What’s the secret behind Secret Food Tours — one of the fastest-growing culinary experience brands in the world? Co-founders Oliver Mernick-Levene and Nico Jacquart join The Best Part of Travel co-hosts Janelle Visser and Stephen Joyce to share how they scaled from one city to over 100, all while keeping each experience personal, local, and delicious.

They open up about building their own tech, staying cautious about AI, and their two-pronged approach of organic growth and acquisition. Plus: their favorite food stories (yes, that's where the sea urchin comes in), and the secret to getting 50,000 five-star reviews.

🎧 Listen/watch for:

• 🍴 The origin story — from a London pub to a global food tour brand
• 🌍 How they plan to launch 30+ new cities every year
• 🤖 Data, AI, and the limits of automation in experiential travel
• 🫶 Keeping the personal, local flavor while going global
• 💬 Their secret to collecting thousands of five-star reviews
• 👥 How co-founders balance each other in growth and decision-making
• 🥧 Why culinary tourism’s “pie” is getting bigger for everyone

See also:

👉Arival research on the fastest-growing experiences categories (including food tours!)

👉What to Expect When You're Expecting... to Buy or Sell

👉Secret Food Tours has an Appetite for Acquisitions

👉Try Haggis for yourself with Secret Food Tours Edinburgh

The Best Part of Travel podcast is brought to you by Arival. Season Two is sponsored by Protect Group.

Can tour operators grow without relying on OTAs? In this episode of The Best Part of Travel podcast, we explore how private tours and personalized experiences are reshaping the future of travel. Context Travel’s CEO June Chin shares why private, personalized experiences are the key to long-term growth and loyal customers.

Discover:

✅ Why personalization is becoming the competitive edge in travel

✅ How private tours build loyalty and repeat bookings

✅ Why and how the company has avoided distribution through major OTAs (and what they do instead)

✅ Finding the balance between agency partnerships, direct sales, and digital channels

✅ How AI is reshaping search, discovery, and operations—and what “AEO” means for operators

✅ Context’s vision for scaling from 100,000 to 1 million travelers annually by 2030

✅ How Context is seeing triple-digit growth in Japan

✅ The importance of expert guides to maintain high quality experiences

If you’re looking to future-proof your business, this episode offers actionable insights into how personalized travel and direct connections with your customers can fuel sustainable growth.

See also:

👉 Arival research on the rise of the private tour taker

👉Arival research on the 2025 Experiences Traveler

👉 June Chin on the Private Tours, Big Profits panel at Arival 360 | Washington, DC

👉 How generative AI is revolutionizing Travel

👉 Distribution strategy with Arival

People are choosing experiences over things — but what happens when even experiences risk becoming commodities? In this episode of the Best Part of Travel podcast, Joe Pine, co-author of The Experience Economy and author of the forthcoming book on The Transformation Economy, joins hosts Janelle Visser and Stephen Joyce to talk about experience design, commoditization, and how tour and activity operators can design experiences that are not just memorable, but life changing.

Key topics include:

• The economic evolution from commodities to goods and services to experiences… to what’s next.

• How travel brands can encourage repeat business by offering experiences focused on personal transformation.

• Commoditization, differentiation and standing out in a “sea of same.”

• What it takes to design travel experiences that are not only memorable, but meaningful — and even transformational.

• The upcoming Arival 360 conference in Washington, D.C.

If you’re in the business of experiences, this conversation will challenge how you think about travel, guests, and the future of the industry.

👉 Resources & Links:

• Escaping the Tour Commoditization Trap: https://arival.travel/article/escaping-the-tour-commoditization-trap/

• The Experience Economy by Joe Pine and James Gilmour: https://www.amazon.ca/Experience-Economy-New-Preface-Authors/dp/1633697975/

• The Transformation Economy book by Joe Pine (forthcoming): https://www.amazon.ca/Transformation-Economy-Guiding-Customers-Aspirations/dp/B0DS4649VL

• Arival 360 | Washington DC and the Executive Summit: https://arival.travel/event/2025-washington-dc/ , https://arival.travel/event/2025-washington-dc-exec-summit/

The Best Part of Travel podcast is brought to you by Arival. Season Two is sponsored by Protect Group.