Episode 183: Training the Travel Trade for Recovery, with Julia Feuell

Julia Feuell grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and settled in the UK in the 1980s. She set up New Frontiers in 1993, recruiting staff all over the travel industry. In 2008, Julia had an idea to create a training academy for call center workers to learn about products and destinations online. This idea transformed into another business called OTT – a global product marketing and communications business accessed by more than 180,000 travel professionals in 17 languages and in 22 countries.

Julia has actively participated in committees – AWTE (as Chair 06-08), Recruitment & Training committee for ABTA, City and Guilds National Advisory Committee (as Chair 2012) and People 1st training committee. She has been interviewed twice by the BBC for NEWS24.

Julia was also a finalist for “Outstanding Services to the Travel Industry” by the Guild of Travel & Tourism and won “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” at the 2008 Shine Awards.

She enjoys Tai Chi, yoga, eating out in good company, and riding on the back of fast motorbikes!

On our podcast, we are joined by Julia Feuell, Founder and Managing Director of OTT (Online Travel Training), a global product training and marketing platform for the travel trade. During our discussion, Julia shares how her organization is working to train travel professionals and prepare them for lasting post-pandemic changes in the industry, while also developing new partnerships and new technologies to help with industry recovery efforts.

What You Will Learn in This Episode: How Julia and her team founded OTT as a training academy and grew their content offerings Why travel professionals across many aspects of the industry are OTT’s target audience How OTT offers a unique platform for centralizing content and releasing it in 23 countries Why creative thinking is the solution to navigating the challenge of the global pandemic What innovative solutions and offerings OTT has created for members to help address today’s challenges How and why OTT is opening its platform to new tourism niches such as domestic tourism How collaboration with competitors and adjacent tech has been a key component of OTT’s efforts What advice Julia would offer to listeners looking to make strong partnerships and collaborations How OTT has teamed up with an economist to research and track the recovery process Training: The Key To Post-Pandemic Recovery

Julia Feuell is the Founder and Managing Director of OTT (Online Travel Training, a global product training and marketing platform for industry professionals across all aspects of the travel trade. During our discussion, Julia shares how her organization is working to train travel professionals and prepare them for lasting post-pandemic changes in the industry, while also developing new partnerships and new technologies to help with industry recovery efforts.

A Wide-Reaching Platform

Julia’s organization, OTT, is unique in that it has a broad global reach across 23 different nations and numerous and varied markets. OTT’s clients are able to expand their message while also saving money on B2C advertising costs. Additionally, OTT hosts a vast learning library catering to travel professionals, with more than 200 courses on offer in the industry’s largest e-learning platform. During this unique time of crisis, OTT has shifted its focus to helping industry professionals learn to adapt to the changing landscape of the travel trade as the global pandemic has dramatically (and in many cases, permanently) altered how the travel trade will work.

Monitoring the Recovery Process and the Shifting Needs of the Industry

One of OTT’s core functions during this crisis is to help members cut through the confusing and often conflicting messages to better understand what is happening in the industry during this pandemic. Julia mentioned that domestic travel is likely to be an increasingly important share of the industry as people’s travel habits and expectations change. In fact, during our conversation, one of the points Julia mentioned is that OTT is going to begin researching and collecting information from the global recovery effort to help members better understand what is and isn’t working and to make more informed choices regarding capacity and where to focus their efforts. This information will prove invaluable as the travel trade begins moving forward again.

3 months of free training for all destinations and suppliers: www.ott.travel LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/juliafeuell/ www.linkedin.com/company/ott/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/onlinetraveltraining/ Twitter: @julia_feuell @traveltraining

Episode Transcript

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