Travel

Airbnb has gone through several false starts with its experiences business, first launched more than a decade ago. It has relaxed its long-held resistance to high-demand mainstream tours of landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. But now the question is whether it can succeed by marketing to locals — something few other experiences companies have found

Driving Innovation and Partnerships Forward Christine Duffy, President, Carnival Cruise Line Moderated by Peter Greenberg, CBS News THE VERDICT Guest behaviors are materially changing. Duffy said the behavioral shift since COVID is real and measurable: guests who used to request 8 p.m. late seating are now lining up at 5 p.m., and “people absolutely do

Staying Agile in an Unpredictable Market Corneel Koster, CEO, Virgin Atlantic Moderated by Gordon Smith, Skift THE VERDICT Reconfiguring a fleet to carry nearly as many premium seats as economy is a decade-long bet on premium demand. Koster said it’s “not a bet, it’s an investment.” He called premium demand “insatiable” and said the airline

Key Points Expedia filed a Washington WARN notice for 58 Seattle roles, with exits between November 21 and December 1. The company said the changes mostly affect its global finance team. Technical work absorbs most of the hit: 31 technical roles, including 18 in data science and machine learning across loyalty, payments, sponsored listings, marketing

Skift Research: Travel’s Great Recalibration Index Seth Borko, Head of Research, Skift THE VERDICT AI is shrinking the consideration set. Borko said the old world of search had dozens of links; the new world of agentic curation will have a shortlist. The brands that don’t stand for something specific will be the first to disappear

Creating Value for Travelers and Investing in the Future Ariane Gorin, CEO, Expedia Group Moderated by Dennis Schaal, Skift THE VERDICT Every travel company with a direct channel faces the same question when a new platform gains traction quickly: join it and risk losing control, or stay off of it and risk being left out.

As hotel owners push back on major groups over costs and fees, Hyatt Chairman, President, and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said Thursday his company’s response comes down to mindset. “The mindset of being an owner leads you to put yourself in the shoes of an owner, and really understand you have to eat your own cooking

Accor doesn’t have one Asia strategy. It has several. In China, the hotel giant is leaning on H World to help double its footprint to 1,600 hotels. In India, it is looking for new partners. In Vietnam, major developers are driving an unexpected surge in signings. And across the region, conversions and franchising are increasingly

Qatar Airways CEO Hamed Al-Khater said the carrier is not ready to pass on fuel costs to customers just yet, citing a competitive landscape in the Middle East.  “We’re just kicking the can down the road from that side of things, and as a result, we just have to get used to this fuel price

Royal Caribbean Group is close to a deal to buy half of Sandals Resorts, the operator of 12 all-inclusive properties across the Caribbean, according to reports on Tuesday. The cruise line would take a stake in the privately held resort operator in a deal that would value Sandals Resorts at roughly $6 billion, according to

Expedia’s Vrbo recently launched sponsored listings, which lets a vacation rental pay to rank higher in search results. Airbnb sees it as a billion dollar opportunity. And all of this is taking place just as AI agents are poised to disrupt these paid placements. That’s because an AI agent can scan an OTA’s hotel or

Key Points An equipment outage tied to the Philadelphia TRACON prompted FAA ground stops at JFK, Newark, and Philadelphia and a ground delay at LaGuardia, resulting in hundreds of cancellations and delays. Newark and Philadelphia were the most affected, with Newark’s major hub carrier United issuing flight waivers to impacted customers. The disruption highlights persistent

Ras Al Khaimah plans to shift from a value destination to a premium one.  “Around 13.3% of the current hotel inventory is in the luxury five-star category. By 2030, 80% of our keys are going to be premium,” said Phillipa Harrison, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. This year brings the 258-key Rotana

A $250 million injection that propped up Brand USA’s post-Covid spending is starting to wind down, leaving the nation’s tourism marketing arm bracing for the full brunt of last year’s federal funding cuts.  A one-time funding boost from 2022 has helped Brand USA operate with a nearly fully funded budget, despite a subsequent federal funding

Dara Khosrowshahi has spent much of his career expanding platforms beyond their original center of gravity. When he took over Expedia in 2005, it was already a broad online travel business spanning hotels, flights, cars, and packages. Over the next decade, he helped push that model further across more products, markets, and brands, reinforcing the

There are not many billion-dollar companies in travel that almost no one in the industry has heard of. OneSpaWorld may be one of them. The company operates spas and wellness centers on more than 200 cruise ships, serving fleets including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess, Celebrity, Disney and Virgin Voyages. It estimates it

Ask most travel companies where the value is and they’ll point to discovery and the sale. Steve Singh points past it, to servicing, the unglamorous work that starts once the trip is booked. The Spotnana executive chairman and CEO, who joins Skift Global Forum on September 22–24, 2026, argues that AI is quietly rebuilding the

When a traveler asks an AI assistant where to stay, the hotels it names are the ones whose content the model can actually read. IHG is rebuilding for that moment. Heather Balsley, the group’s Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer, joins Skift Global Forum on September 22–24, 2026, to explain the content overhaul behind it, and