2020 Archives

Wex Chair and CEO Melissa Smith has proven her mettle by being a shrewd negotiator, going up against the famously ferocious activist investor Elliott Management, part-owner of Travelport.

Lufthansa Group has led a years-long uprising by large airlines against the tech middlemen Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport. This new pact validates a changed commercial, technological, and marketing strategy at Sabre under CEO Sean Menke in recent years.

Uniting sales, marketing, distribution, and loyalty divisions under one common vision can create operational efficiencies for large hospitality brands, but maintaining local relevance at the individual hotel level is just as important.

A Sri Lanka reopening may be imminent. More importantly, the destination is looking beyond Covid-19 to reposition itself yet again, taking lessons from the Easter Sunday bombings crisis to find its place in the tourism universe.

While some payments companies are retreating from the travel vertical, others are doubling down – with solutions focused on making the payments experience better, simpler, and more consistent across different geographies and platforms.

Calling for an ethical nomination process, a new petition spearheaded by respected voices in the industry— including former secretary general Taleb Rifai — could lead to a potential shakedown at UNWTO in 2021, just as travel enters a year in which a unified tourism voice will be sorely needed.

Unprecedented losses forced airlines to focus on cash burn as the metric to watch early on during the coronavirus pandemic. The recent surge in new infections has delayed breakeven goals but, with billions of dollars on hand, most are looking ahead and getting ready for when travelers return in droves.

Hilton’s growth milestone shows M&A isn’t the only way to be a major player. Here's why big deals matter less at the hotel giant.

Star Alliance says its move to Amazon Web Services has let it more quickly enhance many passengers' processes. That's promising news because a lot of digital innovation is still needed for booking and traveling on international itineraries served by more than one carrier.

We've all read about how careful airlines are being with new cleanliness and air filtration measures. But Bill Lentsch pull backs the veil to offer an insider's glimpse of how Delta Air Lines has made those decisions, juggling customer anxieties, medical expertise and the realities of marketing safety.