here with 100,000 people in Berlin, which is great as well, but it's also a different experience.
Speaker 1:Different experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm a little closer to get to each of your next meetings when you're in Barcelona. But, yeah, tell us a little bit more about the audience that comes together for that and if it is, you know, very focused on the European market. I guess I'm highlighting that because so many companies are going to be focused on Europe for 2025 and 2026 for many, many reasons that, with all these geopolitical events happening around the world, that Europe is a very strong travel market, inbound and outbound, so I think many more people are going to be interested in Europe this year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and you know we certainly localize the topics for a very Europe-specific audience. So you know, roughly 80% of the audience at Focusrite Europe is from Europe, although from a content perspective. So we have Matt Goldberg this year, the CEO of TripAdvisor, who obviously you know leads a big, massive global company. You know we'll talk about a lot of the topics from his business that are specific to Europe, but there certainly is an international element and, of course, a lot of the biggest travel companies are based in Europe, whether it's Bookingcom or TUI or you know, some of the big airlines that will be there in attendance.
Speaker 1:We run a WIT Europe session, so Suhoon will bring in some speakers from Asia to talk about what the Asian markets mean for Europeans, whether it's inbound or outbound. So that's always a really unique session where you know she runs about an hour's worth of content with speakers that are from Asia, from emerging markets, and really kind of helping the European-based audience understand what's going on in different parts of the world. The European based audience understands what's going on in different parts of the world. So while it is an event that we curate and localize for Europe, we also do cover other markets and really look at what the European context is as it relates to the rest of the industry.
Speaker 2:That's exciting, and we're actually going to have your colleague, florence, join us in a moment. So for those of you that this episode is actually going to have two amazing interviews with Pete and Florence and Florence is actually based in Europe, near Monaco, and she actually runs the Barcelona event, and so we'll get into some additional detail but while we have Pete here with us, since he is the managing director globally for Focusrite, I also wanted to take the opportunity to talk a bit more about all the exciting things that are happening with Focusrite. But just before we do, for those people that are now intrigued about joining us in Focusrite Europe, obviously they can use the link on the Travel Trans website, but just would you remind everyone, pete, the dates for the event and the venue.
Speaker 1:Yes, so dates are June 10th through 12th. Hotel venue is the Gran Milia and it's by the university. It's really a beautiful area of Barcelona, so it will be. It will feel like our global conference, that we've really put our stamp on a resort style venue, a conference center that's really close. We like to kind of lock people in, but it's a very good reason so they, so they can come together, network, do business, do deals, learn from each other. So we're really excited to bring that sort of experience to Focusrite Europe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's fantastic. I'm so looking forward to it. But, given the number of things that Focusrite has on, I also wanted just to highlight the research that you do, because obviously that's an important part of your practice. I think you're so well known for the events, but part of our previous conversation how I really got to know Focus right and really benefit from the partnership was getting access to the research that I could use for justifying business investment. And something that just recently came to my attention because you yourself and the team and I've got to know many of the team members that which you've got a terrific organization, some amazing team members.
Speaker 2:Mike Coletta, who's doing a lot of work on AI. You kindly partnered with us on our AI summit in 2024, and we'll have more details about 2025, but you guys have really started to focus on AI, which is fantastic. But you also have expanded this research, because whenever I get ready for a podcast, I always look for Focusrite Research or I reach out to you guys to say I'm about to do an African safari series or a river cruise series. What is some of the data that you can share with me to set the context? But I recently discovered you've been producing more of this content and making it available. So tell us about this new approach and where people can find these new reports which are I couldn't believe it wasn't behind a paywall. I was like, oh my God, there's so much great content here.
Speaker 1:Well, there's still great content behind the paywall, but we've recognized that. You know it's important for us to get our research out, not only from a marketing perspective, but also we get a lot of people that come and ask you know how do I engage with Focusrite, what does your research look like? And so we produced a piece last December called Travel Forward, which is kind of a you know, a summary of all of the different types of work that we do, from market sizing to consumer behavior, to technology and innovation, social media. So that's available for free. You know Focusritecom. Just Google Travel Forward, focusrite and it'll pop up. So that's one piece.
Speaker 1:Mike Coletta, who you mentioned, put together our travel, innovation and tech trends piece and we've also made that available publicly. So that's a piece. Again, you can find it on our homepage. A lot of the detail and depth we will reserve for our research subscribers. A lot of the detail and depth we will reserve for our research subscribers. But again, we want to make sure that we get our research out, that people understand what types of topics that we're. You know that we're researching. So they can either purchase you know deep, you know kind of detail if they want, or they can come to our conference and they get to, you know, a bit more of a flavor of what we're all about to our conference and they get to you know a bit more of a flavor of of what we're, what we're all about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's where they're very substantial appetizers to try and get people into the entree, which is absolutely worth the price of admission. I mean, I used to pay a real premium for it. I know the cost has come down considerably and you don't have monthly and you have startup rates, so you've really adapted to the market. But I think this was an example to me where not only had I discovered it, I then had actually forwarded it to a number of our acceleration team clients and some of our team members, because it's such valuable information. So I love that you are getting ahead of the curve and making that available. So, obviously, research events what are some of the other big developments for Focusrite in 2025? And I want to finish off, too, by talking about San Diego.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so of course, focus Wire is our media channel that we continue to cover the most important topics. You know it's it's freely available daily basis. We're we're looking at acquisitions, startup funding. We cover the publicly traded online travel companies. So Linda, linda Fox does a great job of kind of curating that daily news that we cover on FocusWire.
Speaker 1:Mitra is spending a lot of time kind of you know, bringing together our bodies of content and making sure that we're looking at the topics from a daily coverage, from an in-depth research coverage and on the stage at our events. So you'll see a little bit more consistency of topic coverages across all of our different bodies of work. Uh, so those are the two probably biggest things that we're we're working on right now. Uh, san Diego you mentioned is a new venue for us, which we're we're excited about. Normally we're East coast, west coast kind of alternating. This year is kind of an odd year for us because our East coast venue was already booked. So we decided, you know, let's go to San Diego. I mean, what a better place to host an event.
Speaker 1:So we're at the Hyatt Manchester in San Diego, which is a fantastic venue, fairly recently renovated. It's right on the Marina. It's a great property. But you know it's what Focusrite conference attendees expect, with really high quality AV. You know, lots of choice of restaurants available, a really nice bar.
Speaker 2:Which is where most of the business deals get done, where most of the business deals get done.
Speaker 1:So that's always a priority for us is having a nice bar where people can get together, you know after hours and have those conversations that are really meaningful.
Speaker 2:And I just wanted to highlight, with the uh the reports, that one of the stats that I recently uh uncovered in uh what some of Mike Coletta's work, he was highlighting startup funding in 2024. And one of the Q4 was the very first time that startup funding to B2B travel companies outpaced B2C and I found that fascinating. I've I've mentioned on our podcast, I've mentioned some speaking engagements. Obviously I do a lot of work on the B2B side and this is where companies need to understand that, because if you have a captive audience, if you've got an existing market, it's much more easy to investors than a higher risk B2C play. And so these AI tools that many of these companies are introducing, the AI tools, the money is flowing to B2B companies that are creating great technology for partners. But it's a trend report like that that actually really for me, I can point to and say hand on heart, there's something significant happening here. This is the cutting to the signal across the noise.
Speaker 1:But yeah, that's yeah, I mean for sure, and I think we've always voiced a bit of caution for companies that are trying to launch a B2C business, because they're competing against $14 billion of marketing dollars that the OTAs are spending Really challenging to break through. However, there's a lot of great applications across B2B, so we're seeing that shift, also seeing investors still being a little bit cautious about investing. Hopefully this year we'll start to see more money coming into the travel startup ecosystem. We've been dealing with a high interest rate environment. Certainly, inflation has factored in.
Speaker 1:Valuations have, I think, finally come down to a place where investors are starting to look for opportunities. Acquisitions we've actually seen pick up, especially in Europe. We've seen some pretty big acquisitions, some other raises that you know it's companies that are kind of following on previous raises Series B, series C. So yeah, I mean we're optimistic about the travel startup ecosystem, especially with AI, and I think we'll start to see some really impressive companies build out of, you know, very small engineering teams. Ai just allows these companies to test ideas and get them out to market without having to build a, you know, 100 person engineering team. So we're going to start to see some really interesting things come out.
Speaker 2:Well, it's something that I always loved about attending a Focusrite conference and this has really been. You know, in the last 10 years that I've been going, there's always been a focus on startups and the pitch day, and it was part of the reason I always looked forward to attending, especially in my role of being a chief digital officer at a large travel group where you're trying to connect startups with established travel brands to give them that agility, to give them, you know, the opportunity to influence roadmap of a smaller startup that you've got a smart team that is looking to work with an established brand and to be able to build that relationship. And that's just something I think you guys have wisely navigated, because some of those startups go on to become quite successful businesses Like you're. You're feeding the ecosystem, and so I'm I'm glad you highlighted that and I'm glad to hear that's going to be part of what I can look forward to in Barcelona. Just to finish off, pete, and then we'll bring Florence on to give us some additional highlights about Barcelona.
Speaker 2:We're here at ITB. You mentioned Mitra's presentation, obviously sharing some of the Focusrite research stats. What else brings you to ITB this year and what are some of the benefits you find of being here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's a lot of our clients are here. You know, itb has done a really nice job of kind of building up their tech presence, so we're meeting with a lot of our customers. We're also hosting a dinner where we're bringing together some of our top customers and constituents from across the industry. So that's an event that we always love to kind of convene our community, and ITB is a great place to do it because many of them are here, and ITB is a great place to do it because many of them are here. So it's kind of a captive audience of, you know, members of our community, whether it's investors or startups or, you know, or executives from across the category.
Speaker 2:That's exciting. Well, it's a real pleasure to see you here, pete. I always look forward to catching up with you. I'm certainly really looking forward to seeing you again in a few months in Barcelona for the first time. Thanks again for the opportunity, the partnership and our friendship, and obviously you know I'm a huge fan of Focusrite, so I look forward to any all of our listeners does you know checking out Focusrite, checking out Focuswire and staying tuned to all of your research and and certainly definitely come and see us in Barcelona and if, for any reason, you're not able to meet us in Barcelona, please Be there in San.
Speaker 1:Diego Indeed. Thank you so much, Dan. Thanks a lot, Pete.
Speaker 2:I now have the privilege to sit down live here at the ITB conference in Berlin with Florence Cassie, who is the Senior Director of Focusrite Europe, and we actually just had the pleasure to meet last week at Forbes Travel Guide the summit in Monaco. Charlotte, our common friend, introduced us and I was like no way, florence. I'm coming to Focusrite Europe for the first time, so I was so thrilled to meet you, delighted that I get a chance to sit down with you here and talk about the event. So, florence, welcome to Travel Trends. Thank you so much. Likewise, tell everybody where you get to live, because you live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world. I have to say let's start with that, because you, I'm not actually traveling here, I live near here. So tell everyone where you're based.
Speaker 3:So I'm based out of France, on the French Riviera Beautiful. I usually don't mention it too much not to make people jealous about the weather. I live close to Antibes, in the south of France, outside of Nice.
Speaker 2:Stunning, stunning, stunning. So my family. So I was born in England and my family went in different directions and my aunt and their kids moved to the south of France and they live near Rocquebrune-sur-Argent.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And I used to travel to the south of France when I was a kid and obviously it's stunningly beautiful, but I had yet to explore it as an adult. It's been many, many years since I went back and I had this weekend exploring the south of France before I do my Hidden Gems presentation here, and I was asking friends and colleagues tell me what are the Hidden Gems? And Antibes was one of the Hidden Gems, and I went to Antibes in the afternoon. Oh my God, that town is beautiful.
Speaker 3:Yes, the town is beautiful. It's actually a British town as well. It's full of British and Irish Because it's very close to Sofia, antipolis, where you have a lot of big multinational companies with a lot of expats.
Speaker 2:Well, the other thing that my aunt highlighted, which I'm sure that she was like there's only a few places in the world to get 300 days of sunshine a year. California is one of them, in the south of France, that's right, and there we were in February and it was beautiful every day.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, you saw that in Monaco and, yes, currently it's like around 18 degrees Celsius.
Speaker 2:So we'll stop making people jealous of where you're based.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes, because we are in Berlin right now.
Speaker 2:We're in Berlin, yeah, which is also a great city.
Speaker 3:Great city Not exactly the same temperature, but tell us your background in tourism and how you actually ended up with this amazing team at Focusrite. With Focusrite? Yes, well, I've always worked in travel. So I actually did a business school in the south of France, in Aix-en-Provence, esquette, and did an MBA in travel and tourism Amazing, so that was really going to be the destiny.
Speaker 2:You knew that this is what you wanted to do.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to do. I started working on the travel tech side. I was with Pegasus Solutions in London at the European headquarters for around 10, 11 years before joining Focusrite, and I've been with Focusrite now for around 14 years. So I was on a mission to build the European market, to build the European audience, initially for Focusrite research and then obviously bringing more Europeans to our events in the US.
Speaker 2:That's why I was so delighted to meet you, and now, obviously, I have so delighted to meet you and now obviously, I have the privilege to sit down with you, especially after having just spoken to Pete, as our listeners would have heard, because Pete is definitely known to our listeners, obviously having been on the show before, and we were just diving into Focusrite Europe. But having you here, I mean, he gave a number of fantastic highlights, but having you here to really dive into what our listeners can expect. I was highlighting Florence, that we do have this special partnership, travel Trends and Focusrite, so any of our listeners that want to attend this year can get a 100 euro discount. There's a Travel Trends 25 code, but it's actually there's a dynamic link on our website. So I strongly encourage anyone that is considering it to make it.
Speaker 2:This is your year. It going to be my first year at focus right europe, but florence, let's talk about focus right europe from your perspective. So you've been building this up, because focus right obviously started in the us, yes, and that's how I've always known focus right, and so I asked pete a number of questions. But again, I want to get your perspective here because you're the one that has actually built up this conference over the last 10, 14, 14 years. So tell us what's special about Focusrite Europe? And I guess what I wanted to know from Pete, and I'm keen to know it from you, is what's the same and what's different.
Speaker 2:Yes so what are some of the things that are consistent about the Focusrite experience? And then what is really unique to the European market.
Speaker 3:Yes, so obviously, when we launched Focusrite Europe a couple of years ago, we initially launched it in Ireland. The idea was to move around Europe, so maybe not every year, but every couple of years. So we launched the event in Ireland, in Dublin, then we moved to Amsterdam, then, obviously, covid hit all of us. We didn't have the conference for two years and then decided to move to Southern Europe and Barcelona was top of the list. So Focusrite Europe has a lot of similarities with Focusrite US, which is our global event, our signature event, in regards to the format, in regards to the stage, in regards to the stage, the center stage program. So we offer, through the program, very similar sessions and sub programs, such as the launch competition for innovative companies that we select throughout the year.
Speaker 3:We also have breakout sessions, we have industry roundtables. We obviously have the center stage sessions. So everything is built around a similar format. It's just a smaller scale. It's much more focused on Europe. So the program and the theme are around Europe, only opportunities and challenges, what's going on in Europe. And the program is made 99% of European-based speakers. And in regards to the audience, yes, it's mainly composed by Europeans, but we also have a lot of companies now coming from Israel, from Turkey, and also a lot of companies coming from India or the US or other markets who really want to develop partnerships with European companies.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's where I think there's just so much potential for the European conference this year. I was mentioning to Pete that clearly there's geopolitical factors at play, for sure, and where Europe can be a, it's a large travel market, both inbound and outbound.
Speaker 2:But if it's a more stable market and there's so much growth opportunity. I think one of the things that I had highlighted from our chat was the fact that in Q4 2024, that most of the investment flowed to B2B companies for the first time. But what I didn't mention when I was speaking to Pete that is very relevant to our conversation, florence is that the majority of those companies were European-based, and so this is where the startup ecosystem and that travel tech hub you're going to meet startups in Europe that wouldn't necessarily make their way to San Diego.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely so. It's not necessarily the same audience. I mean, obviously some companies will always come to both events. But in Europe, don't forget, the market is extremely fragmented. It's a very different market than North America. It's obviously more than 27 markets. We also include Eastern European markets. In Europe, and some companies will be pan-European companies, but the majority of the players that are going to be at Focusrite Europe and some companies will be pan-European companies, but the majority of the players that are going to be at Focusrite Europe tend to work on one or two or three markets or region of Europe and they want to extend and become a bit more global within Europe before attacking the US market, for example, or Asia, asia-pac.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, the other thing that was interesting, and this is where you're curating the content for this event, so you have a unique lens as to what content is going to appeal most to the European audience. That's coming to the event. Pete talked a little bit about rail, that rail is more predominant in Europe for all the obvious reasons. But tell us some of the other things. When you're listening to your global team or the US team and some of their thoughts, what are the things that you put on the table to make sure that the content you're curating, the sessions, the speakers speak to a European audience? So take us through some of those things that you're paying attention to. Yes, of course.
Speaker 3:Well, because obviously we're having conversations with players throughout the year, that we meet at events like itb, like the forbes travel event in monaco, and through all those discussions we tend to identify, obviously, challenges and opportunities that europeans may have that can be completely different than for companies in the us or in other regions. And in europe, for example, ground transportation is a very important topic. Obviously, there are a lot of discussions around sustainability, about removing some routes for airlines that are too short to and that can be covered by rail, by ground transportation. In Europe we also have a lot of big players for the car sharing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly the car sharing space in the bus space. Yes, Flixbus and some of these.
Speaker 3:Flixbus exactly, Also ferries are important. And that's obviously not a segment that we would necessarily talk about in the us, for sure, um cruises as well, and when I say cruise, it's not necessarily big ships you know, going for transatlantics, but uh, river cruises like um.
Speaker 3:we also um work, um a lot lot with travel and activities providers. Europeans are looking for experiences and not just traveling from point A to point B, so it's important to constantly reinforce the importance of experiences for the European travelers. Sustainability is a big topic. Yes, it's a topic that is broad, but it becomes more and more top of the agenda and people want to see really and what they want to hear concrete case studies and not just you know, a hotel trying to be sustainable by, you know, delivering cleaning services or things like that. So sustainability is definitely a big topic for OTAs, not just for hotels. The vacation rental space is huge in Europe. It's also big in the US, of course, but there is a lot more competition with the hospitality industry. The US, of course, but there is a lot more competition with the hospitality industry. So there are so many topics that we might have in the US but that we won't analyze and we won't put in front of the audience in the same way that we do at the US event.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you've listed about 10 reasons right there to be at Focusrite Europe, and this is where I'm so keen to see it for myself up close for all the reasons you just outlined, because those are all the things that are. You know, europe is definitely ahead of North America in terms of sustainability, paying attention to it and actually customers choosing more sustainable options, as you mentioned about, you know, getting even government regulation. I mean, obviously, eu is ahead of the curve on a lot of things privacy and data control and things that ahead of the curve on a lot of things privacy and data control and things that and again.
Speaker 3:legacy is an important topic as well, just because Europe is represented by so many different markets that have their own legacy. So you can't just assume that you go to Europe and have a standard. That can't work that way.
Speaker 2:Well, and the other thing you guys all have the beauty of speaking multiple languages, which is like you know, unlike us.
Speaker 1:Anglophiles or unilingual.
Speaker 2:Anglophiles that come across and it's like one of the things culturally, there's a much more of an awareness of different, unique elements to different markets within Europe. So understanding how best to market to them and position to them, absolutely. One of the things I also want to ask you, florence, is that, given all of those topics you've just highlighted, what are some of the trends, the European trends, that you're paying attention to, that you're building into the content, and obviously they can relate to some of those topics we just talked about. But, yeah, what are some of the things that you've been thinking through in terms of the programming that you want speakers to talk about? Or you know the types of panel sessions you want to run based on the trends that you want speakers to talk about, or the types of panel sessions you want to run based on the trends that you're seeing?
Speaker 3:that people really care about. So obviously, focusrite Stamp is really distribution tech innovation. So that's what we do. That's what we do throughout the year. We have a team of analysts based around the world. We watch trends, we watch changes, we watch innovators. We're always willing to meet with startups.
Speaker 3:So that's one of the reasons why that we've moved the global startup pitch at Focusrite Europe in Barcelona instead of having it virtually like we've done in the past few years. So one of the main topics, obviously this year and around the theme that we've launched the new agents, is going to be artificial intelligence. So all the topics that I mentioned earlier, that sustainability, that it's transportation, like any topic that's relating to any of the segments composing the travel industry is obviously going to have an impact or it's going to be related to what is being developed right now through AI. So that's obviously going to be one of the main themes for most of the sessions at Focusrite Europe Exciting and trying to bring a new angle, fresh ideas and concrete case studies as to who and how the industry is adapting and is changing, and really concrete examples of what's disrupting the distribution and travel ecosystem.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic. I appreciate you sharing that with us, because I guess this is where I always benefit immensely from the content. I know a lot of people attend conferences for networking, and Pete referenced that, which is obviously very important as well. You get access to high-level decision makers, One of the things he also mentioned. He referenced WIT, which I realized that when we were discussing. We didn't actually explain that for our listeners, so would you mind giving an overview?
Speaker 3:of.
Speaker 2:Web and Travel and how they fit into this.
Speaker 3:Yes, well, wit Web and Travel is our sister company. Wit Web and Travel is our sister company, so we work hand in hand and WIT is actually delivering a two-hour program during the Focusrite Europe conference. It's been the case every year, so Siu Hoon and her fantastic team are also working on that part of the program and that they deliver at Focusrite Europe for Europeans as well, to understand the opportunities to work with partners and companies in Asia-Pac.
Speaker 2:That's exciting. Well, this is where I want to ask you about some of the other speakers, because I actually got an email from Rod Cuthbert the other day the founder of.
Speaker 2:Viator and I guess he had just been on a call with Pete and Mitra and he reminded him to follow up with me because he was keen. We were keen to have him on the Travel Trends podcast. We spoke at Focusrite in Phoenix and we hadn't scheduled anything yet. Anyway, he kindly sent me a note to say oh, my goodness, I realized that I wanted to get this sorted. And he's like, just so you know, you came up on our conversation, you've got big fans over there and Pete and Mitra at Focusrite.
Speaker 2:And obviously, as our listeners would have heard, we've got a terrific relationship, a friendship and a collaboration together. So that was nice to hear, but it was also exciting for me to know maybe Rod is speaking, and so one of the reasons that people love traveling to a Focusrite event is the big speakers and the big names that you have. So tell us who have you lined up for Focusrite Barcelona Europe this year?
Speaker 3:Yes, with pleasure, because we're actually very proud of the speakers that we have already announced and the program is not finalized yet. So there will be more that will be announced in the next couple of weeks, but we'll have the privilege to have Marnie Wilking from Bookingcom. We're also going to have the CEO of TripAdvisor, the CEO of Rail Europe. We're also going to have tickets. We're going to have Accor on the main stage, airbnb, google, so obviously a lot of big names that are on the program this year. And I think the beauty of Focusrite and everyone who's attended the event will know that is that all that group is always making the effort to make it available to connect. So we're very excited as well because we're moving to a new venue and maybe not everyone knows that yet.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about that too. But I was just going to highlight, too, the fact that Airbnb is going to be there, because Airbnb doesn't attend a lot of industry conferences. They haven't typically engaged the travel industry and clearly this is an important year for Airbnb, not only because, obviously, short-term rental you kindly highlighted that's a big theme for Europe, but especially in places like Barcelona, where short-term rentals like some, but Airbnb is obviously moving back into the experience of space, and what better way to convey that at an event in Europe? So that'll be great. But yeah, tell us a little bit about this extraordinary new venue, because I saw the email highlight and I didn't realize how significant it was. Pete was talking about the new hotel, but tell us about how this shift in the actual venue and the destination came about.
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely. Well, we really wanted to stay in Spain. I mean, what a beautiful country and it's very easy to travel to. Barcelona was our first choice. We've been super happy to be in Barcelona the last two years. So we're moving to the new venue, which is still obviously in Barcelona the Palau de Congresso, which is next to an amazing Milia property. So what's exciting is that we're finally moving the event to the next level. So this year is actually the best choice for you to attend your first Focusrite Europe event. Amazing, Because we're very excited. We're moving to a property that's offering a similar surrounding and similar vibes as to what we do in the US. Similar surrounding and similar vibes as to what we do in the US and what people are coming for when they come to a.
Speaker 2:Focusrite event. Well, and for those of you who have not been to a Focusrite event before that are in Europe or this is where, when Florence says that I think I've had the privilege to be to, I've been to a number of Focusrite events and what that says to me is is like the quality of the food, the accommodation, like the whole experience is much more premium, if not luxury. Like it is um things that other conferences, the attention to detail, even just coffees and teas, Like it's just, it's really well curated, like it's um, it's Like it's you have the who's who of the travel industry for a reason. And the tickets, even though they can be more expensive, they are absolutely worth it. So if someone looks at the price and says that seems like a lot, it's like well, come to Focusrite for the first time and you'll see why.
Speaker 3:Yes, and I think the most important besides you know the accommodation, the food, everything that we built into Focusrite that is in Europe or in the US, and I will quote our founder, philip Wolf it's the buzz that is created and that takes place at that conference the minute you walk into the lobby on the first day. And that this buzz that he managed to create and that he's still there.
Speaker 2:It's sustained. Yeah, no, that's his legacy. You're absolutely right. I mean, philip Roof was an amazing individual and he started the business during the dot-com era, where he felt there was a need to be able to tell the story about how distribution was going to change. And here you are, 25 years later. It's a remarkable story. Well, I'm glad that we finally met and we're part of the same community now, because it's a pleasure to speak to you, florence. Thank you very much for making the time for this, florence, and I wish you great success at ITB in the next couple of days.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Most importantly, I look forward to seeing you in Barcelona in a couple of months time.
Speaker 3:That's the most important stop.
Speaker 2:So just to finish off, so they hear it from you rather than me where should they go for more information and to book their ticket? They've got to go through Travel Trends so they get their 100-euro discount.
Speaker 3:Yes, so they get their discount.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, but where should they go for more information?
Speaker 3:So for anyone who would like more information about the show, the program or sponsorships, or how to support the event or how to be part of one of the side events that we organize as well during Foxtrot Europe, People can come to me. So Florence Cassie on LinkedIncom, or my email is fcassie at foxtrotcom.
Speaker 2:Awesome, that's great. I appreciate putting those out there and, yeah, I look forward to seeing you in a couple of months. Good luck getting ready for the event and enjoy the rest of the time at ITV you too Good luck.
Speaker 2:Barcelona will be intense. Thanks so much for joining us on this special event spotlight episode of Travel Trends. I hope you enjoyed the conversation with both Pete and Florence from Focusrite as we prepare for Focusrite Europe in Barcelona, june 10th to 12th 2025. As you heard, I will be there recording live from the event and anyone that uses the promo code that they've kindly offered our listeners, which is TravelTrends25,. You can use that on FocusRightEuropecom, click on new registration and add that discount code to save 100 euros off the prevailing price, or you can go to TravelTrendsPodcastcom and click on our dynamic link.
Speaker 2:Either way, we hope you will be joining us at Focusrite Europe. Get your ticket and send me an email, dan at traveltrendspodcastcom, to let me know and we'll schedule time to record together. I'm really looking forward to this event. I can't wait to see many of you there and I look forward to bringing you a special highlight episode when we wrap up the event. So make sure you're subscribed on the streaming platform of your choice to be notified when that goes live. And until next time, safe travels.
