The Travel Weekly Luxury Roadshow is just days away and we have a wide range of partners presenting with some fantastic prizes to win at all three events taking place in Melbourne on 3 March, Brisbane 4 March and Sydney 5 March.
Inside Travel ANZ Trade Partnerships Manager, Shane Voss, is one of our esteemed supporters and offers some insight into what he will be presenting at all three exciting events.
You’ve recently refreshed the Inside Travel Group brand with a new logo and look under the “People Make It” positioning — how does this visual and strategic update reflect your evolving product focus for luxury and experiential travel this coming season?
While our look continues to evolve, what’s truly driving our direction this season mirrors what travellers are increasingly seeking: meaningful, human-centred experiences that go beneath the surface.
Our product focus for 2026 puts the emphasis on elevated cultural adventures – slower pacing, specialist-led encounters and access to places most travellers never reach.
For us, luxury is about more than just comfort – it’s about depth, authenticity and the feeling of being genuinely looked after by people who know a destination inside out. This ethos is shaping everything from our new small-group tours to our most personalised tailor-made journeys across Japan and Asia.
The Agent Insider Programme has been a major incentive this year with prizes and complimentary small-group tour places. What enhancements or new elements can advisors expect in 2026/2027 that will help them engage clients and elevate bookings?
After the amazing response to last year’s first-ever incentive, we’re thrilled to keep the momentum going. Our trade partners are such a big part of what we do, and we want to continue offering opportunities for them to experience an Inside Travel cultural adventure firsthand. The 2026 incentive launched alongside the new Inside Travel Agent Hub. To enter, agents simply need to attend at least one agent-focused webinar and make a minimum of one booking before the end of 2026.
In addition to the major prize, Inside Travel is once again offering 10 complimentary places for agents on any InsideJapan or InsideAsia small group tour to Japan or Korea.
Small Group Tours are more popular than ever and we’re challenging agents to book seven passengers for a spot on one of our tours, or ten passengers to secure a place for themselves and a plus one.
This incentive is about deepening our partnership with agents and giving them the chance to better understand what their customers experience – immersive cultural adventures delivered with the care and personal touch we’re known for.
Small Group Tours are increasingly popular. Are there any new luxury-level, exclusive or themed small group departures you’re launching (especially in Japan or Korea) for the upcoming season that advisors should be promoting to experience-oriented travellers?
Small Group Tours have always been our way of delivering rich cultural immersion with the ease of a hosted trip – and we’re now layering in more elevated and niche experiences for travellers who want to get off the beaten track.
We’ve recently launched our 14-night Insider-led ‘Luxury Japan’ tour across six different destinations such as Tokyo and Kyoto, but it also includes stays in some under-visited, culturally rich places without the tourists across Japan. This tour is about the luxury of cultural experience, beautiful accommodation, and incredible places that people just don’t know about.
Similarly in South Korea, we are set to launch a new premium small group tour that includes a variety of lesser-known destinations making it perfect for first-time and return visitors. From meeting with pottery masters to fermented tea making and the chance to learn the art of indigo dyeing – this tour will combine hands on experiences with a slice of local life.
More information on these new tours will be available on our Trade Hub, with more still to come.
Japan remains a core pillar of your specialist offering – with overtourism and seasonality becoming important considerations, what new products, regions or pricing strategies have you introduced to diversify where and when clients travel within Japan?
At Inside Travel, our approach to overtourism isn’t about avoiding destinations altogether but redistributing tourism more thoughtfully. In Japan, for example, we’ve actively shifted focus away from the usual hotspots and towards five under-visited regions: Toyama, Nagoya (including Inuyama), Nagasaki, Aomori and Yamaguchi – places that want more visitors and have the infrastructure to support them.
The results so far have been tangible. In 2025, we sent travellers to more than 200 destinations across Japan, doubled room nights in under-tourism regions to 1,000, and increased room nights in Toyama alone by 870 per cent, reaching 250 nights.
This approach works because it aligns everyone’s interests. Local communities benefit from sustainable economic activity, travellers gain more authentic and meaningful experiences, and pressure is eased on overburdened destinations. Our aim is to send travellers to places that genuinely welcome them, improving the quality of travel while helping revitalise local economies.
This strategy doesn’t stop with Japan. We’re expanding off-radar experiences in Aomori and Yamaguchi in 2026 and exploring similar under-tourism approaches in countries such as South Korea and Thailand. Looking ahead, we plan to double under-tourism room nights again in 2026 and launch new small-group and self-guided cultural adventures across Asia, proving that better-balanced tourism isn’t just possible, it’s better for everyone.
Beyond Japan, how is the InsideAsia portfolio evolving this season – are there fresh destination additions, unique cultural experiences, or tailored high-end itineraries in Southeast Asia and South Korea that advisors should be ready to showcase?
InsideAsia is growing in a way that stays true to our roots: offering deeply personalised cultural adventures, built around people and genuine local connection.
Across Southeast Asia and South Korea, we’re expanding and refining high-end itineraries that balance iconic highlights with the kind of thoughtful, locally led experiences that advisors can really differentiate on. Think time with specialist guides, hands-on workshops with artisans, market-to-table food experiences, and stays in smaller, characterful properties with a strong sense of place.
We’re also investing heavily in product knowledge and training for our partners, so advisors feel as confident selling Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos or Korea as they do Japan.
We have some exciting new destinations that will be added to our portfolio this year – stay tuned for more.
