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Emma Weissmann
Emma WeissmannContributing Writer
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Jamie BiesiadaContributing Writer

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How Should Travel Agents Address Travel Advisories?

Apr 22, 2024
Podcasts  Training and Education  Travel Agents  Travel Trends  
How Should Travel Agents Address Travel Advisories?
Credit: 2023 Tori Halpin/Jenn Martins

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When the State Department upgrades its travel advisory for a destination, or updates an advisory with new information, it can make clients a little jumpy. How should travel agents navigate the situation? Get the answer on this week’s episode of Trade Secrets, when co-hosts Emma Weissmann and Jamie Biesiada are joined by travel advisor Brittany Shuford of Darling Destinations in Birmingham, Ala.

Thanks to our friends at OutsideAgents.com for helping us solicit travel advisor questions this season.

This episode is sponsored by Travel Insured International.

Theme song: Sock Hop by Kevin MacLeod (License). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Credit: 2023 Jenn Martins

Further Resources and Related Reading

Find Brittany Shuford on Instagram and Facebook

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Mentioned in this episode:

- The State Department’s travel site, Travel.State.Gov

- The State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)

- Emma’s Humans of Travel podcast

- Travel attorney Mark Pestronk’s free resources, including disclaimer and release forms

- From TravelAge West: A travel agent guide to selling high-risk travel

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 the Hosts

Emma Weissmann is the Managing 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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