Day 1 of Travel DAZE 2025 has opened in Cairns with a host of insightful and informative speakers covering everything from the president of Palau and his take on sustainable tourism to luxury branding and sparking peoples’ travel dreams.
Kerrie McCallum, Head of Travel, Food, and Health at News Corp, opened the conference with her presentation Borrowed Brilliance: The lessons we can learn from other categories.
McCallum discussed the evolving nature of travel, emphasising its emotional and personal significance and highlighted the sometimes overwhelming decision-making process faced by travellers, noting that 95 per of purchasing decisions are subconscious and driven by emotion.
“As travel becomes more meaningful, planning it has become more overwhelming, a sea of sameness, a flood of content, too many options, too little clarity,” she said. “On average, we plan for 38 days, reading 141 pages of content and spending around 300 minutes reviewing that travel content.
“In this cluttered space, simplicity is your superpower, and tapping into your consumers passions is your magic trick in making everything else melt away.”
McCallum stressed the importance of simplicity and tapping into consumer passions to cut through the clutter. She also explored the concept of “borrowed brilliance,” drawing insights from other industries like fashion and wellness to enhance travel experiences.
“Consumers don’t think in categories, so neither should we,” she said. “We’re seeing a powerful diffusion between luxury food, sport and wellbeing, each one unlocking deeper levels of connection and inspiration.
“Culinary and wellbeing experiences are increasingly shaping luxury lifestyle and travel.”
Luxury was a hot-button topic in McCallum’s presentation too.
“While luxury travel is one of the most innovative and exciting categories emerging in trouble, the flipside is that luxury, or the word luxury, has become ubiquitous,” she said. “In fact, it’s probably overused, which can devalue what it means. Luxury is multifaceted and transcends material goods. It applies to moments, emotions and experiences. For me, true luxury is embodied start to finish in how a consumer interacts with the brand.”
Sport brands have become masters at building belonging, McCallum said with Nike cultivate a runners culture, Formula One going from motor sport to a full-blown travel and entertainment destination and energy drink, Red Bull, being synonymous with extreme sports and young, adventurous communities.
Travel brands too can build journeys, she said, to create memories that last.
“For instance, you can take inspiration from tasting notes or drink flights and build itineraries that have chapters. Imagine if your brand has a scent a hotel with a signature room spray, for example, it makes sense.
“Olfactory memories are more powerful and vivid than memories triggered by other senses, and consider how sound and tempo can match a trick. Make it fast and energising for adventure, and slow it down and make an ambient for wellness.”
The discussion concluded with strategies for creating deeper, more meaningful travel connections.
“Meet audiences where their passions lie, food, sport, wellness, design, wherever they’re dreaming,” she said. “We should be there too.
“Remember that travel doesn’t live in a silo. People dream about it while reading about food, watching sport, scrolling wellness tips or admiring beautiful design.
“Travel dreams are sparked everywhere, not just in travel sections… it’s about speaking their language.
In 2025 travel is no longer just about getting away. It’s about getting closer to who we are and who we want to be. So let’s help people get there meaningfully, simply and together.”
