Travel

At 1717 Broadway in Manhattan, one building holds two hotels. The lower floors are a Courtyard by Marriott and the upper floors are a Residence Inn by Marriott. When it opened in late 2013, it was touted as the tallest dedicated hotel building in North America. Marriott’s then-CEO Arne Sorenson said they are “two distinct

Key Points Overseas inbound visitation fell 7% in July to just over 3 million—a fourth straight monthly decline and nearly 23% below pre-pandemic levels—as the World Cup failed to deliver the expected tourism rebound. Results among participating nations were mixed: the UK, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina rose, but Switzerland (-21.2%), France (-23.7%), and even champion

Sandy Hazelip and Ellie Hamby, Texas-based 85-year-olds known as the Traveling Grannies on TikTok, have earned more than 110,000 followers by posting about their trips to more than 50 countries. Some of their most popular videos show the duo posing in front of the northern lights, riding camels in Egypt, and taking a selfie in

German travel company TUI Group reported a dip in profitability in its latest quarter as the company struggled to shake pressures from the Iran War. EBIT fell 27% to €233.8 million (nearly $270 million), including a roughly €20 million ($23 million) hit tied directly to the Iran war. Total impact from the war across segments

Air Canada is selling a 25% stake in its loyalty program to an investor group led by Blackstone. The C$2.5 billion (US$1.8bn) deal sees Air Canada keep the remaining 75% and maintain full operational control. The group also includes Quebec-based pension fund La Caisse, PSP Investments, and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. The transaction

Key Points Tripadvisor will make a selection of its Viator and Tripadvisor experiences bookable on Airbnb later this year, adding to Tripadvisor’s existing distribution deals with Booking.com and Expedia. The partnership marks a strategic shift for Airbnb, which had previously tried to build its experiences business organically with bespoke, locally-hosted offerings rather than through major

It’s been a tough summer travel season for Spain. Heatwaves have brought on multiple 100-plus-degree Fahrenheit days. Deadly wildfires — partially tied to high temperatures — have blazed across the country, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate.   Now, Spain is preparing to face its next challenge: a total eclipse set to pass over Spain on

Perk, the travel and expense platform formerly known as TravelPerk, has no immediate plans to go public, its president told Skift, despite its rival Navan having listed last fall. “We looked, and we were like, no, not the right time,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Jean-Christophe “JC” Taunay-Bucalo. “We’re always looking. At the size

Demand for travel to Iceland’s west coast is surging ahead of this month’s once-in-a-lifetime solar eclipse. Supply is a different story.  Residents and tourists alike are expected to crowd the path of totality on the west coast, bringing together enough people to strain local infrastructure. But with limited flight capacity and hotels already running near

GetYourGuide will start charging tour operators a surcharge to cover the digital services taxes it pays in France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, the company confirmed to Skift.  The change, which hasn’t been previously reported, takes effect October 1. Digital services taxes are national levies on the revenue of large online marketplaces, search

Every travel company of any real size answers the same question every quarter/half/year: where does the next dollar go? Into a deal, a fleet, a system, a marketing budget, a buyback? That’s what capital allocation means, stripped of the jargon…and tracking it tells you more about where the industry is headed than any visitor forecast.

YouTube creator Ryan Walker had a reservation, a confirmation email and a two-hour drive behind him when Amanvari’s security guards stopped his car at the gate. The guards knew his name, as shown in the video Walker posted afterward. They also told him they had no record of his booking. He showed them an email

Google is now testing agentic hotel booking, a spokesperson confirmed to Skift. Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel referenced the tests on an earnings call this week while discussing partnerships with AI platforms. “I think Google may have come out today, a small percentage of their traffic seeing their agentic booking … we are one of

Key Points Ask Maps now enables conversational hotel search with real pricing and availability, combining proximity, routes, nearby businesses, hotel criteria, and — via opt-in Gmail integration — a traveler’s own itinerary context. Hotel functionality currently stops at discovery and comparison; travelers cannot book yet, though Google has started a limited U.S. test of agentic

Hilton has spent several years reorganizing its global sales operation for business travel in response to how corporations now shop for and buy hotels.   “B2B buyers have dramatically changed post-Covid,” said Frank Passanante, Hilton’s senior vice president and global head of sales, in a Skift interview at the Global Business Travel Association conference in Chicago

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said artificial intelligence is helping the company build and ship products dramatically faster, citing how it took up to nine months to develop the company’s groceries business, but just six weeks to roll out airport pickups. Chesky is trying to transform Airbnb into an AI-native company. Even as it launches new

Drought and extreme heat are drying up European rivers — and causing havoc for cruises. The Rhine, flowing through Germany and the Netherlands, reached record-low levels in multiple locations last week. The Danube, which spans 10 countries, dropped to its lowest point in 30 years last month, and the Po river in Italy has also

There were several questions for Expedia Group officials during its second quarter earnings call Wednesday about competition in the B2B space, where it is the leading player, as Booking Holdings gears up to consolidate its fragmented, 3-brand offering. What’s clear from Expedia’s second quarter announcement, which saw its B2B unit’s revenue jump 23% year-over-year, is