Unicomm and TMR Hold Debut New York Travel and Adventure Show

On Friday, travel advisors, supplier representatives, and media flooded the Javits Center in New York to kick off the inaugural New York Travel and Adventure Show, picking up where the New York Times Travel Show left off a few years earlier. 

The event, which took place from Friday through Sunday, welcomed the New York Metro travel industry and beyond back to Manhattan to help mark the continued recovery of the travel. 

It started with an address from Unicom’s CEO John V Golicz, who spoke about just how successful in-person events have become, including the company’s most recent in Boston, which saw record numbers of consumer bookings made during the conference. 

Helping to kick off the conference was a representative from the office of the Consulate General of Ukraine in New York, sending a message from Oleksii Holubov and his colleagues. 

In a statement, Holubov said that the conference “is truly a positive sign of the travel industry recovery from coronavirus” and told attendees that, once the conflict with Russia is over, Ukraine will be open. 

“As soon as Ukraine wins the war, trust me it will happen soon, we will start rebuilding my beautiful country and resume business in Ukraine,” he said. 

The New York show was the first Travel and Adventure Show to include a day targeted for the travel trade, which was produced by the team at Travel Market Report.

During an association panel, representatives from the three major U.S. travel industry trade associations told attendees just how bullish they were on the future. 

“I don’t think we fully appreciate how pent up the demand is,” USTOA president Terry Dale said. “We need it we deserve it, we work hard and only see really a very optimistic future for all of us. The travel advisor - I think your time has come.” 

“I think the next five years will be pretty darn good,” ASTA’s SVP for Advocacy Eben Peck said. "The stress that COVD put on travel agencies means it’s going to be different,” he added, describing how the big agencies are getting bigger through M&A, and the smaller agencies, and ICs, are blossoming.

“I think more we all talk as a community about the importance and need to travel,” CLIA president and CEO Kelly Craighead said.