Overall, the goal should be to create a more pleasant, enjoyable travel experience that meets the needs and expectations of passengers, while also allowing the airline industry to be financially successful.


As part of my series about “developments in the travel industry over the next five years”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bryan Mullennix of FeelingVegas.

Bryan Mullennix is the creator of FeelingVegas.com, a website dedicated to helping travelers plan and prepare for a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. A Vegas visit, whether for business or pleasure, requires some foreknowledge in order to make the most of a visitor’s time in the city. To that end, FeelingVegas is the number one destination for answers to everyone’s burning questions about traveling to Las Vegas.


Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Thank you for having me! I’ve spent the majority of my career as a travel photographer living in the Pacific Northwest. In 2016 my wife and I decided our family needed a change of scenery and to get out of the rain, so on a whim, we sold the house, bought a motorhome, and spent the next year traveling across the U.S.

We eventually decided it would be fun to live in Las Vegas, and here we are. We started FeelingVegas so we could explore our world-famous city while sharing what we learn with the millions of travelers who visit Las Vegas each year.

Can you share an interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Every day is an interesting day in Las Vegas. The city is full of characters, and that includes the locals as well as the tourists. Add some adult beverages to the mix and weird stuff happens.

The other night my brother-in-law Brett and I were hanging out in downtown Las Vegas on Fremont St. taking some pictures when a guy approached us and began talking to Brett in a very animated manner. He wasn’t paying any attention to me so I ignored the conversation and kept taking photos.

Turns out the guy’s topic of conversation was completely about how much he liked MY beard. He went on for several minutes only talking about my beard to Brett while paying me no attention whatsoever.

It was a harmless, funny, and weird interaction that in hindsight wasn’t all that uncommon on the streets of Las Vegas.

Which tips would you recommend to your industry colleagues to help them thrive and not “burn out”?

Burnout can be a real obstacle in any business, especially during the early startup and growth stages. I tend to work too much. When you’re doing something you love, it is easy to forget to take time for yourself to just enjoy and have fun.

It’s taken me a while to come to this realization, but I’ve found if I balance my work efforts with some time letting go, things work out better overall, and I’m more productive when I’m back to focusing on a work project.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

Without a doubt, that person would be my wife, Wendy.

I willingly acknowledge the fact that I have a terrible sense of direction (which probably isn’t the best trait for a travel photographer to have), but I always know where I want to be. Wendy loves to travel and is a great travel partner. More importantly, she has an excellent sense of direction and she always gets me where I want to go.

As an example, one time we were driving down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles at night in our big truck camper. It was crazy busy, and there was no place to park, so she dropped me off and kept driving around the block to give me time to grab some photos. About ten minutes later, I turn around, and there she was behind me, parallel parked on Hollywood Blvd on a Friday night in our huge truck camper.

Unbelievable!

I climbed up on top of the camper and got a great shot looking down Hollywood Blvd. from above that I never could have gotten without her.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the the ways that FeelingVegas will be adjusting over the next five years to accommodate the way that consumers will prefer to get their travel information?

I believe too many informational travel sites online today regurgitate the same tired and semi-accurate information. They are often written and published by entities with very little first-hand experience or knowledge of the destination they are writing about.

Add to that, the rapidly growing trend of articles being written by Artificial Intelligence (AI) will only ramp up the distribution of grammatically accurate but incorrect information.

FeelingVegas, at its core, is just really my wife and me. As Las Vegas locals, we believe that up-to-date first-hand information will serve our readers best and provide the most value, so we are immersing ourselves even further into the Vegas tourism scene and providing our readers with more original photo stories, videos, and insights to answer the questions that current and prospective visitors want in order to plan a fun and successful trip to Vegas.

Which “pain point” are you notice in the travel industry?

You may have seen the meme where a well-dressed couple in the 1950s are sitting on an airplane being served a magnificent multi-course meal and saying, “OMG, Can you imagine how luxurious planes in 50 years will be?”

Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out like that. Air travel today is more like moving packages from point A to point B rather than people. Just toss them pretty much wherever and jam them in if necessary.

How do you envision that this might be solved?

I would hope that air travel can become more of an “experience” again. It doesn’t need to reach the level of an overtly luxurious experience, just one where the airline industry can better balance the needs of passengers with its need to run a successful business.

I think this could be accomplished by establishing systems with far less friction. Anyone who has traveled by plane recently knows how many points of friction there are between leaving home and arriving at your destination.

From my point of view there are a few ways that the airline industry could work to create a more positive travel experience for passengers:

  1. Improve customer service: Airlines should work to improve their customer service by hiring and training more friendly, helpful staff, and by being more responsive to customer needs and concerns.
  2. Upgrade amenities: Airlines could invest in more comfortable seats, better in-flight entertainment options, and higher-quality food and drinks.
  3. Offer more flexibility: Airlines can be more flexible with ticket changes and cancellations, and offer more personalized options for travelers with specific needs or preferences.
  4. Focus on safety: Above all, airlines should prioritize the safety of their passengers and crew. By investing in the latest safety technology and training, they can help to rebuild trust and confidence in air travel

Overall, the goal should be to create a more pleasant, enjoyable travel experience that meets the needs and expectations of passengers, while also allowing the airline industry to be financially successful.

As you know, COVID-19 changed the world as we know it. Can you share 5 examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers will prefer to travel?

Spurred on by the pandemic, travel, and hospitality industries have begun making adjustments to systems that directly impact travelers, and these changes will continue being developed and refined in the years to come. Some examples include:

  1. Mobile technology: Many hotels, airlines, and other travel companies are developing mobile apps that allow customers to book and manage their trips, access their boarding passes and tickets, and more, all from their phones.
  2. Personalization: More and more companies will be using data and artificial intelligence (AI) to personalize the travel experience for their customers. This can include personalized recommendations for activities and destinations based on a traveler’s interests and previous travel history.
  3. Sustainable tourism: There has been an increasing trend towards sustainability in the travel and hospitality industries, with a focus on eco-friendly practices and reducing the environmental impact of travel. This includes initiatives such as reducing single-use plastics, highlighting local experiences and products, and offsetting carbon emissions. (For obvious reasons, in Las Vegas, water conservation is at the forefront of our sustainable travel model.)
  4. Virtual and augmented reality: More and more companies will begin using virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) to enhance the travel experience, for example, by giving customers the ability to preview their hotel rooms or destinations prior to booking.
  5. Contactless experiences: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many travel and hospitality companies have, and will continue to create, contactless experiences to lower the risk of transmission. This includes things like mobile check-in, electronic room keys, and contactless payment options.

I’ve seen examples of most of these arrive at the bigger Las Vegas resorts over the last year or two, and I believe they will continue to evolve to create a more seamless and enjoyable travel experience for all travelers and travel destinations.

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

Currently, I’d have to say that my perfect vacation experience would be to hop in an RV and spend time wandering around the American Southwest. I love heading to un-crowded destinations full of wide-open and scenic spaces, which the western U.S. has in abundance. Since Las Vegas is a perfect jumping-off point for that type of adventure, we are perfectly situated to do just that!

Las Vegas has quite a few local RV rental companies, and many visitors to Vegas (particularly those visiting from European countries) fly into the city and spend a few days having fun on the Las Vegas Strip before heading out for a couple of weeks or more in an RV to experience the abundant national parks and locations surrounding Las Vegas.

That sounds like a pretty ideal vacation to me.

Can you share with our readers how you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’m a believer in volunteering in the community you live in, and as a result, we’ve had the opportunity to spend some time helping out at several of the great organizations here in Las Vegas. One of my favorites is Three Square Food Bank. Last year Three Square provided over 42 million meals to hungry people in and around Las Vegas.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I’d like to see an increase in empathy in our day-to-day lives. In general, I feel people around the world are extremely empathetic toward their fellow human beings when major problems arise. For example, extreme weather events always bring an outpouring of support and empathy for those affected.

Having said that, I see far less empathy in daily life, and I get it. People are busy with their own lives, problems, and personal struggles but it would be nice to see a little bit more kindness and understanding for the friends, acquaintances, and strangers we interact with on a daily basis. The world would then be an even better place to live!

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can stay up to date with us and the happenings in Las Vegas by following FeelingVegas on the following social media:

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Author(s)

  • Savio P. Clemente

    TEDx Speaker, Media Journalist, Board Certified Wellness Coach, Best-Selling Author & Cancer Survivor

    Savio P. Clemente, TEDx speaker and Stage 3 cancer survivor, infuses transformative insights into every article. His journey battling cancer fuels a mission to empower survivors and industry leaders towards living a truly healthy, wealthy, and wise lifestyle. As a Board-Certified Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC, ACC), Savio guides readers to embrace self-discovery and rewrite narratives by loving their inner stranger, as outlined in his acclaimed TEDx talk: "7 Minutes to Wellness: How to Love Your Inner Stranger." Through his best-selling book and impactful work as a media journalist — covering inspirational stories of resilience and exploring wellness trends — Savio has collaborated with notable celebrities and TV personalities, bringing his insights to diverse audiences and touching countless lives. His philosophy, "to know thyself is to heal thyself," resonates in every piece.