Skift Take

In Skift's top travel stories this week, we covered how Expedia Group redrew its org chart, Hong Kong's tourism prospects, and how a Cape Cod, Massachusetts cafe owner is getting ready for an expected visitor surge.

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier.

Expedia Trims Business Units, Sees a Trio of Executive Departures: Does the reorganization and leadership shuffle make Expedia Group a proverbial lean, mean fighting machine to better compete? As with all these things, it will all depend on the execution.

What’s Next for Weary Hong Kong After Bubble With Singapore Burst Again?: reopening with mainland China would be a lifeboat for Hong Kong’s beleaguered tourism industry. Talks seem to be escalating but hopes are kept in check as vaccine hesitancy for now serves as a real bummer for recovery.

David Neeleman’s Fifth Act: David Neeleman has the airline bug. At 61, he is launching his fifth carrier, Breeze Airways. The concept is simple: apply the low trip-cost model behind the success of Azul in Brazil to the U.S. — with a twist.

Airbnb to Introduce Host Improvements and Flexible Search Tools for Guests: Airbnb is pledging to make improvements to hosts’ tools, some of which the company merely announced because implementation will take several months. Hosts will be looking to see if there is substance beyond public relations exercises.

How One Cape Cod Cafe Owner Is Tackling Worker Shortages Ahead of Summer’s Tourism Rush: Spoon and Seed’s owner says tough times pushed him to wear his business hat first, and the chef one second. The result —resilience amid a major tourism downturn, with a reimagined menu and a new staff management model built to face the upcoming summer visitor surge.

The Professionalization of Short-Term Rentals at Apartment Complexes Is Speeding Up: When residents of an apartment complex are away, Orion Haus lists and rents the units on their behalf as short-term rentals. A major new deal makes Orion Haus the largest of the apartment management companies, such as Daydream and Natiivo, that are professionalizing the short-term rental sector.

Travel’s Rebound Is Becoming Even More Unequal: New Skift Recovery Index: The travel recovery continues, but the strong performance of a few standout countries, including the U.S., Mexico, and China, disguises continuing weakness in especially Europe and Asia.

Hilton Shows Investing in Lifestyle Hotels Isn’t Solely About the Trendy: Lifestyle hotels come in many forms, with some focused more on the hip and trendy while, others like Hilton see it as an opportunity to scale up more experiential and food-focused properties around the world. Long story short: We still don’t have a textbook definition for what a lifestyle hotel actually is.

Investor With $1 Billion War Chest May Pump $200 Million Into College-Focused Hotel Brand: Acore’s $200 million investment in Graduate Hotels would be a rare transaction in a hotel investment market where owners and potential buyers can’t see eye-to-eye on valuations.

Uber Seeks Tech Advantage in Car Rental Search as Demand Spikes for Road Trips: Uber has added a search feature for traditional car rental to its app in a few markets. Travelers will need every tool they can find in the hunt for affordable rental cars in many markets this summer.

 

 

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Tags: airbnb, david neeleman, expedia, hilton, hong kong, roundups, top stories, tourism, uber

Photo credit: Ariane Gorin now leads Expedia for Business as part of an executive team shakeup Expedia Group announced May 24, 2021. Gorin is shown here talking at Explore '18 in Las Vegas. Expedia

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