Mario Del Duca on Growing Nuba in the Americas, Luxury Travel, and Why Relationships Matter More Than AI

Mario Del Duca

Host Steve Turk interviews Mario Del Duca, Managing Director of Nuba, a 30+ year-old luxury travel company focused on high end outbound leisure that expanded into the Americas via acquisitions in Mexico and Miami.

Mario oversees the Americas and says the business has nearly tripled under his leadership. Mario shares his nontraditional path from banking in London/New York to an MBA at IE in Madrid, entrepreneurship in Mexico, and a year and a half of world travel that led to social media driven hotel partnerships and eventually becoming an independent travel consultant before Nuba acquired his agency.

They discuss serving high and ultra-high net worth clients, the importance of client profiling and problem solving, using technology and AI to enhance (not replace) advisors, growth plans across Latin America, and travel trends like Japan and slower, secondary destination travel.

The Hospitality Mentor Podcast is sponsored by Lodgify (60% off yearly/bi-yearly plans with code THM60)

00:00 Podcast Welcome

00:31 Sponsor Lodgify

01:34 Meet Mario Del Duca

01:53 What Is Nuba

03:31 From Banking To Travel

07:22 Quitting Banking For MBA

10:54 Entrepreneur Roots

12:02 Moving To Mexico

13:03 Remote Work World Travel

17:44 From Influencer To Advisor

20:50 Luxury Advisor Reality Check

22:31 Owning Client Problems

23:51 Perks and Lifestyle

24:48 Remote Discipline

26:25 Nuba Client Profile

29:51 Designing Bespoke Trips

32:38 AI Versus Human Touch

37:18 Growth and Hiring Advisors

40:48 Hot Destinations Trends

44:37 Career Advice Closing