Speaker Biography      

Arnie Weissmann,

Editor in chief, Travel Weekly

Arnie Weissmann is editor in chief of Travel Weekly, the trusted source of news, research, analysis and opinion for the U.S. travel industry. He also serves as executive vice president/editorial director for its parent company, Northstar Travel Group, the largest business-to-business travel media company in the world, serving audiences in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Weissmann’s involvement with travel journalism began in consumer media, publishing articles in dozens of national outlets, from the Washington Post to the LA Times. He entered business-to-business publishing after he launched the travel industry's first destination information service, Weissmann Travel Reports, providing frequently updated, unbiased profiles of every country in the world. (It has since been incorporated into Northstar product Travel42.) He also authored a best-selling geography textbook and served as publisher of critical hotel and destination guides for the travel industry in the U.S. and U.K.

Weissmann was a web pioneer, creating the first core destination content for America Online, as well as AT&T’s corporate travel website. His company also licensed content to Apple, Time, Inc., CNN and Marriott International, among others. After selling his company to Reed Elsevier, he was named group publisher for Star Service (critical hotel and cruise reviews), Official Hotel Guide Worldwide and a dozen OAG-branded publications in the UK.

In 1999, he took on the role of senior advisor for business development for Northstar Travel Group, and was appointed editor in chief of Travel Weekly in October 2001.

Weissmann has twice been recognized as ASTA “Journalist of the Year.” He is seen regularly on PBS as a contributor to the television program “The Travel Detective.” His commentary has appeared on CBS, NBC, CNN, BBC and Sky News television, as well as NPR, SiriusXM, Armed Forces Network and Monocle radio. He has been quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among other publications. Weissmann is on the board of the non-profit Tourism Cares and has been a repeat guest lecturer at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.