Let's Talk Travel
Three travel experts (James Clarke, Will Plummer & Andy Headington) come together to talk about the latest happenings in the world of travel - giving fair, unbiased and unfiltered views to help shape your thinking and make your travel business that much better.
Episodes
21 episodes
Who’s Winning Airline Distribution in Travel and how OTAs build relationships
After looking at how hotels manage distribution, on this episode we put the OTA in the chair. James Spalding runs flight distribution across Northern Europe for Trip.com Group — the world’s largest OTA by market share, owner of Skyscanner, and ...
War - was is it good for? (and how it affects travel)
Has geopolitical risk become something the travel industry now has to build permanently into its strategy?
Hospitality Special with Atul Kochhar: Does UK Hospitality Have a Future?
The UK hospitality industry is under pressure like never before.Restaurants are closing. Pubs are disappearing from high streets. Operators are facing rising wages, employer National Insurance contributions, food costs, energy bills, busine...
Have we reached peak travel?
2026 has been one of the most unpredictable years of bookings in travel. Peaks generally underperformed and we still don’t know how good the lates market was. Despite booking patterns changing, total travel revenue figures look to comparable wi...
Who’s Winning Distribution in Travel?
For every hundred pounds a traveller spends on a hotel room through Booking.com, the hotel sees somewhere between 70% to 85% of it. The rest goes to an OTA whose entire business model rests on knowing your customer better than you do. Independe...
Railbookers' AI Blueprint — From MIT to Every Employee
How a fully remote, global travel company built an enterprise-wide AI strategy — and whether it's a repeatable blueprint for other businesses. Special guest interview with Frank Marini, President & CEO, Railbookers Group.
TUI's Trojan Horse, easyJet's Long Goodbye
Two of the biggest names in UK travel are rewriting their own rulebooks right now. TUI's just launched a stripped-back OTA brand that quietly bypasses the very agents that built its business — and easyJet is on the brink of leaving the stock ma...
Episode 14 | Is there any loyalty in travel?
Big brands have been using loyalty schemes for decades to try and keep customers coming back and locking out competitors. Others see them are expensive gimmicks which lose revenue and don't change behaviour at all. And what happens in a world o...
Episode 13 | When the Weather Changes Everything
For decades, travellers have worried about terrorism, economic downturns, strikes and even pandemics. But is climate and extreme weather becoming the biggest disruptor the travel industry has ever faced?
Episode 12 | The Great Booking Land-Grab
Is the booking window permanently moving forward — or is this a land-grab that snaps back once the seasonal cycle resets?
Episode 11 | Cruise: The Industry That Bucks the Trend
Is the cruise industry simply being carried by an enormous wave of new ships, new berths and new capacity that has to be filled regardless of whether genuine demand is there? We're joined by Cressida Sergent from Traveltek to get into some amaz...
Episode 10 | The Aviation Capacity Squeeze
2026 is shaping up to be one of the busiest years in aviation history — and one of the most unevenly distributed. Airlines are flying fuller planes on tighter schedules & maximising profit while others that bet on the wrong aircraft engine ...
Episode 9 | EES is a mess - what next?
With summer holidays just around the corner, a new way of travelling in the EU is currently rolling out - or is it? EES has only been in operation and is already facing a lot of problems - so much so that many airports are planning to bypass it...
Episode 8 | The Biggest Travel Trends Shaping Summer 2026
The summer travel market is in full swing, and despite economic and geo-political uncertainty, demand for holidays has remained resilient.Consumers are booking differently, spending differently and increasingly looking for value with...
Episode 7 | A Million Young People Left Behind — Huge Opportunity or Risk for the Travel Industry?
With summer holidays just around the corner, a new way of travelling in the EU is currently rolling out - or is it? EES has only been in operation and is already facing a lot of problems - so much so that many airports are planning to bypass it...
Episode 6 | Travel consumer spending - What do the numbers say?
Simon Atkinson joins us to look at how the consumer spend and travel numbers have changed since Barclays on Travel Forum at the end of April.
Episode 5 | Is ABTA fit for purpose in today’s travel industry?
ABTA remains widely recognised, but its relevance in 2026 is under scrutiny. With rising member fees, alternative financial protection products, and rival support networks, travel businesses have more choices. Meanwhile, self-booking travellers...
Episode 4 | Easyjet for sale - Is this Good, Bad or Ugly news for the industry?
The headline numbers move the share price every time. But strip away the noise and the foundations for a genuine, completed takeover still aren't there. Does this mean easyJet isn't a genuinely attractive target — and who the more interesting b...
Episode 3 | Self-Packaging vs ATOL Protection — Are Consumers Taking Too Much Risk?
We explore the rise of self packaging holidays and the risk it entails. Will this trend continue or when geo-political events are at the forefront of people's minds package holidays have never been more important?
Episode 2 | The Middle East reopens according to the FCDO - does travel go back?
Did we really get our first ever episode wrong? The FCDO have changed their advice for travellers but what does it mean? We look at the possibilities for the region from many angles and get into some debate about how and when travel returns.
Episode 1 | Has the Iran War permanently damaged the Middle East?
After the Iranian war reached a ceasefire every analyst, every airline, every tour operator has spent time pricing in Middle East recovery. New routes. Restocked inventory. Staff rehired. And now the ceasefire is creaking. More attacks are unfu...