The 15 Biggest Travel Stories of 2013

Big travel news kept us on our toes this year. The top stories of 2013 ranged from those that seemingly came out of nowhere, such as the Department of Justice’s intervention into the then-seemingly done deal US Airways and American Airlines merger, to the FAA in-flight electronics go-ahead, which sage observers debated for months before it happened. Some top stories were financial, others social, and most turned out to be immediately impactful in 2013, great topics of conversation, and their influence will be felt into 2014 and far beyond. Here’s Skift’s perpective on the top 15 travel stories of 2013: Travel "Disruption" Meets Regulations: Airbnb had to start dealing with the fact that hosts in its largest markets are often breaking the law, while e-hail taxi companies started to make nice with regulators in California and New York City. The U.S. Senate Takes No Guff From Carnival: After its Triumph "poop cruise" debacle, Carnival found that the U.S. Senate wouldn’t be compliant as usual and confronted vociferous calls for a cruise passengers' bill of rights and repayments for heretofore freebie U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy rescues of its ships. Passengers didn’t get all they needed, but Carnival caved in on these two issues. BBC Sells Lonely Planet to Kentucky Billionaire: After mi