2017 Archives

With basic economy soon available on American, Delta, and United, it's worth comparing the pros and cons of each fare. American's may be good for elite travelers while Delta's is best for those with baggage.

Every winter we get the best travel porn of the year: the ubiquitous Where-to-Go-This-Year lists, filled with panoramic photography and sexy descriptions of the destinations that made the cut. Then after the excitement of the big reveal wears off, the supertravelers start arguing about how such-and-such place could possibly be ranked number one, or left off the list completely. Here's a look into the thankless editorial process of creating those lists.

Skift recently released our Megtrends Defining Travel in 2017. One trend, Humanity Returns to Travel, notes that, “all of the data in the world is much more powerful when placed in the hands of a well-trained, empathic person who can anticipate, be flexible, and help steward a cohesive experience.” This observation is coming to life through 2016’s increase, and 2017’s predicted increase in travelers seeking the services of travel agents/consultants.

Now that all the legacy carriers have their Spirit Air-like fares, the big question is what comes next for passenger experience?

Google is aggressively placing itself more prominently than ever between the consumer and the airline in the quest for bookings. What does it mean? Airlines are getting more qualified leads but are losing control and getting even more beholden to Google.

The biggest conclusion here is that hoteliers can't afford to dismiss the impact, however large or minuscule it may be, that Airbnb is having on the lodging industry, and on their bottom lines, too. Plenty of reports may tell us different things, but the universal thread is that Airbnb is here, and it can't be ignored.

Corporate travel is finally starting to learn lessons from the consumer travel space, mostly because business travelers have been trained by their leisure travel to expect robust booking tools and more control over their trips. The travel management companies that focus the most on improving their traveler-facing technology will win this battle, and improve their clients’ travel experience in the process.

Airbnb and HomeAway clones are a dime-a-dozen. But we found a handful carving out niche market segments that seem promising. These startups focus on travelers interested in corporate-friendly lodgings, architecture and design properties, Asia's top destinations, and exclusive luxury residences.

We already knew Hilton feels it needs more brands to compete, but weaving this particular "soft brand" into the fold, for lack of a better description, feels a bit like it's more of a blanket statement kind of brand, than one with a truly carved out identity. Or one that doesn't "occupy the same swim lanes" as some of Hilton's other brands — something Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta has been critical of, in particular, with his company's biggest rival, the 30-brand juggernaut, Marriott.

The Prime Minister’s speech was her most significant yet on the subject of Brexit. It gave a clear indication of how the UK would look to leave the European Union, allowing us to analyze how this might affect the travel and tourism industry.