Emerging Destinations

What Emerging Destinations does

Emerging Destinations is a privately-held B2B travel representation firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, founded around 2009 by Jane Behrend (President and Founder). The company acts as the outsourced North American sales and marketing arm for travel companies worldwide—including lodges, tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs), and emerging destinations—that lack their own in-market presence. Its core offering is a suite of professional services: in-person and virtual sales calls with travel advisors, FAM (familiarization) trip coordination, trade show representation, industry training, webinars, and email newsletters distributed to a database of more than 32,000 North American travel trade professionals built over approximately 16 years of operation.

The firm operates with a small team of 1–10 employees and does not disclose a proprietary technology platform; its value proposition rests on relationship network depth, brand credibility from selective curation, and the curated partner portfolio. Revenue is generated via professional-services fees paid by partner travel companies, with pricing negotiated on a per-engagement basis and no public pricing model disclosed. Named partners include Minor Hotels and Anantara Africa (luxury safari), Tomorrow Travel (Italian DMC), Vio Travel, and La Yegua Loca (adventure travel), spanning Africa, Europe, and broader adventure/cultural categories.

Emerging Destinations has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and no identified acquirer or institutional investor. The company's growth mechanics are limited to incremental partner onboarding across new origin geographies and verticals; the source data shows no signals of M&A activity, technology investment, hiring momentum, or leadership change that would suggest a scaling inflection. There is a minor data conflict on founding year (firmographics cite 1990 while company history references ~16 years from 2025, implying 2009); the more specific first-party claim of ~16 years is used as the working estimate.

Name

Emerging Destinations

Legal name

Emerging Destinations

Website

https://emergingdestinations.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Emerging Destinations is a privately-held, Atlanta-based B2B travel representation firm that acts as the outsourced North American sales and marketing arm for international travel companies, connecting them with a 32,000+ travel-advisor database via FAM trips, trade shows, webinars, and direct sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Trade Representation Services

NAICS

Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers (4251)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Destination & Activity Wholesalers (Attractions, Tours & Ticket Inventory) (THAKAJAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

White-Label Travel Supply Providers (B2B2C Inventory & Packaging) (THAKAJAJ)

Keywords

• Travel trade representation
• Hotel sales marketing
• International destination representation
• Travel advisor outreach
• Tourism public relations

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Sales and Marketing Representation Services: Emerging Destinations generates revenue by providing dedicated sales and marketing representation services to travel companies (lodges, tour operators, destinations, and DMCs). They act as the North American sales team for their partners, charging for services that include sales calls, trade show representation, FAM trip coordination, industry training, and webinar facilitation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Emerging Destinations delivers outsourced sales and marketing representation services to international hotels, resorts, and destination management companies seeking to penetrate the North American travel trade market. The firm acts as the in-market sales arm for its clients, cultivating relationships with travel advisors, executing marketing campaigns, and coordinating trade show participation on their behalf. It operates from Atlanta, Georgia and serves a roster of international hospitality brands including Minor Hotels and Anantara Africa.

Product overview

Emerging Destinations operates as a unified representation platform for travel companies and destinations worldwide, connecting them with North American travel advisors. The core offering is sales and marketing representation services, which encompasses several service modules: sales calls, FAM trips, trade show representation, webinars and online training, industry training, and newsletters and marketing. The company represents a portfolio of partner brands across categories including Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, adventure, luxury, wildlife and safari, culture and history, beach and coastal, family travel, wellness and retreats, romantic getaways, student travel, and custom tours/DMC services. Key represented partners include Minor Hotels and Anantara Africa, Tomorrow Travel – Italian DMC, Vio Travel, and La Yegua Loca.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• North American Travel Trade Representation Ongoing outsourced sales representation in which Emerging Destinations acts as the in-market sales arm for international hospitality clients (hotels, resorts, DMCs) seeking bookings from North American travel advisors. The service includes relationship cultivation with travel advisors, ongoing lead generation, and account management for represented properties.
• Travel Trade Marketing and PR Campaigns Design and execution of marketing campaigns, public relations outreach, and trade media communications for international hotel and resort clients seeking visibility among North American travel advisors and trade publications.
• Trade Show and Industry Event Representation Coordination of client participation, booth representation, and appointment scheduling at major North American travel trade shows and industry events such as IPW, ILTM, and luxury travel showcases for international hospitality clients.
• Travel Advisor Database Outreach Targeted email and direct outreach to the firm's proprietary database of more than 32,000 North American travel trade professionals on behalf of represented international hotel and resort clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of new bed nights generated for partners
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Minor Hotels and Anantara AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMinor Hotels and Anantara Africa partners with Emerging Destinations for North American sales and marketing representation. The partnership covers luxury safari experiences and hospitality properties across Africa, with Anantara representing Minor Hotels' African portfolio of high-end properties.
• Tomorrow Travel – Italian DMCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTomorrow Travel, an Italian Destination Management Company, partners with Emerging Destinations to represent their Italian travel experiences in the North American market, offering cultural tours and DMC services in Italy.
• Vio TravelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVio Travel partners with Emerging Destinations for North American market representation, offering unique travel experiences and adventure tours.
• La Yegua LocacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLa Yegua Loca partners with Emerging Destinations for North American sales and marketing representation, offering adventure travel experiences.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Brandman Agency: Travel, tourism, and hospitality PR and marketing firm providing representation services to destinations and travel brands — closely comparable trade-representation model.
• Hills Balfour: Travel and tourism PR/marketing agency representing destinations and travel brands in core markets; directly comparable as a destination-representation firm targeting the trade and consumer press.
• Cheryl Andrews Marketing: Travel and tourism marketing/representation agency specializing in promoting destinations and travel brands to the North American trade — same niche, same customer base, similar boutique structure.
• VoX International: Boutique tourism marketing and PR firm providing North American market representation for international destinations, hotels, and tour operators — directly comparable business model and customer base to Emerging Destinations.

Broad incumbents

• Virtuoso: Luxury travel network of advisors and suppliers; comparable as a curated marketplace of advisors, but operates as a consortium rather than a rep firm — increasingly a substitute for boutique representation.
• MMGY Global: Large integrated travel and hospitality marketing firm offering advertising, PR, and trade representation; overlaps with Emerging Destinations' trade-representation function but operates at much greater scale and breadth.
• Kensington Tours: Custom luxury tour operator with in-house destination expertise and direct advisor relationships; represents the in-house alternative to using a representation firm like Emerging Destinations.
• Northstar Travel Group: Travel media, events, and marketing services company operating trade shows and publications; serves many of the same trade customers and offers adjacent representation/marketing capabilities.

Emerging players

• Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA): Industry association connecting adventure travel operators with the global trade; partial overlap with Emerging Destinations' adventure/wildlife focus and trade-education mission.

Others

• Questex Travel Group: B2B travel events and media operator (including trade shows); adjacent rather than directly competitive, but its events serve the same travel trade audience Emerging Destinations targets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/emergdest
• Facebookfacebook.com/emergdest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/emerging-destinations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Emerging Destinations