Travel

Skift Take Did Ariane Gorin’s strategy changes speed Peter Kern’s departure from the Expedia Group board? Dennis Schaal Former Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern gave up his vice chairman role and exited the board, the company announced. It said Kern “agreed” to do so “given the speed and success of the Company’s recent management transition.”

Skift Take The head of an industry trade group sounded the alarm for ultra-low-cost carriers as airlines like Spirit and Frontier face declining profits. However, other carriers in the industry have seen some success despite industry headwinds. Meghna Maharishi Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines haven’t been profitable in recent years. And now they’re making moves

Skift Take Google envisions a world where a physical wallet is obsolete. That means a digital ID and wallet for security checkpoints, boarding passes, age verification at bars, payments, car rentals, and more. Justin Dawes Google Wallet will soon enable the ability to store a digital version of a U.S. passport. The company said Thursday that

GMR Airports Infrastructure Limited has entered into an agreement with Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide to acquire Fraport’s 10% stake in the Delhi International Airport. With this, GMR will hold a 74% equity stake in the airport, while the remaining 26% stake will continue to be with Airports Authority of India (AAI).  GMR is

Skift Take We all read about Saudi Arabia’s ambitious giga-projects and want for international tourists, but for now, business is still coming from more traditional sources. Josh Corder Saudis are exploring their own country in bigger numbers and foreigners are bringing the cash. That’s the takeaway from a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Amid reports of increasing demand for travel for the upcoming festive season, Skift reached out to travel services companies to understand the trends in festive season travel. “In anticipation of the upcoming Eid-e-Milad extended weekend on September 15 and 16, we have observed an increase in searches across domestic and international destinations,” Santosh Kumar, Country

Skift Take For Rome’s tourism chief, cracking down on short-term rentals and managing visitor traffic at Trevi Fountain are the top priorities when it comes to combatting overtourism. Dawit Habtemariam Rome is looking to clamp down on overcrowding and tourist misbehavior at the Trevi Fountain, one of the world’s most iconic and popular attractions, with

Skift Take Indian airlines are accounting for a larger share in international traffic to and from India. However, this is likely in part due to the government’s restriction on additional bilateral flying rights. Bulbul Dhawan Indian carriers accounted for more than 45% of the international traffic to and from India during the April-June quarter. As

Skift Take Greece’s prime minister acknowledged there’s an overtourism problem in his country that needs to be addressed but he thinks it’s only confined to Santorini and Mykonos. Dawit Habtemariam Greece plans to tax cruise passengers that step foot on the islands Santorini and Mykonos and ban new short-term rentals in three of Athens’ central

Skift Take This month brings the return of the Skift Global Forum, where travel executives will offer no shortage of opinions about the state of the industry. What topics will they discuss? Rashaad Jorden Skift Global Forum will return to New York this month, and — as always — it will feature travel industry leaders

“Experiences” are becoming a growth engine for the travel sector. An expanding segment of travelers are demanding immersive, cultural interactions at destinations as an alternative to checklist visits of famous sights. The tours and activities sector was valued at $239 billion in 2019 and is forecast to hit nearly $300 billion by 2025. “The biggest

Skift Take Expedia, eTraveli Group, lastminute.com, Kiwi, loveholidays.com and Omio have authorized access to Ryanair flights. eDreams Odigeo is missing in action — and it hurts. Dennis Schaal Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary accused his counterpart at eDreams Odigeo of misleading his shareholders when he stated that high courts in Europe have already decided that eDreams

Hotel earnings season has ended, so Skift reviewed what executives at hotel companies belonging to the Skift Travel 200 (ST200) said. We looked at companies beyond the half-dozen largest hotel groups. Here are seven themes that stood out. 1. Hotels Adjust to “Normalized” Labor Patterns Perhaps the most used term on earnings calls was “normalization.”

Skift Take A tourist attraction has cut ties with Visit Florida over its LGTBQ Travel removal. It’s only one but more could follow, putting pressure on the organization to change course. Dawit Habtemariam Stonewall National Museum & Archives has ended its decade-old membership with Visit Florida after the organization removed its LGBTQ Travel page. “As

Skift Take Once snobbishly consigned to the ‘bucket and spade brigade,’ package holidays are one of the fastest-growing products in UK travel. This lucrative opportunity to diversify revenue has not gone unnoticed by British Airways or easyJet, with both airlines rapidly expanding their highly profitable holiday divisions.  Pranjal Pande and Gordon Smith, Skift Package holidays

Skift Take Like many condos in New York City, home-swapping isn’t addressed in Local Law 18. Should it be? Dennis Schaal Home-swapping has thrived in New York City since Local Law 18 went into effect one year ago and placed tight restrictions on short-term rentals. HomeExchange, a leader in this space, has seen a 53.6%

Skift Take For eSky, Thomas Cook’s storied brand offers a shortcut to recognition in Western Europe. Or at least that’s the wager of eSky’s new private equity backer MCI Capital. As for Fosun, what will it sell next? Club Med? Sean O’Neill Fosun is offloading Thomas Cook to eSky, a Poland-based online travel agency group,

Skift Take The Indian hotel industry is expected to grow over the next three years for several reasons: limited room supply, growing demand, better infrastructure. The demand-supply gap is a positive aspect, but could also cause issues if not carefully dealt with. Bulbul Dhawan The Indian hospitality sector is set to grow at an annual