Travel Fairness Now Convenes Webinar With Experts and Journalists To Create A Better Travel Experience for Consumers

As part of “Travel Again and Travel Better” effort, consumer group brings thought leaders and consumers together to shape a better travel experience for the future

 

WASHINGTON – July 17, 2020 – Travel Fairness Now, a non-profit coalition of 70,000 travelers advocating for greater transparency, competition and fairness in travel, is hosting its first webinar as part of an effort to influence the creation of a better travel experience for consumers in the future. The webinar will include a discussion with a panel of leading travel experts, journalists and bloggers that will respond to participant questions.

The free webinar, entitled “Travel Again and Travel Better: Creating a Better Travel Experience for The Future,” will be held Wednesday, July 22 from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. EDT. Registration can be completed here.

“COVID-19 is impacting millions, upending our everyday lives and devastating the travel industry, including bringing the health and safety of travelers and industry employees to the forefront of public discussion,” said Kurt Ebenhoch, executive director of Travel Fairness Now. “Despite these headwinds, travel and tourism are in our DNA and many are growing eager to travel again, but in ways that are healthy and safe.”

“We believe that it is time to be asking what the future travel experience will be, or better yet, what should it be?,” Ebenhoch added. “Were consumers satisfied with travel before COVID-19? Were travelers’ needs being met? What are the expectations of consumers in the next era of travel?”

Webinar Panelists

The webinar will include four panelists that are leading travel experts who have conducted and studied consumer research on travel, as well as travel journalists who have interviewed and observed travelers in action. They include:

• Jason Cochran, Editor-in-Chief at Frommers.com
  Jason Cochran’s books include Here Lies America: Buried Agendas and Family Secrets at the Tourist Sights Where Bad History Went Down. His voice has reached millions of travelers, from the mid-1990s, when he wrote one of the world’s first travel blogs, to his familiarity as a commentator on CBS and for AOL, to his work today as editor-in-chief of Frommers.com and co-host (with Pauline Frommer) of the Frommer Travel Show on WABC. A graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Jason was twice awarded Guide Book of the Year by the Lowell Thomas Awards (Society of American Travel Writers) and once by the North American Travel Journalists Association.
  
• Henry Harteveldt, President, Atmosphere Research Group, Travel Industry Analyst and Advisor
  Travel industry advisor, analyst and founder of Atmosphere Research Group, Henry Harteveldt is an airline, hotel and travel industry thought leader focusing on industry strategy, marketing, distribution and digital topics. Prior to becoming an analyst, Henry held various commercial roles at Continental Airlines, Fairmont Hotel Management Company and GetThere, and has been a perennial conference keynoter throughout his days at Forrester Research and Atmosphere Research Group.
  
• William J. McGee, Aviation and Travel Advisor for Consumer Reports Advocacy, Travel Author
  William J. McGee is the Aviation and Travel Adviser for Consumer Reports Advocacy, and the former editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. In 2010, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation chose him as the lone consumer advocate on the Future of Aviation Advisory Committee, and he is regularly called upon to testify before the U.S. Congress and federal agencies as an expert witness on airline safety, aviation security and consumer protection issues. Prior to becoming a journalist, McGee spent nearly seven years in flight operations management and is an FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher. He is the author of the books Attention All Passengers and Half the Child.