Big Hoteliers Battle for Travelodge UK and 11 Other Coronavirus Travel Stories This Week

IHG, Hilton, Marriott Among Hotel Giants Battling for UK Budget Hotel Chain: Major hotel companies are swooping into the negotiating room for a deal with Travelodge’s UK landlords because they represent the most durable line of business in the volatile industry at the moment: economy, drive-to properties.

We May Never See as Many Business Travelers as Before: Delta Air Lines CEO: On most financials, Delta has been one of the two strongest U.S. airlines for some time. But it reported a massive second quarter loss. If it’s this dire for Delta, how will the rest of the U.S. airlines fare? Here’s a hint: Not well.

Carnival and Royal Caribbean Receive UK Coronavirus Aid After Cruise Snub in U.S.: Given the longstanding critique of the cruise industry’s business model, some critics were pleasantly surprised when U.S. Congress declined to give federal assistance to the industry back in April. Few noticed when the UK did just that as part of its Covid-19 corporate recovery package.

U.S. Travelers Pull Back on Travel Plans Even as Restrictions Lift: Skift’s New Travel Tracker Survey: With 33 percent of Americans taking at least one trip, June travel tells a promising story of the reopening. But it might be a very short-lived promise.

Travel Companies Are Hiring Despite Epic Job Losses: Amidst the carnage, there are job openings in the travel industry. However, many of the opportunities won’t get rank-and-file restaurant or hospitality workers back collecting paychecks and benefits anytime soon.

Undersized JetBlue Wants to Leverage This Crisis to Grow at Big Airports: JetBlue wants to expand in a time of crisis. It should be a sound strategy. But there’s a potential problem: All U.S. airlines are in considerable trouble, including JetBlue.

Airbnb Shakes Up Hosting Management While Resuming Plans to Go Public: Tapping one person to head “hosting” for both homes and experiences isn’t the most savvy of moves. Airbnb has a ton of work to do to mend relations with alienated home rental hosts. Experience hosting is likewise complex — and a very different animal.

Hilton Expands New Cleaning Standard in Pitch to Host Meetings and Events Pre-Vaccine:
It will be a while before group meeting and event revenue streams have fully recovered for hotels, but plans like Hilton’s are needed to give clients confidence to begin thinking about returning to the kind of in-person events that also boost hotel occupancy rates.

Just What Is a HEPA Filter and Why Is It Giving the Travel Industry Hope?: HEPA filters could help keep make travelers feel safe when traveling. Is it going be enough to get people back out there again?

Ryanair Launches New Assault Against Unauthorized Bookings Over Refunds: Airlines such as Ryanair, as well as hotels, have long argued that online travel sites are stingy about providing them with customer information, and that’s a solid point. Could Ryanair have done more until now to provide passengers with refunds? Definitely.

Why This Is a Seminal Moment for Asia’s Domestic Travel Market: The big migration to domestic travel has begun. Such a momentous occasion will surely bring about changes, especially in Southeast Asia where inbound has always stolen the limelight over local business.

Should Anyone in the U.S. Be Traveling Right Now? Industry Trade Group Responds: As cases surge in the U.S. — and show no signs of slowing down in many states — should anyone be advocating travel at all? Read what the U.S. Travel Association has to say.