Travel

Skift Take Gangwal’s appointment comes after activist investor Elliott criticized the airline’s board for not having enough directors with external airline experience. Meghna Maharishi Southwest Airlines announced Monday it is adding longtime airline executive and IndiGo co-founder Rakesh Gangwal to its board of directors.  The move appears to be the airline’s latest defense from hedge

Skift Take Established brands and rising Millennial and Gen Z demand are transforming India’s travel landscape through authentic, immersive short-term rentals. Varsha Arora, Skift Vacation rentals still represent a relatively small segment in India’s hospitality industry. Research we put out last August (India on the Move: A Traveler Survey) showed around 62% of Indian travelers

Skift Take After a snap U.K. election, the results are in. A landslide for the Labour party means aviation pledges should soon turn into practice. The industry will be watching. Pranjal Pande, Skift It’s the morning after a resounding Labour victory in the United Kingdom. As Sir Keir Starmer’s center-left party prepares to ascend to

Skift Take Mid-sized cities are becoming the new hotspots for July 4th getaways. Rashaad Jorden Travelers heading to destinations along the Atlantic coast for the Fourth of July weekend booked short-term rentals in large numbers. However, New York City didn’t see as many short-term rentals as it did last year for the holiday. Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and

Skift Take Earlier this year, the Indian government gave a boost to the tourism budget for development, but cut down the global promotion allocation by 97%. Now, as the final Budget is around the corner, the industry is hoping for a more significant resolution to its challenges. Bulbul Dhawan In February, the Indian government had

Skift Take While the extended-stay hotel boom may be more of a slow burn than a supernova, hotel brands with patience and deep pockets may find the long-term rewards to be substantial. Sean O’Neill America’s hotel companies have invested heavily in extended stays. Last year, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham all began rolling out brands

It’s been a busy time for travel startups – 17 of them announced fundraises totaling over $317 million in the past three weeks. There’s a lot of variety in the areas these companies are working in: flying taxis, skiing tours, renewable jet fuel, loyalty, pest control, luggage, and a new travel media brand. Four the

Skift Take As climate policies raise the cost of air travel, particularly in Europe, some destination marketers may find it’s riskier to bet on tourism growth from long-haul markets. Sean O’Neill Should Europe’s tourism agencies stop trying to get travelers to fly long distances for quick visits? The issue is climate change and these long-haul

Skift Take It might be Independence Day, but the sky-high ties between the two countries have never been stronger. Gordon Smith As the United States celebrates July 4 and the Declaration of Independence from British colonial rule, there are signs that the two nations have never been closer.  New data shows that the number of

Skift Take Now you know why online travel companies do so much A/B testing. The whole world seems to depend on whether a price disclosure is in a bold or light font. Fee transparency is being put to its own test in California. Dennis Schaal The Big Three travel booking sites — Booking.com, Airbnb, and

Skift Take Southwest is adopting a shareholder rights plan — known as a “poison pill” — to fend off Elliott from attaining a controlling stake in the company. Meghna Maharishi Southwest Airlines’ board of directors approved a limited-duration shareholder rights plan in response to Elliott Investment Management’s 11% stake in the company.  The carrier said

Skift Take Tripadvisor has been brand-building in the past year, both for its Viator and Tripadvisor brands. Can it do both? Dennis Schaal If there were any sizzle about Tripadvisor in recent years, it came from its fast-growing tours and activities brand, Viator, which launched a national ad campaign in November. But parent company Tripadvisor

Skift Take The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are all pushing ahead with theme park projects. Josh Corder Despite the scorching heat, countries in the Middle East are continuing to build theme parks. Qatar is the latest, greenlighting a $5.5 billion project 40 minutes north of the capital Doha. It’s called Simaisma and it’s been

Skift Take Japan’s most iconic peak is scaling new heights in tourism management. A new entry fee may be modest, but a daily cap on visitors should reduce overtourism on peak days. Dawit Habtemariam This summer, tourists will no longer have free access to the popular Yoshida Trail that goes to the summit of Mount

Skift Take Boeing executives will be hoping that the Spirit AeroSystems deal helps it regain the narrative following production quality concerns. Gordon Smith Boeing has agreed to a deal to buy one of its key suppliers. On Monday, it was announced that the plane maker would acquire the majority of Spirit AeroSystems in a multi-billion

Skift Take If Boeing is convicted of committing a felony, it could become harder for the plane maker to win contract work with the federal government. Meghna Maharishi The Justice Department is planning to ask Boeing to plead guilty for deceiving federal regulators about certain aspects of the 737 Max 8, which led to two

Skift Take New union leader Gwen Mills is preparing for tough negotiations as contracts between hotel groups and about 40,000 hotel workers are set to expire. Sean O’Neill After the labor union Unite Here elected Gwen Mills its president on June 20, Mills said she expected a showdown over worker contracts with major hotel groups

Skift Take The Dutch capital’s cruise stop cap and eventual relocation of its main terminal are part of an active approach toward combatting overtourism. Dawit Habtemariam Amsterdam plans to start cutting the number of ships that can stop at its main port terminal over the coming years, its municipal government said Wednesday. Starting in 2026,