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Travel-focused television has a long history of encouraging consumers to get out of bed and travel.
The hosts of those shows, like the late Anthony Bourdain, are often the most recognizable names in the industry and have launched thousands of vacations.
Within the industry, their partnerships run deep, benefiting everyone from travel advisors to suppliers to hospitality staff on the ground. Some have even developed their own travel products.
The current crop of travel show hosts include Samantha Brown, family travel specialist Colleen Kelly and up-and-comer Danella Richards, who works directly with travel agents, a former cruise marketing director.
We spoke to these hosts and producers about those partnerships, what makes their shows special and why public television is a great place for travel TV.
A host from the industry
Richard is uniquely positioned to produce a travel show. In the year She graduated from Southern University with a degree in television in 1995, and spent her first years out of college with a production company in Dallas. But after sending staff and talent around the world but staying home herself, she decided she wanted to travel.
As the Internet expanded, she was hired by an online travel company and spent several years in Europe. She then began a decades-long career in hotels and cruise lines, culminating as director of business marketing and engagement for Holland America Line.
Then the plague hit. She let her team go before she lost her spot.
A friend who started a streaming network asked her if she would return to television, and “Traveling With Denella Richard” was born. The show airs on various ABC, CBS, NBC and CW channels, as well as on the GFNTV and GotRaveler streaming platforms.
“I started the travel show to help me get back on track,” Richard said. “We started during the pandemic. We started the show when nobody was on cruise ships, when planes were grounded, when living in hotels was really bad. And it all started to inspire people to travel the world again.”
She works closely with cruise lines, suppliers and destination management companies, focusing on destinations, particularly cultural issues. Her sponsors are her industry peers with whom she is excited about her new role.
One of her major sponsors is travel agency Magical Vacation Planner, with offices in Orlando and Mitchell, Ind. Richard often asks about her travel schedule, talking to them about planning experiences for her television audience.
She also often hears from other counselors.
“I have a lot of travel consultants who see my shows as a fun learning tool to help them do things and make them stay at the destination for their clients,” she says. “They also ask me to give the printed itinerary to their customers.”
Family travel club
Kelly, host of PBS’s “Family Travel With Colleen Kelly,” recently launched the Colleen Kelly Travel Club. It offers discounted travel rates, facilitated travel on Travel + Leisure.
Colleen Kelly recently launched the Colleen Kelly Travel Club. Source: Colleen Kelly
About 12 years ago, Kelly was a reporter for NBC, working for a local show. With two young daughters, she was looking for content about family travel, but there wasn’t much out there. She decided to create her own show. PBS liked her voice.
“I had so many people, I was mad when I told them I wanted to be a national travel host,” she says. “He just came out of the dream.”
Today, her show is in its eighth season and is watched in more than 94% of the country.
PBS hosts rely on sponsors to fund their shows. This year Kelly is working with the Austrian Tourist Board. Past sponsors include State Farm, CityPass and Law Firm.
Her audience has long wanted to follow her travel programs, but she has not been able to provide travel services. Now, her partnership with Travel + Leisure enables just that. She is working on more detailed itineraries.
Kelly receives a small percentage of what travelers spend. This fall, she plans to go on a media tour to promote her favorite destinations and the club.
From Travel Channel to PBS
A mainstay of travel television in recent decades, Brown moved from the Travel Channel to PBS seven years ago, where his programming today focuses mostly on the paranormal. The move, said her husband Kevin O’Leary, executive producer of Samantha Brown Media, has completely changed the way her show is funded.
The travel channel funded her through ad sales. But at PBS, Brown and O’Leary are responsible for finding their own partners, who get limited airtime before and after the show. (Under PBS, they also own the show, while the Travel Channel owns Brown’s work.)
Samantha Brown, a travel television mainstay in recent decades, moved from the Travel Channel to PBS seven years ago. Source: Samantha Brown
“If you had told me 10 years ago that going into public television would be the most entrepreneurial thing I’ve ever done, I wouldn’t have believed you,” O’Leary said.
But “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love” is made possible with several key industry partnerships. Amwaterways came first, O’Leary said. They were on board before an episode aired and continued as a sponsor. Brown has hosted several cruises with AmaWaterways, and has also designed content for the brand.
She also has a partnership with AAA Travel, talking to inside agents and putting together some public-facing events, and another with Rocky Mountaineer, which also handles Brown trips. Fort Myers, Fla. sponsored the show.
When viewers seek travel advice, O’Leary often refers them to AAA Travel. It also keeps a website updated with details highlighting the products and people featured in the show.
“It costs a lot of money to do these shows, and there are ways we can do them cheaper,” O’Leary said. “We choose to do it the best way, not the cheapest way. The only way we can do that is with the financial support that these sponsors give us. It’s important to us. You know, there are fewer travel shows for a reason. It’s harder to do. It’s more expensive. And the value these sponsors give us is very respectable. It is, and we will do everything we can to support them.
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