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Ask Skift Is the AI Chatbot for the Travel Industry Ask Skift Your Questions Episode Notes Americans are gearing up to travel in large numbers for the Thanksgiving holiday next week. This Thanksgiving could be the busiest for the U.S. air travel for 18 years, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  Travel organization AAA says that more than 4.7 million Americans will fly for Thanksgiving, the highest number since 2005. AAA also found flight bookings on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving appear higher than normal. That’s possibly because Americans working remotely can take advantage of cheaper airfares on off-peak days. Habtemariam notes both American Airlines and United forecast this Thanksgiving will be their busiest ever. United will fly nearly 4,000 flights daily on average during the holiday period.  Next, Emirates Airlines has reached a deal with Boeing to order $52 billion of aircraft, writes Middle East Reporter Josh Corder.  Emirates ordered 90 jets from Boeing as part of the megadeal, which

Ask Skift Is the AI Chatbot for the Travel Industry Go deeper into the business of travel with Skift’s new AI chatbot. Ask Skift Your Questions Episode Notes Booking.com took a step to diversify its offerings on Thursday. The company launched cruises in the U.S. via a partnership with cruise agency World Holdings, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.  Schaal writes Booking.com offering cruises is part of its efforts to be a larger force in the U.S., the world’s largest cruise market. A company spokesperson said Booking.com’s cruises would offer customers access to exclusive offerings and deals on its platform. Schaal adds that Booking.com customers would be able to choose from more than 10,000 sailings on 30-plus lines.  Next, Americans have gone overseas in large numbers this year. So what have been the most popular destinations for U.S. travelers? Flight booking data reveals Cancun and London are Americans’ top international destinations so far this year, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. 

Episode Notes Airbnb released its latest set of product enhancements on Wednesday — including Guest Favorites, new badges that identify customers’ favorite homes, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal. Schaal writes that Airbnb will place a Guest Favorites badge on 2 million of its properties. Those badges will help travelers pick stays based on homes’ ratings. Schaal notes that hosts will benefit from several other features as well. Airbnb said hosts will be able to create AI-powered photo tours of their homes in seconds.  In addition, Airbnb said it’s overhauling ratings and reviews to make them more guest-friendly. Guests will be able to sort reviews by when they were written and their rating scores.   Next, Las Vegas’ Sphere arena opened to much fanfare in September, headlined by a U2 concert. But will it be a profitable venue? Newly released data highlighted the risks and rewards of the $2.3 billion structure, writes Travel Experiences Reporter Selene Brophy.   While Sphere Entertainment CEO James Dolan

Episode Notes Some analysts have argued that Choice Hotels International is too reliant on acquisitions to grow. But despite its ongoing push to acquire Wyndham, Choice believes the organic growth of its development pipeline is healthy, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.  Choice CEO Patrick Pacious said during its earnings call on Tuesday that he’s encouraged by the state of its pipeline. He noted that Choice averaged more than four openings per week through September. However, Joseph Greff, a J.P. Morgan analyst, said Choice Hotels’ legacy room count has registered, at best, only modest footprint growth.  As for its third quarter performance, O’Neill writes Choice Hotels generated $92 million in net income. Next, Microsoft and travel technology company Amadeus are working together to develop artificial intelligence-related travel products. Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes highlights three of those innovations.  Cyril Tetaz, Amadeus’ executive vice president of airline solutions, outlined

Episode Notes Airbnb has seen its listing numbers tumble in New York City due to a regulatory crackdown. But the short-term rental giant believes boutique hotels can help fill the gap, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.  Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said during the company’s recent earnings call that adding boutique hotels to its New York City inventory was an opportunity given the decline in short-term rental listings for homes. He noted that boutique hotels are already listed on HotelTonight, the app Airbnb acquired in 2019. However, despite the possible boutique hotel push, Chesky said Airbnb’s core business will always be houses.  Next, timeshare company Hilton Grand Vacations has offered to buy Bluegreen Vacations in a deal that could be worth $1.5 billion, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.  Hilton Grand Vacations will offer $75 a share in an all-cash transaction. O’Neill reports Hilton Grand Vacations, which was spun off from Hilton in 2017, is looking to strengthen its position in the vac

Episode Notes 2023 has been a wild ride for investors in travel companies, with those stocks on the edge of a bear market. How bumpy has the year been? Senior Research Analyst Seth Borko turns to the Skift Travel 200, an index tracking the stock market performance of the global travel industry.  Borko writes that while travel has been a volatile industry this year, travel investors have made money in 2023. The Skift Travel 200 is up 6% from this point last year after being down 20% in 2022. In addition, Borko notes that stocks in cruises and tours, travel’s best performing sector so far in 2023, are up 26%.  Next, Expedia Group rode a strong third quarter in its business-to-business and business-to-consumer segments to record revenue and profitability, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.  The company reported an adjusted net income of $778 million, the highest for any quarter in its history. Expedia Group also generated $3.9 billion worth of revenue during the third quarter, a 9% jump from last year and a

Episode Notes Airbnb had a strong third quarter, recording its highest ever quarterly profits and setting a company record for revenue, writes Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes. The company reported net income of $1.6 billion, excluding a one-time income tax benefit. It also generated $3.4 billion worth of revenue, an 18% jump from last year. Dawes reports those record numbers were driven by 113 million bookings during the third quarter, a 14% year-over-year increase.  In addition, Airbnb said it saw a 19% jump in its active listings last quarter, with Latin America and Asia-Pacific representing the regions with the highest growth.  Next, American Airlines is looking to boost profitability as it flies to more underserved U.S. cities and enhances its loyalty program, writes Travel Experiences Reporter Selene Brophy.   American CEO Robert Isom said at the Skift Aviation Forum on Wednesday the carrier would increase service to smaller U.S. cities, citing Roanoke, Virginia and Lubbock, Texas as examples. Is

Ask Skift Is the AI Chatbot for the Travel Industry: Ask Skift Your Questions Episode Notes Maui’s western region will fully reopen to tourism on Wednesday, two months after it was devastated by a massive wildfire. But Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam writes the island still faces a long road to recovery.   Sherry Doung, executive director of the Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau, said the organization wasn’t expecting large numbers of travelers to come to western Maui. Scheduled airline seats to Maui for November and December are still substantially below 2022 levels. While Habtemariam reports that the huge post-disaster decline in tourism to Maui has stopped, visitor numbers aren’t expected to substantially increase for some time.  Next, JetBlue Airways had a brutal third quarter, as weather-related disruptions and rising jet fuel costs dented its profits, reports Associate Editor Rashaad Jorden.  JetBlue posted a $129 million net loss, excluding one-time accounting charges. The company reported

Episode Notes Visa processing delays have hurt the travel industry’s recovery, especially in the U.S. and Europe. Associate Editor Rashaad Jorden turns to Ask Skift, our artificial intelligence chatbot, for more information about how lengthy visa waits are impacting tourism.  Jorden reports visa delays for the U.S.’ top inbound markets top 400 days on average. U.S. Travel Association CEO Geoff Freeman said at the recent Skift Global Forum that the long visa wait times make the U.S. an unwelcoming environment for travelers and the U.S. is losing ground in the race to attract tourists.  Meanwhile, lengthy visa waits for travel to Europe are driving more Indian travelers to visit destinations closer to home. One India-based travel executive said it’s taken travelers as long as 45 days to land an appointment for a Schengen visa.  Next, the Four Seasons recently enhanced its latest marketing campaign that showcases employees’ efforts to enhance customers’ stays.  Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill said the Fou

Episode Notes Wyndham Hotels & Resorts executives used strong language Thursday to explain to investors why they were rejecting the $9.8 billion hostile bid from Choice Hotels, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.   O’Neill writes Wyndham executives highlighted a lack of cash up-front and Choice’s alleged weaker performance as major concerns about a deal. In addition, Wyndham said any deal between the two companies would take more than 12 months to clear regulatory review. The prospects for a deal aren’t completely dead, but it faces long odds. “It’s hard for us to say no more than we’ve already said no,” said Stephen Holmes, chairman of Wyndham’s board.  Next, Royal Caribbean executives are optimistic they’ll see strong demand for cruises in China when they return there next April, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.  Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley said during the third-quarter earnings call that the company has seen strong bookings for China sailings next year. Bay

Episode Notes Hilton’s third-quarter earnings call suggested that U.S. hotel demand is returning to pre-pandemic norms. However, the company is seeing bookings surge at its overseas hotels, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. Hilton’s revenue per available room — an important industry metric — rose only 3% in the U.S. in the third quarter. But it jumped 39% in the Asia-Pacific region. Hilton also reported worldwide growth in revenue per available room across all customer segments.  The company generated $379 million worth of net income in the third quarter, a roughly 10% jump from last year.  Next, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has had an enormous impact on hotel bookings around the U.S. (and Kansas City Chiefs viewership), but what about the short-term rental industry? Short-Term Rental Reporter Srividya Kalyanaraman examines the boost Swift has provided the sector. Kalyanaraman reports that the Eras Tour contributed roughly $10 million to the short-term rental industry. In addition, the 20 U.S. citie

Episode Notes Taylor Swift wasn’t the only major pop star responsible for a tourism boom this summer. Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour helped lift hotel bookings across the U.S. and Europe, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill. O’Neill cites Cardiff, Wales, Cologne, Germany and Houston, Texas, as cities where hotel bookings surged during stops on Beyonce’s tour. Hotels in her hometown of Houston generated $18 million in revenue on the nights of her concerts, a 45% jump from the same weekend last year.   However, O’Neill notes some cities — including London, Boston, and Las Vegas — didn’t register a noticeable bump. He adds shows on weeknights during the school year were much less likely to drive travel demand.  Next, Airbnb has been accused of violating a temporary restraining order in a New York City building, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.  The owner had placed the building on New York City’s so-called banned building list, which blocks short-term rentals.  However, the contempt motion alleges t

Episode Notes Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, one of most influential executives in the global airline industry, announced on Monday he’s stepping down, effective November 5, writes Reporter Ajay Awtaney.  Under his leadership, the airline has grown from five aircraft in 1996 to 258 aircraft today. Al Baker also played a critical role in the opening of Hamad International Airport, which has served as Qatar Airways’ hub since 2014. Badr Mohammed al Meer, the airport’s current Chief Operating Officer, will replace Al Baker as Qatar Airways CEO.  Next, Airbnb has emphasized South Africa in its quest to substantially boost international revenue. Indeed, the short-term rental company reported on Monday that host revenue in the country is 25% above pre-pandemic levels, writes Travel Experiences Reporter Selene Brophy.  Brophy reports that users who listed South African properties on Airbnb generated roughly $211 million of revenue last year. The company said it has about 65,000 South African listings, triple the

Episode Notes First, the U.S. Department of State has issued a message urging all Americans traveling abroad to “exercise increased caution” due to heightened tensions in various locations and potential terrorist attacks and violent actions against U.S. citizens. The alert is in response to the global consequences of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, writes tourism reporter Dawit Habtemariam. Americans traveling abroad were advised to stay alert in locations frequented by tourists, enroll in the Smart Travel Enrollment Program to stay updated, and follow the State Department on Facebook and Twitter. Next, AirDNA, which analyzes short-term rental data from Airbnb and Vrbo, has launched a feature to help investors make profitable decisions when purchasing homes for vacation rentals, writes executive editor Dennis Schaal. Investors can now view homes for sale through AirDNA, as well as view estimates for how they have fared as short-term rental properties regarding occupancy, average daily rates, and rev

Episode Notes Google is constantly tweaking its hotels platform, and the latest iteration contributes directly to the democratization of the online travel industry, writes Skift Research analyst Pranavi Agarwal. Skift Research conducted a study of Google Hotels platform. Here are three insights from the analysis: paid sponsored listings are dominated by the largest online travel agencies; the introduction of organic results is allowing direct sites and smaller online travel agencies to compete head-on with Booking and Expedia; and Google Hotels prioritizes the direct site in its organic results, with the official site most likely to appear on top, even when it is not the cheapest option.  Next, there have been at least four travel tech acquisitions this month, writes travel tech reporter Justin Dawes.  One of them was by property management system startup Mews, which acquired a small hotel AI startup called Nomi, whose tech is meant to help hotels deliver personalized recommendations based on data that guests

Episode Notes Choice Hotels has made a public bid to acquire Wyndham Hotels in what would be a hostile takeover. Valued at nearly $8 billion, the deal would combine the companies to create the largest franchisor of budget hotels in North America, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neil. Wyndham’s board of directors, however, publicly rejected the deal, citing regulatory and execution risks and they said the deal was not fair to its shareholders. Choice made its offer public after its talks with Wyndham broke down in September. The two had been in private negotiations over the past six months. Next, Expedia recently laid off around 100 employees in its recent round of job cuts. This is the online travel tech giant’s second round of layoffs in recent months, reports Online Travel Editor Dennis Schaal. Expedia’s recent layoffs follow Google, Hopper, Vacasa, Sonder and other tech companies cutting their workforces. One of the employees Expedia laid off was a director of program management for AI, machine lea

Episode Notes Hilton will simplify how small-and medium-sized businesses book and manage billings for its small-group meetings and events and has opened a waitlist for Hilton for Business, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neil. To encourage sign ups, Hilton will run a loyalty program that rewards business owners with points that can go toward their businesses or their personal travel. Hilton will also offer bonus points based on the number of employee sign ups, stays and stays over time. Skift estimates the initiatives may be relevant to up to 70 million road warriors next year. Next, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas have disrupted the operations of Royal Jordanian and Wizz Air, reports Airline Weekly Editor Ned Russell from the Routes World conference in Istanbul. To avoid flying through Israeli airspace, Amman-based Royal Jordanian has to now route flights either north over Lebanon and Syria, or south over Saudi Arabia and Egypt, said Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali at the conference. In ad

Episode Notes Airbnb has been blamed in recent years for helping average rents in some cities increase. But Taylor Marr, Airbnb’s first senior housing economist, downplays its impact, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.   Marr said, in an exclusive news interview with Skift, that Airbnb is launching a housing research program. Although Marr acknowledged Airbnb could have negative impacts on some communities, he played down the company’s role in rent increases. He cited a recently published Conference Board of Canada study that found there was no connection between Airbnb and rents.  Next, Delta Air Lines struck a nerve with many of its customers when it made major changes to its SkyMiles loyalty program. However, the pushback the company received didn’t hurt its bottom line during the third quarter, reports Edward Russell, editor of Skift publication Airline Weekly. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the company didn’t see a drop in bookings, spend levels or usage of its co-branded credit card with American Expres

Ask Skift Is the AI Chatbot for the Travel Industry: Go deeper into the business of travel with Skift’s new AI chatbot. Ask Skift Your Questions Episode Notes The Biden administration has taken another step to combat so-called junk fees. The Federal Trade Commission unveiled a proposed rule on Wednesday that would stop businesses — including those in the travel industry — from charging misleading fees, reports Associate Editor Rashaad Jorden.  Jorden writes the rule would require companies to show consumers the full price of their purchase as well as whether fees are refundable. Under the FTC’s proposal, businesses that don’t comply with the agency’s regulations could face fines and possibly have to refund consumers. An FTC spokesperson told Skift that the agency will hold a 60-day public comment period after which it will decide any changes to the proposal. The FTC would then vote on a final rule.   Next, Disney has raised the price of tickets for both Disneyland and Disney World, writes Travel Experiences

Episode Notes New York City’s recently enacted stringent host registration rules for short-term rentals has led to a substantial reduction in Airbnb’s listings in the city. They’ve also helped create an underground market for Airbnb alternatives, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal in his weekly Online Travel Briefing. A recent article in Wired described New York City’s short-term rental regulations as “pure chaos.” Schaal cites a listing on Craigslist for a one bedroom property as one example of the booming underground market. Wired revealed that fewer than 500 hosts out of the 22,000 listings on Airbnb last summer are now registered.  A spokesperson for an organization representing homeowners said short-term rentals are increasingly taking place in an unsafe environment for both hosts and guests.   Next, tourism to Morocco – especially the city of Marrakech – was hit hard by the massive earthquake that struck the country in September. But the city has just reached some important milestones in its recover