Skift

Episode Notes The travel industry now – for the first time – has an index to track public travel stocks. Skift unveiled on Wednesday the Skift Travel 200, the first benchmark for measuring the $1 trillion-plus market for public travel companies.  Senior Research Analyst Seth Borko reports the Skift Travel 200 will track travel company stock performance as well as analyze metrics such as revenue growth and profit margins. Borko adds that the Skift Travel 200 will be able to break down travel industry performance by sector. The index currently tracks 196 public companies from 34 countries, with each company classified into one of five travel sectors.  Next, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky provided updates on Wednesday about verified listings on its platforms and cleaning fees, among other issues, writes Short-Term Rental Reporter Srividya Kalyanaraman. Chesky tweeted that the company is building a new system to verify its listings. Each verified listing will have a special icon, which Chesky said is part of Airbnb’s ef