Lighthouse Launches AI Assistant for Hotel Commercial Teams
Hotel teams already have too many dashboards. Ernest has to prove it can simplify commercial work, not become one more place to check.
News
Why A&O Hostels Is Buying Europe’s Empty Buildings
Most hospitality groups are shedding real estate. a&o is picking it up at distressed prices — a contrarian move that works up until the deals, or the lenders, run dry.
Klook Co-Founder Bets AI Can Finally Fix Travel Experiences Discovery
Klook has no grand OTA ambitions, at least for now. Its bigger bet is that AI can smooth out the messiness of experiences booking and help it deepen its lead in the category while pulling travelers into adjacent trip spend.
For Daily Lodging Report Subscribers
Hotel Groups Bet on India Tourism Boom
Major hotel groups are betting a domestic tourism boom in India can withstand a broader consumer spending slowdown and stock market slump. Plus, more hotel deal and development news from APAC.
How Ken Chenault Became Travel’s Most Consequential Non-Operator
One person connects the Amex GBT take-private, Airbnb’s board, a $10.75 billion travel loyalty startup, and Berkshire Hathaway’s governance committee.
Skift Meetings
Meeting Planners Are Done With Forced Networking — Here’s What’s Working Instead
Meeting planners are rethinking conference networking. Here’s how Louisville is creating more experiential attendee connections.
Apple’s Rebuilt Siri Opens New Doors for Travel Apps
Apple's rebuilt Siri is not booking trips. But it is getting better at understanding the messy context around them.
Skift Meetings
Police Eject Attendees From Diabetes Conference — Did the Association Go Too Far?
As meetings become increasingly vulnerable to political tensions and activism, planners are forced to decide where to draw the line between free expression and disruption.
New $750 Fee Lets Travelers Jump the U.S. Visa Line
One immigration attorney calls the latest U.S. travel fee a step toward a two-tiered system: one path for the rich, another for everyone else.
For Daily Lodging Report Subscribers
Jefferies Says Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham Are Best Positioned in Current Hotel Environment
Jefferies described its NYU/NAREIT meetings as being among the most constructive in recent memory. Plus, other hotel deal and development news.
AI Is Breaking Travel’s Search Economics.
On Monday's Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast, Brandreth Canaley, Michael Goldin, and Jamie Lane break down what AI is actually doing to travel economics and operations right now.
Skyscanner CEO on Agentic Booking and the Future of Flight Metasearch
Given Skyscanner's leading global footprint in flights, it isn't hard to envision an LLM extracting it from Trip.com Group to accelerate building a travel vertical.