2020 › February

This week in hospitality news, hundreds of millions in losses, disgruntled partners, and unsatisfied guests: Oyo has gone from startup darling to something of a black sheep, and CEO Ritesh Agarwal still isn't ready to change up his playbook yet. Plus, Choice Hotels sees the upside in corporate travel and is expanding its extended stay brands.

This week in aviation news, is brand loyalty (ahem, free premium snacks) going to be enough to keep JetBlue's Boston customers from getting cozy with the competition as American and Delta make moves to increase their presence at the Beantown hub? Plus, we discover that Delta's CEO is firmly in the "do not recline your seat" camp.

In digital news this week, Google is so omnipresent that even a small tweak to the way that its searches work can have an impact on the rest of the travel industry. Plus, Skift talks with Booking.com's new chief marketing officer about his hopes for the company.

The European single market is a sacred thing and anyone caught trying to divide it up like the old days is liable to be on the receiving end of a punishment. In this case, Meliá's cooperation with the investigation has helped cut its fine.

Several travel companies, such as Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Frankfurt Airport, have used the services of Loyalty Prime, a startup that builds next-generation software for running loyalty programs. Loyalty Prime's new funding is part of a wave of investment that we expect to see in loyalty tech companies.

Rather than boycotting travel to Myanmar entirely, a more responsible form of tourism would be to avoid unethical establishments while supporting good practices on the ground.

It turns out simplifying travel programs isn't a major priority for most organizations. This is an unfortunate reality, leaving travel buyers with numerous challenges.

Getting new books in the hands of luxury travelers benefits everyone. It improves the guest experience, drives loyalty to hotels, and raises the profile of authors. Because of this, we'll likely see more luxury properties partnering with Bedside Reading, the company that's making it happen.

Hyatt Hotels had a strong year in 2019, so the story it had to tell on Thursday wasn't all dreary. The problem is that shareholders and guests hate uncertainty. And so far the travel industry faces nothing but uncertainty, left beholden to how the coronavirus crisis evolves.

For the moment, the drop in fuel price is benefiting Air France-KLM, but if the coronavirus outbreak doesn't ease off, this could all change.