Travel Tech Insider

Sustainability in travel hasn’t disappeared,  it’s just gone quiet.
After a decade of bold net-zero commitments, ESG branding, and high-profile climate pledges, the conversation in the U.S. has cooled. Political pressure and cultural backlash have pushed sustainability out of the spotlight, leaving many to assume momentum has stalled.
But beneath the surface, the opposite may be true.
Major airlines are still investing in SAF. Hotels continue to fund energy efficiency and retrofit programs. Corporate travel buyers are increasingly factoring emissions into procurement decisions. And even in unlikely places, like Texas, the energy mix is shifting faster than headlines suggest.
In other words: the labeling may have gone underground, but the capital hasn’t.
 At the same time, hard questions remain. Travelers say they care about sustainability, but rarely act on it. Decarbonization costs are real, timelines are long, and the ROI is anything but clear.
So where does that leave the industry?
In this episode, we unpack whether sustainability in travel is truly durable — not just politically, but economically — and what it will take to move from quiet progress to meaningful impact.
Follows
Gilad Berenstein – host
Cara Whitehill - host
Matt Ridley  — guest
Anna Feinberg — guest
Javier Arredondo – guest
Go Deeper
ESG INTELLIGENCE & ANALYTICS - ESGAUGE
Amadeus Travel Dreams 2026 - Amadeus Insights
Booking.com 2025 Sustainability Report - Booking.com
Aviation’s Decarbonization Bet Is Looking Shakier Than Ever - Skift [$]
GBTA Sustainability Acceleration Challenge - Global Business Travel Association

Destination management organizations occupy a strange place in the travel ecosystem. They exist to promote places — countries, cities, regions — to travelers around the world. But they rarely control the product, they almost never touch the transaction, and their ROI has always been notoriously difficult to measure. Which raises a question that’s hard to avoid right now: do DMOs still matter?
The short answer is yes, but not in the way they used to.
The traditional DMO playbook — trade show presence, destination campaigns, visitor guides, and PR pushes — is being upended by a combination of forces: AI-generated travel content, the rise of social media as a discovery channel, and a traveler who is increasingly self-sufficient and algorithmically guided. The role of the DMO as information gatekeeper is effectively over. The new role is something harder to define, and far more interesting.
At the same time, destinations are under new pressures. Over-tourism, climate-related disruptions, and the political volatility of international travel — particularly for inbound US travel in today’s geopolitical moment — are forcing DMOs to think not just about driving more visitors, but about attracting the right visitors. That’s a fundamentally different mission, requiring a fundamentally different skill set.
This episode examines how DMOs are reinventing themselves for an AI-native, socially connected, and politically complex travel landscape, and what destination marketing done right can look like when it creates durable economic value for the places and communities it serves.
 
Follows
Gilad Berenstein – host
Cara Whitehill - host
Janette Roush  — guest
Meaghan Ferrigno — guest
 
Go Deeper
Destinations’ high-stakes game with AI - Travel Weekly
Small businesses say they’re having a good summer as Americans travel closer to home - AP News
Winning the Algorithm: Why Destination Marketing Must Evolve in the AI Era - Sojern
The Five Foundations of a DMO: New Measures for a New Paradigm - Zartico
Building a Personal OS in Claude - Janette Roush

Travel is one of the largest industries in the world, yet its economic significance is chronically underappreciated — by consumers, by policymakers, and even by the markets that price it.
In the United States alone, domestic travel accounts for the vast majority of the industry’s GDP contribution — yet public discourse and government measurement almost exclusively focus on inbound international tourism.
Meanwhile, the World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that travel and tourism represents over 10% of global GDP and supports more than 330 million jobs worldwide, a figure that rivals the economic footprint of manufacturing or financial services in many countries.
But the industry is under siege from multiple directions simultaneously. Geopolitical instability, pandemic-era demand shocks (COVID-19, SARS, Zika), and escalating immigration enforcement are creating headwinds for both inbound and outbound travel. Labor shortages remain a structural challenge across hospitality, aviation, and ground transportation — with wage inflation, workforce attrition, and immigration policy all converging to constrain capacity. At the same time, climate change is rewriting the risk calculus for the entire sector: hurricanes, wildfires, and floods are disrupting operations, stranding real estate assets, and inflating insurance costs from Miami to Maui.
This episode brings together three of the most credible voices in travel economics to examine what the data actually shows about travel’s role in the broader economy, the compounding threats reshaping the industry, and what a more durable framework for measuring and defending travel’s economic contribution might look like.
 
Follows
Gilad Berenstein – host
Cara Whitehill - host
Alex Dichter — guest
Ryan Propis — guest
Adam Sacks – guest
 
Go Deeper
Beyond Hormuz: How a World on Edge Is Reshaping Every Corner of Tech - North Ridge Partners
Iran conflict – The impact on tourism and GCC macroeconomic outlook - Oxford Economics
The Case for Smarter Global Advocacy For Travel — Not More Cheerleading - Skift [$]
Reimagining the $9 Trillion Tourism Economy — What Will It Take? - McKinsey & Company
The Future of Work in Travel & Tourism: The key trends shaping workforce strategies - World Travel and Tourism Council
How climate risks are impacting real estate insurance costs - JLL

Private equity is playing an increasingly visible — and influential — role across travel and hospitality. From platform rollups and carve-outs to growth equity investments in scaled travel tech, PE capital is reshaping who owns what, how companies grow, and what “success” looks like beyond venture-backed exits.
This episode unpacks how private equity really works, how it differs from late-stage venture capital, and why travel and hospitality have become such compelling hunting grounds for PE firms right now. We start with the fundamentals: what private equity is, how funds are structured, who the LPs are, and how different types of PE strategies — from growth equity to buyout funds — show up in travel. From there, we dig into what makes a strong PE investment target, including the metrics, moats, and operational characteristics that matter most at this stage of a company’s life.
The conversation then turns to M&A strategy, including how PE firms evaluate acquisition opportunities, when rollups make sense versus single-asset plays, and what founders should (and shouldn’t) do to prepare for future M&A conversations. We also demystify the PE process itself — how firms engage with founders, what diligence looks like, and what realistic timelines founders should expect.
Whether you’re a founder, operator, or investor, this episode offers a clear, candid look at how private equity is shaping the future of travel.
Follows
Gilad Berenstein – host
Cara Whitehill - host
Evelyn Duan — guest
Vinay Shah — guest
Go Deeper
Travel industry trends and the opportunity for private equity - McKinsey & Company
M&A trends in travel, leisure and hospitality - KPMG
Economic uncertainty ‘reshaping deal-making’ as travel and tourism M&A slows — HotelDive
The coming wave: Consolidation in tours and experiences — PhocusWire
M&A Activity Continues to Escalate in the Global Hotel Operator Sector - Goodwin

As we close out Season 3 of Travel Tech Insider, we’re stepping back to reflect on the conversations, debates, and signals that defined the past year—and to look ahead at what 2026 may have in store for travel, hospitality, and the technology shaping it all.
We kick things off at the macro level, asking our guests to share one or two defining lessons from 2025. Those insights span far beyond any single theme—touching on investing, AI, business building, travel behavior, and even how leaders are adapting personally in a rapidly changing world. We’ll also hear from our investors on one standout investment from 2025 that they’re particularly excited about, alongside a look back at which major industry trends truly hit the mark this year.
From there, we revisit the core topics that shaped Season 3, offering fresh perspective, candid reflections, and a few hot takes along the way. We unpack what’s really happening in the vacation rental market, the growing influence of social commerce, and the continued evolution of AI from experimentation to infrastructure. We explore the expanding role of FinTech and stablecoins in enabling frictionless, agent-driven commerce, examine cruising as a microcosm of innovation in travel, and reflect on why corporate travel remains in flux amid shifting work patterns and economic pressures. We also touch on the state of private equity and rollups in travel, and what consolidation signals about the maturity of the sector.
We close the season by turning our gaze forward, asking each guest to share their predictions, priorities, and areas of focus for 2026. From emerging business models to changing power dynamics and new opportunities on the horizon, this season finale ties together the threads of Season 3 while setting the stage for what comes next.
Follows
Gilad Berenstein – host
Cara Whitehill - host
Max Niederhofer — guest
Besty Mulé — guest
Sarah Kopit — guest
Go Deeper
How AI Bookings Will Rewrite the Travel Company Playbook - Bain & Company
Skift Megatrends 2026 - Skift
Hot Travel Startups 2026 - PhocusWire
Clear Skies for Corporate Travel in 2026 - Morgan Stanley
2026: Going Public. Going Global. Going Big. - Arival Travel