Hopper’s New Leave-For-Any-Reason Option and Other Top 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.

Hopper Will Let Customers Pay a Fee to Leave the Hotel After Check-In for Any Reason: Hopper’s leave-for-any-reason hotel offering would seemingly be attractive to many guests, but can also be a headache for hotels and open to abuse.

Germany’s Good Intentions of a 9-Euro Discount Transit Pass May Just Backfire: Germany wants more people to ride trains and buses this summer with a nine-euro pass. But a surge in riders may hit the physical limits of the country’s transport infrastructure.

New Philippines Tourism Campaign Gives Props to Local Workers: The Department of Tourism Philippine’s newest video is the epitome of “talk about creative advertising” — performers mold their bodies into birds, mountains, waterfalls, and oceans to remind tourists that there are workers behind every tourism experience, and that they deserve recognition.

Brightline Aims to Carry Holiday Travelers to Orlando by Christmas: Brightline backer Fortress Investment is confident that trains will begin rolling, but maybe without passengers, to Orlando in time for the Christmas holidays.

Gas Prices Send Hotels Into Overdrive to Accommodate Electric Vehicles: Market considerations give hotels a unique opportunity to lead the charge when it comes to meeting consumer needs — and efficacy.

Hotel Company HHM to Buy Urgo Hotels & Resorts: Expect more mergers among hotel management companies until there are approximately 10 companies left in North America for the most competitive markets.

Airbnb and Marriott Nearly Signed a Deep Partnership Agreement Around 2015: Marriott might have made a great investment had it bought a chunk of Airbnb in 2015. Ultimately, Marriott opted to build its own with Homes & Villas.

TUI Musement’s New CEO Tries to Use the Operator Legacy to Advantage in Tours and Activities: TUI Musement is an up-an-comer in the tours and activities space because of the parent company’s huge base, and it knows how to run a tour. Now it has to execute on the digital challenge.

Denver Emerges as Travel Tech’s Hot New Hub: Technology clusters are hard to build, and make startups’ lives easier when they happen. The CEO of a new company doing tech for Airbnb owners says he left San Francisco because he’s found one in the Rockies. He’s not alone.

Hotels Try to Maneuver Past Labor Shortage: Although hotel CEOs did their best to be optimistic, the industry is plagued by post-pandemic issues never seen before.