41 The Essentials: Split, Croatia

Enjoy this replay of an early-release episode. Whether you have already heard it or not, this is a chance to refresh what you know!With hundreds of resorts across Riviera Maya, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Lori Gold joins Whitney to spotlight the hotels that rise above the noise — from adults-only luxury at Atelier Playa Mujeres and Secrets Playa Blanca, to wellness-focused stays like Palmaïa and the immersive all-inclusive experiences at Hotel Xcaret and Impression Isla Mujeres. This conversation unpacks the differences in dining, spas, beaches, and room layouts, giving you clarity on which Riviera Maya hotels are best suited for each type of traveler.Find links and resources at: https://www.thehive.travel/podcast-posts/the-stay-guide-riviera-mayaExplore More Mexico – Courses, masterclasses, and resources for travel advisors:⁠ exploremoremexico.com ⁠Hotels mentioned in this episode:⁠Atelier Playa Mujeres⁠⁠Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres⁠⁠Palmaïa – The House of AïA⁠⁠Hotel Xcaret México⁠⁠Hotel Xcaret Arte⁠⁠Casa de la Playa⁠

Dubrovnik and Split get most of Croatia’s attention, but Istria, its northern peninsula, sits two to three hours by car from Venice, Ljubljana, and Zagreb. Nataša Elez, COO of Equilibri Travel, shares how to fit the region into itineraries, from a single Rovinj base to four or five nights split between the coast and inland hilltop towns. Highlights include Pula’s first-century Roman amphitheater, the UNESCO-listed Euphrasian Basilica in Poreč, Brijuni National Park, and truffle hunting with a local family. For travel advisors, she covers airport routing, a hotel scene anchored by four-star, boutique, and villa stays, and why boat days here work differently than in Dalmatia.

Enjoy this replay of an early-release episode. Whether you have already heard it or not, this is a chance to refresh what you know!In this episode, dive into all things Lake Como with luxury travel advisor Brittany Pigorini of Unfolded Travels and founder of La Dolce Guida. Gain insider knowledge on what to know before planning Lake Como, including the best times to visit, why logistics and hotel selection are critical, and how to set client expectations around activities, dining, and transportation. From alternatives to crowded Bellagio to uncovering authentic villages and unique experiences, this conversation equips travel advisors with practical tips to match clients with the right Lake Como experience and deliver seamless Italy itineraries.Learn more at: ⁠https://www.thehive.travel/podcast-posts/the-essentials-lake-como⁠Learn more about La Dolce Guida Lake Como Tours -⁠ www.ladolceguida.com⁠Explore Brittany’s travel agency - ⁠Unfolded Travels

Comporta and Melides are often handled as a day trip out of Lisbon, but the two neighboring parishes hold enough to anchor several nights of a Portugal itinerary. Miguel Charters, co-owner of Pa.te.os in Melides, walks through what separates them: Comporta's shops, restaurants and larger crowds against the fisherman's village pace of Melides, its cork and pine hills, and its ceramics studios. He covers the 65 kilometers of uninterrupted sand running from Troia down to Sines, why a rental car changes the shape of the trip, and the case for placing this region at the end of a Portugal itinerary rather than the start. Travel advisors also get the seasonal read, including what opens up between November and March.

Split is often treated as a quick arrival or departure point, but Željana Boban Klarić, general manager of Dinaric Adventures, makes the case for building a Croatia itinerary around it. Born and raised in the city, she walks travel advisors through the logistics, from the new seasonal United nonstop between New York and Split to why shoulder season opens up lavender workshops and family visits on Hvar. She maps activities across the Cetina River canyon, biking out of Stari Grad, and Diocletian's Palace, and explains how to divide ten days across Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik. She also introduces Dinaric's new short yacht charters and how the pricing works beyond the base rate.

Provence is often treated as one destination, but the geography tells a different story. Avignon to Nice is over two hours by car, and clients who want both the lavender country and the Côte d'Azur need a split stay, not a single base. Ece Armanet, Head of Marketing at Découvertes DMC France and a resident of Aix-en-Provence, walks travel advisors through how to structure it by zone: wine touring in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, full days in the Luberon, and matching clients to Nice, Cannes, Saint-Tropez, or Monaco by what they are actually after. She also pins the lavender window at late May through mid-July, the one detail that locks the season before everything else can fall into place.

Maui is the island every client seems to want and one of the hardest for travel advisors to advise on with confidence without having visited. Erica and Jordan Fromholz, co-founders of The Hawaii Vacation Guide, spent years living in both Oahu and Lahaina and bring ground-level intel that research alone rarely surfaces. They cover the three Cs framework (clouds, crowds, and costs) for timing client trips, lay out the specific tours to book for Molokini Crater and the Road to Hana, and explain what separates Kaanapali from Wailea in terms travel advisors can actually use. The episode closes with how their newsletter, YouTube channel, and island itinerary guides can work directly into an advisor's Maui toolkit.

Lecce, Salento, Matera, and Bari represent the less-traveled side of Puglia, and for travel advisors, they hold some of the region's most compelling itinerary-building material. From the baroque hilltop streets of Lecce and the wild coastal towns of Salento, to the UNESCO cave city of Matera and the newly internationally connected hub of Bari, this part of the region rewards clients who want to go deeper. Elisa De Pascalis, Sales Manager at Southern Visions, a destination management company specializing in southern Italy, returns for Part 2 of an in-depth Puglia conversation. She shares how to position each area to clients, what factors shape the decision to stay overnight versus visit as a day trip, where logistical details like airports and ferries open up creative multi-destination itineraries, and what hidden gems across the region most advisors haven't yet heard of.Travel advisors will come away with a stronger sense of how to structure a longer Puglia itinerary, how to guide client conversations around mobility, heat, and pacing, and how to make a compelling case for clients to slow down and stay longer.

The Itria Valley and the seaside towns of Puglia offer Travel Advisors one of southern Italy's most textured and least-understood destination stories, where centuries-old masserias, trulli architecture, clifftop coastal towns, and a growing luxury property scene come together in a region that rewards more context than most clients arrive with. Elisa De Pascalis, Sales Manager at Southern Visions, a DMC rooted in southern Italy with deep expertise across Puglia, grew up in Lecce, returned to the region in 2017, and has spent years designing itineraries for Travel Advisors. She walks through how clients can get there, how to approach the inland versus coastal accommodation decision, what seasons serve which travel styles, and what experiences make Puglia genuinely hard to forget. She also shares how Southern Visions' dedicated biking division and vintage Fiat 500 touring program give Travel Advisors experiential angles most competitors cannot offer. Travel Advisors will come away with sharper language for positioning Puglia, practical tools for managing accommodation and logistics expectations, and stronger itinerary thinking for clients who are ready to discover southern Italy beyond the familiar. Part two drops next week and covers Lecce, Salento, Matera, and Bari.

Western Sicily and the Agrigento area offer travel advisors a more layered and less traveled way to position Sicily for clients who want something beyond the island's well-known eastern circuit. The Trapani area's salt ponds, Arab-influenced towns, medieval hilltop villages, and coastal archaeological sites pair naturally with Agrigento's slower tempo, deep Greek heritage, and access to genuine rural experiences that are difficult to replicate elsewhere on the island. Dario Piparo, co-founder of Essence of Sicily, a boutique destination management company based in Agrigento, brings eight generations of roots on the island and a deeply personal understanding of its western and southern regions to the conversation. He walks through what makes Western Sicily distinct from the rest of the island, how to frame it for first-time versus returning visitors, how to structure itineraries that span both the Trapani area and Agrigento, what the growing hospitality landscape looks like and how to set client expectations accordingly, what activity options exist for more active travelers, and how to build a client brief that allows a DMC partner to produce something truly personalized. Travel advisors will come away with a stronger framework for positioning this region, practical language for managing expectations, and a clearer picture of how Western Sicily and Agrigento can elevate an Italy itinerary in a way few destinations can.