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Emma Weissmann
Emma WeissmannContributing Writer
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Jamie BiesiadaContributing Writer

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What Are Destination Management Companies, and How Can Travel Advisors Best Work With Them?

Oct 21, 2024
FIT Tours  Podcasts  Trade Secrets  Training and Education  Travel Agents  Western Europe  
What Are Destination Management Companies, and How Can Travel Advisors Best Work With Them?
Credit: 2024 Jenn Martins/Tori Halpin

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What’s the difference between a tour operator and a destination management company (DMC)? How can advisors find DMCs to work with, and what are the top do’s and don’ts of working with them? What if a contact at a DMC ghosts a travel advisor?

Hear the answers to these questions and more in this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, where co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada chat about all things DMCs with Andrea Grisdale, CEO and founder of IC Bellagio in Italy.

This episode is sponsored by AmaWaterways.

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Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod (License)

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Credit: 2024 Jenn Martinns

Resources Mentioned in This Episode and Related Reading

- IC Bellagio

- Andrea Grisdale’s Email

- Death of a Travel Advisor by Dori Saltzman

From TravelAge West:The Ultimate Travel Advisor Guide to Destination Management Companies

- Conde Nast’s Travel Specialists

- Travel + Leisure’s A List

-Wendy Perrin’s WOW List

Ask a Question on the Podcast

If you're a travel advisor with a question about the latest travel news, trends, best business practices or more, please call our hotline and leave a message at 201-902-2098 or send an email to [email protected].

About Your Hosts

Emma Weissmann is the Executive Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the host of the Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives — the highs and lows that make them human.

Jamie Biesiada is a Senior Editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors’ 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine. 

About the Show

Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, is where travel advisors ask — and answer — questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel industry insider to join them and field listeners’ questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more — as long as it’s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at www.travelagewest.com/podcasts/trade-secrets.

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