2017 Archives

The chief marketing officer of La Quinta Inns & Suites offers a glimpse of how the hotel company is thinking about business traveler needs. It's not a segment anyone can take for granted.

In some ways, building a boutique hotel brand isn't much different from when the first pioneers did it in the early 1980s. The only distinction is that today, the competition is certainly tougher and increasingly more abundant.

The big chains now offer special book-direct deals through Google Hotel Ads. This helps with click-through and conversions, but also with new loyalty member acquisition — everything a growing hotel chain needs in an ad partner.

Given the rise of homesharing and shared workspaces, there are plenty of more external forces at work that will impact the extended stay market in the coming years. The key to success for Extended Stay America's new CEO will be taking these all into account.

Diversifying a travel company's C-suite is proving to be a protracted battle. It's one thing to follow anti-discrimination laws and react to sexual harassment claims, and another to practice real inclusion.

Expedia CEO Mark Okerstrom believes there's room for both its HomeAway unit, as well as Airbnb, in the growing alternative accommodations market. It sounds as though he expects big things from vacation rental booking site HomeAway in 2018.

This week in tourism, cruise lines look ahead to a promising 2018, and Skift reporters look back at 2017. Check out our list of 25 Travel Moments That Mattered from this past year — three travel bans were just the beginning.

This week in aviation, Lufthansa switches to a spend-based loyalty program, as many airlines are doing, and we look back at the biggest aviation headlines of 2017. The laptop ban and the Qatar blockade made the list.

This week in hospitality, Airbnb gets a boost for its hotel-like venture, and we had our eye on vacation rentals. HomeAway hikes fees for property owners, Vacasa's CEO speaks about a fragmented sector, and luxury presents new opportunities.

This week in digital news, tourism boards concentrate on WeChat, and Skift reporters examine the effects of the new U.S. tax law on travel companies' bottom lines.