For James Redcay and Stephanie Tiboris, music is serious business.

James and Stephanie lead MidAmerica Productions, a performance travel company that Stephanie’s father founded decades ago. They have helped thousands of young musicians perform at Carnegie Hall and other high-profile venues around the world. And they have seen firsthand how staying true to their passion has helped their business grow.

On this episode, James and Stephanie share how their commitment to serious music has been seriously successful. They give insight into how they have scaled their business without compromising on core principles and give insights on how they have built a great travel product by serving a niche audience.” Plus, we have travel news about a rebound in visitation from Canada and a Hot Minute about the way you’re doing travel conferences wrong.

Insights from James and Stephanie

James and Stephanie had lots of insight about how their focus on high-quality musical experiences has helped them build a travel company customers love. Here’s what Stephanie had to say about the importance of operating with excellence:

Our focus is always the music. And we take the responsibility of bringing amateur musicians on the stage of Carnegie Hall and around the world very, very seriously…. When you’re singing in the most famous concert halls in the world, and we’re giving this incredible opportunity. We take it very seriously.

Plus you’ll hear their thoughts on:

  • Why solid relationships are critical to building long-lasting success
  • How they recruit great classical musicians from all over the world
  • Why running a travel business is easier than learning a musical instrument

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Learn more about MidAmerica Productions at midamerica-music.com.

Key Moments from This Episode

1:20 — Travel News: Canadian travel to the U.S. is starting to rebound

3:03 — Meet us on the road this fall

7:48 — How James and Stephanie put performers on stage at Carnegie Hall

9:42 — Where classical music meets tourism

11:56 — Serious travel for serious musicians

16:58 — The power of long-running relationships

24:54 — Building success with a niche travel audience

29:09 — Growing in scale while preserving quality

33:48 — Turning your personal passion into travel success

47:55 — Hot Minute: Are you doing travel conferences wrong?

Watch the Full Interview

See the full interview with James and Stephanie on our YouTube channel.

About the Podcast

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.