The Philippines Finally Reopens and Other Top Travel Stories This Week

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on 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.

The Philippines Long-Awaited Reopening Will Be Frustrating and Slow: As Manila moves to regain lost precious tourism dollars, industry veterans in the Philippines doubt recovery will be swift. Patience will be required.

How Hyatt Plans to Leverage Newly Acquired Apple Leisure for Global Growth: Hyatt is banking on a mix of organic brand growth as well as the $2.7 billion Apple acquisition to significantly ramp up its portfolio development in the next few years. All-inclusive resorts as well as the Hyatt Place brand are especially going to be the ones to watch.

Hopper Cancellation Policy Could Disrupt Short-Term Rentals: Hopper aims to be a big player in short-term rentals, and it’s still under development cancel-for-any-reason feature could draw a ton of positive attention from hosts and guests. It could either mean a ton of red ink for Hopper or, if successful, spur competitors to scurry to offer knock-offs.

Airline Execs Now See Accelerated Full Business Travel Recovery: Optimism is in the air among United, British Airways, and other airlines. Rightfully so.

Accor Offers Glimpse Into Plans for Ennismore Joint Venture: Is Accor ever going to have the same U.S. portfolio size as Marriott or Hilton? Almost certainly not. But targeted focus on higher-end segments can make the Paris-based hotel company a formidable player on the highly competitive American hotel playing field.

Boutique Hotels Turn to Artisanal Coffee Programs for a Wake-Up Call on Service: Hotels would be wise to ditch the powdered dairy and differentiate themselves by aligning with local roasters for artisanal coffee programs. While that might come with a dip in immediate profits, cross-branding and foot traffic could ultimately enhance properties’ bottom line.

Google Sees Travel Searches Jump Sixfold Over Covid Rules Confusion: As travel demand picks up helter skelter, depending on the destination and trip mode, travel advertising has returned as a strong piece of Google’s business. Among the companies that have emerged from the pandemic with momentum, you can place Google in the upper echelon.

European Nations Still Not Buying Into a Coordinated Approach on Travel Rules: Two years in, the pandemic continues to show just how split most European Union member governments are on pandemic leadership. Destinations that persist with multiple entry rules will continue to negatively impact their tourism economies.

Travel Bookings Seesawed More Under Omicron, Tech Data Reveals: Recent U.S. travel data contains signs of optimism for 2022.

Uganda Breaks Away from the Safari Narrative With New Tourism Marketing: It’s about time Africans were portrayed as central protagonists in the exploration of their own backyards. But Uganda’s new campaign also shows how African destinations can stand out more sustainably — pushing for local and regional tourism short-term, and preparing for more adventure and community-based tourism down the road.