Latest news with #travelAdvisors
Travel Weekly
05-06-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Nebraska decides not to charge sales tax that would have hurt advisors
There will be no new sales taxes on travel packages in Nebraska, including travel advisors' professional fees. Senators in the state had initially sought to remove the state's sales tax exemption on "nonessential" goods and services to offset a decrease in property taxes, according to ASTA. That would have resulted in a sales tax of up to 7.5% on travel sold in the state. • Related: ASTA celebrates a legislative win in Louisiana As an example, the Society said, a $3,500 cruise vacation would be subject to a $262 tax. ASTA activated a grassroots campaign with advisors in the state who called and emailed their legislators, expressing the concern that travelers would simply seek an out-of-state advisor to book their travel instead of paying the tax. ASTA attributed its victory in Nebraska to those efforts alongside its lobbying work. Jessica Klement, ASTA's vice president of advocacy, said the tax would have had "serious financial consequences for both Nebraska travelers and travel advisors. "Nebraska legislators narrowly averted driving all travel booking from their state and harming small Nebraska businesses with this unfair and misguided proposal," Klement added. "I applaud the efforts of the travel advisors in Nebraska to successfully fight against this sales tax, protecting both consumers and their small businesses."
Travel Weekly
12-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Fora Travel CEO Henley Vazquez on the agency's NYC pop-up
Host agency Fora Travel is hosting a pop-up shop in New York this month, inviting the public to stop in for a cup of coffee, meet with Fora advisors and attend a variety of special events. The pop-up is located in the city's Soho neighborhood (433 West Broadway) and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Senior editor Jamie Biesiada spoke with Fora CEO and co-founder Henley Vazquez about the idea and its execution. Henley Vazquez Q: Why are you introducing the concept of a pop-up? A: The idea was, how do you take that sort of old-world travel agency, like the corner store where you go in and plan a trip, and bring it into the new world of Fora, being the modern travel agency? And then also bring the experience that we as advisors have, like interacting with our partners and going to these conferences, and bring that out into the world where our advisors can bring their clients in. A person walking by could come in, interact, plan a trip, sort of put that whole thing into a real-life setting, and do it in Soho. It's very much right in the middle of everything. It's sort of wild to see the Fora flag flying over Soho. Q: What kind of space is it? A: It is a retail space, so quite a long loft. Anybody will be able to walk in. There are different sections of the shop set up. There's an area with lots of brochures, very much like that old-school travel agency. You can come in and go through them, look at the different partners. You can shop Assouline travel books, candles, various things that bring that experience of those suppliers into the world. You can pick up a coffee, so we'll have a barista in there. The back is actually dedicated to planning. If you want to come in and browse and actually sit down, it'll be entirely staffed by Fora advisors and you can sit down and plan or brainstorm a trip. Q: Which advisors are staffing that area? A: It is our Pro and X advisors [higher levels within Fora based on booking volume]. We've had a lot of interest. People are actually flying in from around the country in order to work shifts and be there to talk to travelers and tell them more about what it's like to work with an advisor. It's about them, but it's also about the brand and the experience of being a travel advisor and working with a travel advisor overall. Q: Can you tell me more about the supplier side of it, too? A: It's been really fun. I was there yesterday, and I've broken many nails ripping apart boxes — we have boxes and boxes of merch that our partners have sent in. Everything from leaflets and brochures that are inspirational to beautiful hardcover books that will give you inspiration. There's lots of excitement from our suppliers of giving a place where they can showcase, in a retail way, something that doesn't normally get so much visibility. Q: What would the success of this pop-up look like to you? A: Our summer campaign that we are going to be launching is really the whole idea of — and you'll see some ads around Soho saying this — your trip to Montauk won't plan itself, but a Fora advisor will. For us, the success is pushing forward the narrative that travel is happening. You should be doing it with an advisor to travel better. It's a little intangible what success feels like, because it's not like, 'Oh, I want to see the sales go up so much.' It's just, I want people to walk away with more awareness of the brand of our advisors, of what they're doing, and be inspired to go somewhere new.
