Hope, Highlights & Happy Moments: Reviewing the Best Parts of Season Two

In the season two finale of The Best Part of Travel, co-hosts Janelle Visser and Stephen Joyce reflect on the standout themes and conversations from the past year. Sharing highlight clips from their favorite episodes, they explore what’s shaping the future of experiences, from trust, differentiation, and quality-driven travel to AI adoption, collaboration between attractions, and human connection. Finally, the episode wraps with a special reveal: an announcement of a newly added Arival event location!In this episode, we cover (spoilers below):Why hopefulness, ease, trust and balance are important themes for 2026.Prioritizing quality experiences and the fiduciary duty to protect guests’ time. Getting comfortable with AI usage and how women leaders in tech should approach AI.Connecting tour products with User Generated Content (UGC), challenges in multi-day booking tech, and working with travel advisors.Why multi-day travel is having a moment, the loneliness epidemic and the importance of human connection.Planning ahead for seasonal activations and other special events at visitor attractions, and how getting this right is key to standing out.How Australian attractions are collaborating and offering bespoke experiences to attract travelers to the country, VIP Experiences at Sydney Opera House and sailing around Sydney Harbour.Transformational travel, phone-free summer camps and getting offline for real connectionNext Arival event location reveal: Arival Brisbane 2026!Some resources and other things we mention:Stephen’s Outlook for 2026 on WebInTravel: https://www.webintravel.com/year-in-review-2025-looking-ahead-to-2026-part-4/ Arival research on VIP Experiences at visitor attractions: https://arival.travel/article/attractions-offer-guided-tours-vip-experiences/ Arival Brisbane 2026 (first 100 operators to register receive $100 off ticket price): https://arival.travel/event/2026-brisbane/ The Best Part of Travel podcast is brought to you by Arival. Season Two is sponsored by Protect Group.