Barcelona’s Overtourism and 9 Other Tourism Trends This Week

Throughout the week we post dozens of original stories, connecting the dots across the travel industry, and every weekend we sum it all up. This weekend roundup examines tourism.

For all of our weekend roundups, go here.

>>The big are getting even bigger. The combined entity of Travel Leaders Group and Altour will be a strong competitor in the U.S. and abroad: Altour Joins Travel Leaders Group in Latest Travel Agency Consolidation Move

>>UK travelers, along with travelers from many other countries, are facing a lot of uncertainty these days about the value of their currencies. It will take more than a few famous filming locations to convince UK and other travelers to visit a place like Ireland: Ireland Is Blaming Currency Issues For Decline in UK Visitors Post-Brexit

>>We’re excited to go deep into one of the more pressing issues in travel today in our first ever original short film: Documentary: Barcelona and the Trials of 21st Century Overtourism

>>We’ve had our gaze on the travel industry for the past five years, and now we turn that view into moving pictures with our new Skift Lens series of documentary reports: Launching Skift Lens Documentary Unit

>>These four entrepreneurs took the first steps toward what would become modern adventure and luxury travel, and their first-hand accounts hold lessons — and entertainment — for all those who followed in their wake: A Brief History of Personality-Driven Luxury Travel Companies

>>As European rivers become overcrowded, luxury travelers are looking to escape the masses. They are finding the isolation they seek in Peru’s Amazon region: The Luxury Cruise Lines Sailing the Waters of the Amazon

>>Cruise.co’s mix of reviews and vacations has helped fuel its rise. Its private equity owners obviously want it to get even bigger and to do so it needs to buy up the competition: UK Cruise Agency Buys German Rival to Create ‘European Leader’

>>Royal Caribbean Cruises has stuck by its plan to avoid lowering fares to fill up ships, and that strategy appears to be working. But the cruise operator is benefitting from a lot of other factors right now too: Royal Caribbean Says Just About Everything Is Going Right

>>WTTC is staying committed to its goal of helping the global travel industry speak with one voice. But with Guevara’s appointment, it’s signaling the need for more women in leadership roles and the importance of Latin America’s tourism growth: WTTC Appoints Mexico’s Gloria Guevara Manzo as Its First Female CEO

>>The digital tools are out there to track travelers. But why aren’t more companies training employees to react appropriately in a crisis situation? Safety Is Still a Work in Progress — Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report