Margaritaville’s Hotel Empire 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.

The Margaritaville CEO on Just How Far the Jimmy Buffett Brand Can Go: Millennials think they invented experiential, lifestyle brands. But Margaritaville CEO John Cohlan was perfecting these ideas before many of today’s hotel execs had sipped their first margaritas. Cohlan helped to turn Jimmy Buffet’s music into a billion dollar empire, and he has lessons to share.

Akasa Air CEO on How India’s Newest Startup Carrier Will Stand Out: No matter how big the Indian aviation pie may be, a new carrier, especially one whose crew wears sneakers, entering the market, will definitely shake things up as airlines compete more aggressively to tap first-time fliers.

Employees Already Unhappy With Pace of Returning Corporate Travel: New Survey: The nightmare that flying has become is starting to weigh on employees. Perhaps company travel managers now need to deflect any pressure from the top as bosses rush to get things back to normal.

SAS Joins List of Airline Failures and Bankruptcies Since Pandemic’s Start: The list of pandemic airline bankruptcies keeps growing even as travel bounces back faster than anticipated. But hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars in government aid didn’t save SAS, which became the latest victim Tuesday.

Expedia and Marriott Claim Progress on Proliferation of Rogue Hotel Rates: Rogue wholesale rates on metasearch sites are the gifts that keep on giving — for travelers and the metasearch sites. Expedia and Marriott seem to be making some progress on the issue.

Ukraine’s Neighbors Still Attracting Tourists Despite War Raging Nearby: Traveler fears, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, about the danger of the Ukraine War spreading have lessened, allowing for tourism’s recovery in Eastern Europe to continue. Industry stakeholders still have to vigilantly reassure and educate travelers about the safety of their destinations.

Hotel Spas Expand Into Mental Wellness Beyond the Staple of Massage: Is anyone up for some desert bathing? How about a cleansing ritual led by a shaman?

The Highest Paid Cruise Industry CEOs: Everybody in the cruise business suffered during Covid except CEOs, it seemed. As passengers canceled or got sick, and workers got laid off, executive compensation topped 1,000 times the median worker’s pay. Including tips.

The Women Who Shaped Short-Term Rental History: The men got most of the headlines and speaking invitations, but women entrepreneurs helped shape the short-term rental industry from its earliest days.

What Biden’s Transit Expert Pick Will Bring to the FAA’s Top Job: Managerial skills may be what President Biden is going for with his nomination of transit executive Phil Washington to lead the FAA. After this summer of flying mayhem, managerial skills may be what’s needed most now.