The Pre‑Journey Journey… with Emma Valahu

Most travel brands obsess over the moment someone books. But what about everything that happens before that moment — the research, the anticipation, the doubts, the excitement, the endless tabs open on a browser?

In this episode, Ged speaks with Emma Valahu, who specialises in what she calls the pre‑journey journey — the long, emotional decision‑making phase that determines whether a traveller ever chooses your experience, your destination, or your low‑season offer.

Emma helps experiential travel founders transform brochure‑style websites into systems that actually capture and nurture the right travellers over time. Together, they explore:

• Why 99% of website visitors disappear — and how to stop it
• Why “more traffic” is rarely the answer
• How to turn passive browsers into engaged future guests
• What a powerful educational email journey looks like
• How destinations can influence low‑season demand months in advance
• The biggest mistakes travel brands make on social media
• Why LinkedIn is the most overlooked platform in travel marketing

If you care about responsible tourism, seasonality, or building deeper relationships with travellers who value culture and meaning, this episode will reshape how you think about digital strategy.

Emma will be giving a keynote at the Tourism Seasonality Summit on 17-18 May in Rimini.

What happens when an industry built on “sustainability talk” is forced to confront the reality of its own impacts? In this hard‑hitting conversation, Professor Harold Goodwin — one of the world’s most influential voices in responsible tourism — joins Ged Brown to dismantle the myths, expose the contradictions, and challenge the complacency that still dominates global tourism.

Together they explore:

• Why responsible tourism is still misunderstood — and too often misused
• The tragedy‑of‑the‑commons problem at the heart of modern travel
• How Airbnb reshaped destination control
• Why climate change is already rewriting seasonality
• The uncomfortable truth about “business as usual”
• What destinations must do now if they want to use tourism rather than be used by it
• Why transparency, evidence, and action matter more than ever

Harold also shares insights on the upcoming Tourism Seasonality Summit in Rimini, where ICRT global joins as the official Impact & Responsibility Partner.

This is not a gentle conversation — it’s a necessary one.

If you care about the future of tourism, you’ll want to hear every minute.

In this episode of Balancing Tourism, host Ged Brown moderates a panel at the CAPA Airline Leaders Forum in Athens on one of the industry’s most pressing challenges: overtourism.

Ahead of the forthcoming Tourism Seasonality Summit and with international arrivals surging past pre‑pandemic levels, destinations across Europe and beyond are facing grassroots protests, new regulations, and mounting pressure to rethink tourism flows. Airlines, often seen as enablers of mass travel, are now being asked: what role can they play in creating more sustainable, balanced tourism?

Panelists:

• Peter Glade, Chief Commercial Officer, TUI Airline

• Majid Khan, CEO, Saudi Air Connectivity Program

• Sascha Feuerherd, Senior Associate Partner, Aviado Partners

Key Themes:

• Why “overtourism” is really about mismanagement of tourism capacity

• How airlines can diversify routes and extend seasons to ease pressure on hotspots

• The impact of tourism taxes and regulations on demand and network planning

• Aligning aviation strategies with national tourism visions

• The importance of engaging local communities and stakeholders in shaping tourism futures

Takeaway: Airlines cannot solve overtourism alone, but they can be powerful partners in redistributing demand, supporting sustainable destination strategies, and ensuring tourism remains in harmony with local communities.

The conversations will continue in Rimini at the forthcoming Tourism Seasonality Summit no doubt.