Travel

Oravel Stays, the parent company of Indian hospitality company Oyo, on Tuesday completed its $525 million acquisition of G6 Hospitality from private equity firm Blackstone Real Estate. This deal brings the Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands, synonymous with affordable lodging, into Oyo’s fold, furthering its plans to strengthen its foothold in the U.S. hospitality

Hilton is expanding its luxury brands worldwide, and using a tailored regional approach to wooing owners organically —instead of acquiring portfolios. “The further east you go, the longer the asset is normally held because it’s usually a generational investment driven by a sense of family pride,” said Dino Michael, senior vice president and global head

Price is the ultimate travel dealbreaker in the Asia Pacific region (APAC), according to a new survey from Indonesia-based travel platform Traveloka. Affordability ranks as a critical factor for travelers across the region when making decisions. Nearly half of travelers across the region put cost above all else when booking accommodations, with promotions playing a

I’ve long argued that some instances of so-called luxury hospitality have become an assembly line. Major hotel groups, in their pursuit of more profit, have attempted to standardize and scale what was once a craft. Think shoddy buildouts, inexperienced staff, and a mindset that treats guests as suckers with fistfuls of cash. The factory farming

Morocco has had one of its best years for tourism as the North African country shows that it is ready to co-host the FIFA World Cup in 2030. The country had 15.9 million tourists by the end of November 2024, the Ministry of Tourism announced in a press release, a 20% increase over last year.

Each year, Skift’s Megatrends charts the course for the travel industry, spotlighting the key forces that will define the year ahead. (Check out last year’s predictions here.) As we step into 2025, this highly anticipated event returns for its 12th edition, hosting exclusive gatherings in New York City and London, presented by Allianz. Why Attend

It’s been a rough year for Star Alliance membership. It lost SAS to SkyTeam and now it’s set to lose Asiana after its merger with Korean Air was approved.  But it’s still the largest airline alliance in the industry, ahead of SkyTeam and Oneworld. Star Alliance members include United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa and Turkish

It’s been over a year since the Umusic Hotels chain launched its first property in Madrid. So Skift caught up with the brand’s president, Jordi Solé, to learn about the brand’s strategy. Umusic Hotels, the live-performance-themed brand created by Universal Music Group (UMG) and investor Dakia Entertainment Hospitality Group, is scoping out new hotels in

Flying taxi startups have been raising a lot of money this year. Archer Aviation is on the list this week for another $430 million, making its total $660 million this year. The company’s latest fundraise was the second-largest this year for an electric aircraft startup. The largest was $500 million for Joby Aviation in October.

A striking new study published in Nature Communications by academic researchers Ya-Yen Sun, Futu Faturay, Manfred Lenzen, Stefan Gössling and James Higham has quantified a vast gulf in the carbon footprints of global travelers: Residents of high-income countries now generate more than 100 times the tourism-related emissions per person than those living in the world’s

In its first significant outreach effort since 2017, Tourism Malaysia on Friday will launch “The Malaysia Mix,” a campaign designed to attract U.S. and Canadian travelers to the country. The digital-exclusive campaign will debut on Facebook and Instagram. A significant long-haul market for Malaysia, Canadian and U.S. passport holders do not require a visa to

Sometimes Black, Latino/Hispanic and Asian people in the U.S. feel that their Airbnb reservation requests are getting rejected by hosts because of their race, but Airbnb said it trimmed the booking acceptance gap with whites in 2023 compared with 2021. In an announcement Thursday – “How we’re using data to make travel more open for

Domestic mid-market hotel brands in India have competitive edge over international players and hotel technology company Hotelogix says in a new whitepaper. Mid-market Indian hotel brands account for 60% of the total branded rooms in India, it noted.  India has several hospitality chains operating in the mid-market segment. Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) operates 3-star hotel

It’s been more than two years since the Federal Trade Commission said it was exploring a rule to crack down on junk fees. But the rule hasn’t gotten over the finish line.  President-elect Trump said Tuesday he would appoint a new FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson, and there will be a Republican majority at the FTC.

Americans are set to hit the roads and skies in record numbers during the last dozen days of the year. About 119 million people will journey 50 miles or more during the Christmas season, according to estimates released Wednesday by travel organization AAA. This forecast represents a 3% increase compared to 2019. Key Takeaways: Air

For years, hotels have treated their digital storefronts with all the imagination of a Soviet-era grocery. Guests faced dreary drop-down menus that reduced the art of hospitality to generic choices like “Economy Standard” and “1 Queen Bed Suite.” Sensing a missed opportunity, hotels are embarking on their most ambitious technological change in decades to transform

The visa process for Indian travelers continues to ease. Over the past few months, many countries, including Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, have announced visa waivers for Indian passport holders. And for good reason.  India is emerging as a key player in outbound tourism with annual growth of 11%. “Our data indicates increased interest in

This is the sixth in a series of video diaries I am doing while spending time in Morocco for a family commitment. I am experimenting with this video diary format to share my thoughts on the travel industry through the lens of my stay here. Here’s the first one, which was on preserving authenticity in a