Driven by a deep-seated love for exploration, Jason Gordon has become a highly respected voice in the travel world and the cruise industry. As a regular contributor to UPTOWN Magazine, Costco Travel and Cruise Critic, he shares his expert insights into travel — we loved his recent piece on Hamilton County, IN, which spotlighted the destination’s Black heritage, flavorful cuisine and outdoor adventure offerings. A true multi-hyphenate, Jason is also executive producer of the UPTOWN-partnered luxury and adventure travel series andiamo! UPTOWN with Donna Perkins. TURNER caught up with Jason recently to pick his brain about a variety of topics.
How did you turn your passion for travel into a career?
It’s interesting, many years ago when I worked at a local station here in Los Angeles, I made considerable efforts to shift from news to the station’s local public interest local series which had a bit of travel bend to it. The station’s VP of Programming at the time performed the whole “shine you on” bit — which got old with me pretty quick. Since travel was in my DNA (my parents and I traveled a lot throughout my childhood and beyond), I was determined to make creating travel content a reality — and on my terms. So I started an independent production company and produced several travel & lifestyle series, which were self-distributed to local stations & targeted networks. From there, travel writing came into the picture as a result of a partnership that started with Travelocity and things really began to snowball from there. So basically, if it hadn’t been for that VP of Programming being shortsighted, I wouldn’t be chatting with you now.
How do you see issues of diversity and inclusion impacting the travel industry? What progress would you like to see in the future?
In the 80’s, 90’s and onward, travel content and messaging was largely spoken from a perspective that didn’t reflect persons of color who traveled. I mean, travel entities were very happy to take money irrespective to ethnicity, but there was ZERO-to-lackluster efforts as it pertained to ethnic representation in destination marketing and storytelling. For years (starting in the late-90’s), the only ethnically diverse person who made a considerable dent in the lifestyle, food & travel media spaces was B. Smith through her popular “B. Smith with Style” TV series and her “B. Smith Style” magazine.
After B. Smith’s series set the foundation, other series including ethnically diverse travel experts came onto the scene and made a huge impact to educate and inspire persons of color to travel — namely, Donna Perkins (andiamo! UPTOWN), Veronica Castro (LatinEyes) and more. These individuals made an indelible mark telling travel stories, which made a considerable impact with dollars spent by persons of color as it relates to travel. That said, the impact of diversity and inclusion has proven to be a net positive. However, given the current political climate and related culture wars, one can’t help but wonder if US media outlets (of all genres) will continue to cower and cave with the mindset that ethnically diverse credible authors in travel don’t matter and that only one ethnicity can “tell a travel story for everyone.”
Since you regularly cover the industry — how has the cruise world changed in the post-pandemic landscape? What kinds of trends are you seeing coming up in the next few years?
Cruising has changed for the better post-pandemic. Most cruise lines have streamlined the mustering process — which is quite welcome so guests can enjoy more of their vacations. Additionally, there’s a conscious effort with all major cruise lines to minimize stomach viruses. As you may recall, even hand sanitizing stations didn’t exist on cruise ships before the pandemic — now they’re everywhere (which is a blessing).
Some trends that are gradually catching on are eliminating tactile menus in exchange for tablets (Norwegian Cruise Line has deployed this on many of their newer ships which have a “Food Republic” dining hall). Additionally, new on-board wearable tracking technologies are helpful for food & drink deliveries throughout ships, well as unlocking stateroom doors as guests approach (Princess is currently utilizing this tech that’s branded as “MedallionClass”). And facial recognition technologies are being enhanced for a host of customer-focused and security purposes. However, I think with all of the new ship goodness coming to Disney Cruise Line, we’ll likely see technologies that will completely revolutionize the guest experience for generations to come. Why? Disney Imagineers are always on the lookout to wow and amaze, so definitely watch this space.
What do you feel like the purpose of travel writing is? What should it offer readers?
The purpose of travel writing is to educate and provide destination insight from an independent voice. To be frank, travel marketers know how to make things glossy and perfect for ads. But as we all know, such high polish and great lighting in a promotional video or photos rarely translates to the actual experience of a paying travelers. Objective and mindful travel writers speak from a place of truth and as such, help travelers make informed decisions about the destinations which pique reader interests. As I have said for years: “Prior to commencing a journey, travel is a faith-based business.” Painting an accurate picture of a firsthand destination experience leads to credibility for the writer as well as repeat and preferred business for the destination and its partners.
What kinds of stories are you excited to tell in the months/years ahead? What kinds of stories are you tired of?
I’m looking forward to telling more stories about destinations I haven’t visited, new cruises, luxury & spa resorts, new business & first-class airline cabins / suites, as well as supersonic flights. Personally, I’m tired of seeing cheap production values on YouTube travel videos as well as listening to, and reading stories about, someone complaining about aspects of travel where they’ve been inconvenienced. It’s annoying.
What’s inspiring you to keep doing what you’re doing in 2025?
Good question: Experiencing new and exciting destinations which I haven’t visited as of yet.
As PR people, what can TURNER do better? Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to working with PR, hotels or destinations? Feel free to get specific!
While none of following are issues that I’ve experienced with TURNER or a couple of other agencies, PR teams could do a better job being more open to writers or creators who are persons of color, LGBTQ+, more mature in age, etc. I have witnessed COUNTLESS times where established writers and creators are passed over for participation in well-curated & luxury media trips for someone who has little to no audience (their only “redeeming value” is that they may look like a model and photograph well — and I’m not sure how the ROI is calculated there). Also, some PR teams tend to jam group press trip itineraries too tight with elements that are not relevant to members of the traveling group (which tends to cause for unneeded frustration. Perhaps, split the group in two in those sorts of scenarios? One major thing that annoys me is the whole “hit the ground running” as soon as media arrives in a destination — and excursions going late into the evening, with early morning call times the next day.
Tyler Wilcox : September 27, 2024
