The New York Times Travel Show

The New York Times Travel Show is an opportunity to meet other travelers, speak to industry people from destinations you may or may not be interested in as well as attend seminars and meet travel celebrities. It’s always held within the first few months of the year, and you can buy tickets the day of the event. The fact that a new subway station opened across the street from the Javits Center in September 2015 makes it more convenient than ever for people to attend.

2017

With more than 30,000 attendees, the 2017 New York Times Travel Show boasted the highest attendance in its 14-year history. 560 companies representing more than 170 countries also set a show record.

Getting the Most Out of Your Time

If you plan to attend seminars, a two-day pass is preferable. Seminars can take up the better part of a day, leaving little time to explore the floor. The cost to add a day to your pass is minimal and having an extra day reduces the likelihood of missing important seminars, booths, etc.

There’s a bookstore adjacent to the seminar rooms. For book signings, it’s best to stay in the back of the line. Authors don’t leave until everyone has gone, so by letting everyone else rush through, you may get a few extra minutes to ask that question that’s been puzzling you since took your first international trip.

Saturday Travel Seminars

Saturday’s speakers included travel show regulars like Pauline Frommer, Peter Greenberg, Rudy Maxa, and Ralph Velasco. There were also niche-focused seminars on festivals and markets, photography, safaris, wellness travel, and more.

Although he used to live uptown and still considers himself an east coast guy, Rudy Maxa‘s appearance at the 2017 New York Times Travel Show was his first. He was joined on stage by Mary and Robert Carey who offered thought-provoking observations like millennials and their desire to have things done for them being largely responsible for the resurgence of travel agents. All agreed that 57 days out is the ideal time to purchase an airline ticket and medical evacuation insurance is a must when traveling overseas.

Barbara Ireland and Valarie D’Elia spoke about the 36 Hours travel column from the New York Times as well as the book. The Bronx and Staten Island are conspicuously absent in the book, but Ireland offered advice on taming New York City: break it into pieces. Larger cities like New York and London are, in fact, best appreciated as a series of neighborhoods.

Festivals and Markets was one of the niche-oriented presentations. York, Pennsylvania-native, and author, Marjorie R. Williams, refers to markets as “windows into the soul of a place.” Former statistics professor, Steve Solosky took an early retirement to lead small group tours to Europe. Solosky insists that the real Christmas takes place in the markets. Many attendees were stunned to find out hat Vienna alone has 40 different Christmas markets. Author and foodie, Lisa Vogele, spoke about her festival experiences, mostly in Italy.

Sunday Travel Seminars

Frommer and Velasco spoke again on Sunday, which also featured Patricia Schultz (author of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die), Mickela Mallozzi (travelbarefeet.com), Max Hartshorne, and Paul Shoul (of GoNOMAD.com).

GoNOMAD Editor, Max Hartshorne offered practical tips like use old posts to populate your Twitter feed and avoid overused terms like “amazing” and “very.” He uses a separate notebook for each trip. He now has more than 100. Photographer Paul Shoul spoke along with a slideshow of pictures he’s taken from around the world. He’s a Canon advocate who shoots with two cameras and was upfront about the effect that has had on his back. Many audience members gasped during the Q and A when Shoul told the audience that he sometimes spends up to two hours per photo in Lightroom and Photoshop.

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This post was sponsored by the New York Times Travel Show. Read my review of the 2018 New York Times Travel Show here.