Skift

Episode Notes Thousands of hotel workers went on strikeacross several large U.S. cities between Sunday and Tuesday. Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill examines why the strikes are taking place and what they mean for the hotel industry.  More than 9,000 workers at 21 hotels in 9 cities went on strike on Tuesday. O’Neill notes that hotels are struggling to balance maximizing profits with worker demands for better pay and improved working conditions. Gwen Mills, president of union Unite Here, told Skift in June that workers want increased wages as hotel revenue per room had gone up in recent months.  Roughly 40,000 hotel workers in 22 North American markets have union contracts that could expire in the next year. Unite Here has threatened to expand strikes to 65 hotels in up to a dozen cities if its demands aren’t met. Next, investor Elliott Investment Management now owns 10% of Southwest Airlines’ common stock shares. That enables Elliott to hold a special meeting during which it could vote to make big chan

Episode Notes Airports worldwide are investing large amounts in tech upgrades for a projected huge increase in passenger traffic. Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes profiles five U.S. airports making upgrades. JFK Airport shared plans earlier this year for its new terminal 6, which will include digital concierge services as well as a self check-in and bag drop. The airport said its new terminal 1 would feature a state-of-the-art baggage handling system. San Francisco International Airport has started working on a $2.6 billion project to modernize terminal 3, which will include automated bag drop stations and new security checkpoints.  And Pittsburgh International Airport is building a new terminal with more streamlined ticketing stations and baggage claim systems.  Next, Qantas unveiled details about its all-new aircraft on Thursday. Airlines Editor Gordon Smith takes a look at the Airbus A321XLR, which the Australian carrier will start receiving next April.   Qantas says the aircraft — which Airbus has

Episode Notes A growing number of short-term rental hosts are turning to amenities such as pools, hot tubs and mini golf to help stand out from the competition. Reporter James Farrell examines what one executive calls an “amenities arms race.” Farrell writes hosts and owners willing to invest in developing properties with high-end amenities are likely to see benefits. Analysis from AirDNA found that listings with pools and hot tubs posted higher revenues and occupancy rates than listings without them. Luxury listings with high-quality amenities saw more pronounced revenue benefits than budget or economy listings.  Farrell adds the push for more amenities might be driven partly by the desire of hosts to appeal to families as well as wellness or adventure travelers. David Krauss, CEO of advocacy group Rent Responsibly, said members of those groups tend to expect high-quality amenities.   Next, Saudi Arabia says it’s a destination for all types of travelers in its new tourism campaign, writes Middle East Reporte

Episode Notes Columnist Colin Nagy believes a growing number of luxury travelers are looking for depth instead of hyper glitz. With that in mind, he provides his list of this summer’s biggest innovators in travel as well as information about more than a dozen noteworthy trends in the industry. Nagy writes his list is inspired by brands that build and execute with integrity and vision. He praised Belmond, his choice for hospitality brand of the year, for embracing the idea of slow luxury. Nagy also commended the Mandarin Oriental for showing a deep respect to Oman’s culture in the opening of the company’s newest property in the country. In addition, Nagy cited Sri Lanka and the Pacific island nation of Palau as destinations he’s paying close attention to.  Next, the National Park Foundation recently received a $100 million grant to help combat overtourism at the country’s national parks. Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam lists three ways national parks are looking to manage visitor numbers.  More parks

Episode Notes Recent data suggests Americans are traveling in large numbers for Labor Day, and short-term rentals are seeing a surge in bookings for the holiday weekend, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  More than 2.4 million nights have been booked on short-term rental platforms for the four-day period ending on September 1. That’s a 13% jump from last year, according to data analytics firm AirDNA. Short-term rental daily room rates are up 13% from last year. However, short-term rentals at urban destinations increased by only 1%, which AirDNA attributes to New York City’s crackdown on the sector.  Domestic travel for the Labor Day weekend is projected to be up 9% from last year, according to AAA Next, American Express Global Business Travel is increasingly using AI to handle trip requests via e-mail, which can help free up agents to take care of more critical tasks, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Evan Konwiser said agents manually reading

Episode Notes Hotels are devising plans to bypass traditional booking intermediaries to help boost direct bookings from corporations and businesses. Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill explains why the shift could disrupt how business travel is sold.  Some hotel executives believe they can attract business travelers to book directly if they provide more enticing offers that can’t be found via third parties. Several large hotels are testing a new pricing and booking process called attribute-based booking. Hotel executives have argued the new process will help corporations better understand their spending.  Attracting more direct bookings could help hotels save money. However, O’Neill notes a transition to attribute-based booking faces several hurdles, including a lack of industry-wide standards.  Next, Viking CEO Torstein Hagen said the luxury cruise line doesn’t see any sign of a slowdown in travel, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  Hagen said during its second-quarter earnings call on Tue

Episode Notes The world’s largest hotel groups have made huge strides in signing up guests for their loyalty programs in recent years. But which one has the largest loyalty program? Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill provides the answer.  Marriott has the largest loyalty program membership with more than 210 million members as of June 30. Hilton, IHG and Wyndham occupy the next three spots, with each of them recording more than 100 million members. Skift reported earlier this year that Hilton has grown its loyalty program faster than Marriott, which could result in Hilton overtaking Marriott's membership count next year.  Next, Expedia’s short-term rental platform Vrbo is portraying itself as a stress-free alternative to rivals like Airbnb in its latest campaign, writes reporter James Farrell.   Vrbo’s new campaign is centered around the slogan “Relax, you host on Vrbo.” While none of Vrbo’s ads directly mention Airbnb, Farrell notes Vrbo is taking veiled shots at its biggest rival, explaining the big dif

Episode Notes Hyatt announced plans on Tuesday to buy the five brands owned by Standard International, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.   Hyatt will pay $150 million upfront, with up to an additional $185 million over time as more properties join its portfolio. Hyatt won’t acquire any physical assets in the deal, but it is buying the management, franchise and license contracts for hotels with roughly 2,000 rooms. Hyatt and Standard International expect the deal to close this year, subject to approvals.  Next, Marriott International and Sonder Holdings announced this week they had signed a 20-year strategic licensing deal that enables members of Marriott’s loyalty program to earn points at any Sonder property. O’Neill lists 10 things to know about the growing trend of loyalty licensing tie-ups.  Although the past year has seen several new loyalty licensing deals, O’Neill notes those partnerships are far from a novel concept. IHG signed a license agreement with Las Vegas Sands in 2010. Hotels als

Episode Notes Marriott International and Sonder Holdings have signed a 20-year strategic licensing deal, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. Marriott will receive a royalty fee based on a percentage of Sonder’s gross room revenues. The deal will also increase the number of locations where Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program members can earn and redeem points. O’Neill adds Marriott will benefit from Sonder’s ability to run apartment buildings as licensed hotels, which has enabled Sonder to operate in some neighborhoods with limited hotels.  Sonder gets new marketing and distribution power through the licensing deal. It has been on shaky ground: It has faced a Nasdaq delisting, conducted several rounds of layoffs and piled up losses. Next, Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam writes that a crackdown on short-term rentals in Mallorca has led to a drop in bookings. Short-term rental bookings in Mallorca’s capital Palma fell 8% in July from last year, according to data analytics firm AirDNA. Mallorcan

Episode Notes The Skift Research team on Thursday unveiled its State of Travel 2024 report, a 400-page document with over 350 slides on industry performance and consumer and business trends in travel. The State of Travel 2024 is strong, reports head of research Seth Borko. Travel businesses are growing with healthy margins. The report contains information on, among other topics, the state of international travel after the pandemic. It contains detailed tourism figures for each major global region. In addition, the report examines some short-term issues, such as the likelihood of moderate growth in 2024 and beyond.    Next, Booking Holdings and Expedia spent an enormous amount on marketing last year — nearly $13 billion combined. But there are key differences in how they spend, writes Senior Research Analyst Pranavi Agarwal.  As a share of expenses, Agarwal notes Expedia spent more on marketing last year than it did in 2019 while Booking spent less. Expedia also needed to spend more than Booking to drive booki

Episode Notes Travel executives still believe artificial intelligence will transform the industry — even if it’s taking longer than expected. Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes provides recent insights from several executives on AI. Booking Holdings CEO said the latest advances in AI could help make connected trips — travel experiences in which consumers can book all parts of a trip in one place — a reality. AI has already significantly boosted revenue for Tripadvior. CEO Matthew Goldberg said travelers using its AI-powered trip planner have generated, on average, 15 times more revenue than TripAdvisor’s platform-wide average.   Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said the company has been working on integrating AI for nearly two years since ChatGPT launched. One learning is that it will take years to rebuild Airbnb into a fully AI-powered digital travel concierge that learns and adapts to each individual user. Next, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has finalized a rule that would discipline businesses for buying o

Episode Notes Delta Air Lines is launching free onboard Wi-Fi across its global network in the next several months. So how will Delta handle the complexities of international expansion? Airlines Editor Gordon Smith examines the matter in addition to comparing rivals’ Wi-Fi services. Smith notes Delta already offers free Wi-Fi on around 90% of its 700 domestic mainline aircraft, however, international expansion is much more complex. It is currently undergoing what it calls a “Wi-Fi transition period.” That means the company is making significant upgrades in its global coverage, with additional satellites being placed to improve the reach of the service. Delta is launching free overseas Wi-Fi on a route-by-route basis as the carrier aims to duplicate its successful domestic rollout strategy of prioritizing certain city pairs.    Next, luxury hotels in Paris enjoyed a nice bump in occupancy during the Olympics, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  Close to 86% of high-end hotels in the Greater Pari

Episode Notes Disney has unveiled expansion plans for its parks, cruise line and digital platforms, writes Travel Experiences Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz.  Disney announced it will debut four new cruise ships between 2027 and 2031, an expansion that will increase its cruise line fleet to 13 ships. Meanwhile, the Disneyland Resort in California will feature a water-based Avatar attraction and Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Florida will be home to Indiana Jones and Encanto-themed attractions.   In addition, Disney is working with Epic Games to incorporate its characters into digital environments linked to the popular online game Fortnite.  Next, India’s outbound travel market is projected to reach $55.4 billion by 2034. And the country’s clout in the global travel industry is expected to continue growing, writes Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia. Several travel executives addressed India’s role in global tourism during recent earnings calls. Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin said the number of Indian outbound travelers could d

Episode Notes Expedia Group — like several other major travel brands — has seen “softening” travel demand recently, but it registered growth in several key metrics during the second quarter, writes Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.  CEO Ariane Gorin said Expedia Group is facing a more challenging environment since July, leading the company to adjust its expectations for the rest of the year. But Expedia Group said room nights at flagship brand Expedia.com jumped 20% from last year. In addition, booked room nights grew 10% overall at Expedia Group, topping both Airbnb and Booking Holdings.  Next, Delta argues the software company CrowdStrike’s offer of onsite help came too late to resolve the carrier’s IT outage, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.  Delta lawyer David Boies said CrowdStrike didn’t provide an “automatic” solution to solve an IT outage that eventually became a meltdown for Delta. The airline canceled roughly 7,000 flights after a July 19 CrowdStrike outage. CrowdStrike said earlier this wee

Episode Notes Hilton has raised its forecast for a profit this year. However, the company believes the post-Covid travel surge is cooling off — especially in the U.S., reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.  CEO Christopher Nassetta said during Hilton’s second-quarter earnings call that domestic travel demand is “definitely softening.” However, he emphasized demand is “not cratering in any way.” Hilton expects its full-year revenue per available room to grow between 2% and 3% as Nassetta said the company expects to see growth in all segments during the full year.  Next, Disney executives expect theme park attendance and revenue to soften in the next several months, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  The company said it believes its theme parks and experiences division’s operating income will decline by mid-single digits compared to last year. Disney CEO Bob Iger said the lower income consumer is “feeling a little bit of stress” and that higher-income consumers are looking to travel ov

Episode Notes Airbnb’s second-quarter earnings revealed the company’s growth slowed down in several key areas, writes Executive Editor Dennis Schaal. The company forecasts that guests are making bookings with shorter lead times, and it is seeing “some signs of slowing demand from U.S. guests.” Airbnb said that in the third quarter, it expects a “sequential moderation” in year-over-year nights and experiences booked compared with the 9% growth in the second quarter. But Schaal notes Airbnb can point to many positives during the second quarter, including an increase in active listings from 7 million last year to 8 million. Next, InterContinental Hotels Group said it’s not seeing signs of weakening demand outside of China, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.  IHG CEO Elie Maalouf said the company hasn’t been impacted by a possible recession yet. IHG added the post-pandemic tourism surge has moderated and normalized to pre-Covid levels. The company reported a 3% rise in its revenue per available room

Episode Notes July’s weaker-than-expected job growth sparked a selloff in global financial markets and raised concerns about a recession. Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit explains the impact on the travel industry.  In the airline sector, Delta and United have gotten a boost from the rise in premium long-haul demand fueled by travelers more willing to spend freely. As of the second quarter, that support was still there. But if there is a recession, it could benefit low-cost carriers since they do well when budgets are tight. Kopit reports early signals from hotel earnings suggest signs of a second-half slowdown, adding the picture will be clearer when IHG, Hyatt and Hilton, among other companies, report this week. However, cruise executives said they haven’t seen any slowdown in bookings and guest spending. “Overall, the short answer is no cracks, no deterioration,” said the chief financial officer of Norwegian Cruise Line.  Next, software company CrowdStrike said it didn’t cause the Delta Air Lines meltdown that

Episode Notes Spirit Airlines had a rough second quarter, posting a significantly higher loss than last year. CEO Ted Christie is promising big changes to the company’s operations, writes Airlines Editor Gordon Smith.   Spirit said it registered a roughly $193 million net loss during the second quarter — up from a $2.3 million loss last year. Airline Weekly Senior Analyst Jay Shabat said a surplus of domestic seats and an increase in operating costs have hurt Spirit’s bottom line.  Spirit is making changes to hit its goal of $100 million in annual savings. The company has temporarily frozen pilot and flight attendant recruitment in addition to furloughing about 240 pilots. Spirit is also deferring all incoming orders with Airbus for deliveries that were due to arrive between the second quarter of 2025 and the end of 2026.  Next, the Biden administration is proposing a rule that would prohibit airlines from charging junk fees to seat families together on flights, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.  Air

Episode Notes Marriott executives are optimistic they’ll see growth throughout the year despite emerging headwinds, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. CEO Anthony Capuano said the company saw strong travel demand during the second quarter. Marriott said it expects its revenue per available room — a key hotel industry metric — to grow between 3% and 4% this year. But that’s down slightly from a previous forecast of up to 5%. And O’Neill notes Marriott faces several challenges, such as China’s struggling economy and the U.S. presidential election’s likely impact on travel patterns in November.  Next, a U.S. Senate committee has advanced a bill that would create a national standard for hotel pricing in the U.S., writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.  The Hotel Fees Transparency Act would require hotels, short-term rentals and online travel agencies to display the total price of a stay, including all mandatory fees, upfront. The bill now awaits a full Senate vote, which would bring it one ste

Episode Notes A U.S. appeals court has struck down the Department of Transportation’s rulemandating airlines disclose all fees upfront, pending a full review, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.  A three-judge panel said the rule likely exceeds the department’s authority and would significantly harm airlines. The case will be heard during the next available oral argument panel. The Department of Transportation released a final rule in April requiring airlines disclose “junk fees” associated with purchasing airline tickets, including those for baggage and changes to reservations. Trade group Airlines for America — along with several prominent airlines — filed a lawsuit against the department in May, arguing the junk fee rule was a regulatory overreach that would cause confusion for customers. The DOT said it will continue defending the rule.  Next, Spirit Airlines is targeting premium-focused passengers as part of its effort to return to profitability, writes Airlines Editor Gordon Smith.  Spirit reveal