Hopper and JetBlue Partner 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 Fills a Gap With JetBlue Partnership: The partnership enables JetBlue to do business with a younger clientele, particularly beyond the U.S. East Coast. Hopper filling a gaping hole in its airline lineup.

Google Is Cutting Back on Corporate Travel for Workers – Report: We last heard expressions like essential and business-critical travel only during the lows of the pandemic, when companies ceased travel to protect their employees. It’s not the sort of language the travel industry wants to hear right now.

Radisson Hotel Group Isn’t Finished With Transformative Strategy: Radisson Hotel Group is nearly unrecognizable from the company it was five years ago, thanks to a strategy shift and metabolism boost. Now, turnaround artist and CEO Federico González aims to double the company’s footprint by 2025.

Europe’s Hotels Risk Lights Out in Energy Crisis Spawned by Ukraine War: European natural gas prices are roughly ten times higher than a year ago. Hotel owners may struggle to pass on to guests added costs for heat and lights, given that they’ve already been charging higher than average rates.

5 Ways Global Tourism Must Rethink Its Influence as an Industry: More than two years have passed. Where are the new metrics tourism desperately needs? How will this industry actually treat nature and communities as equal beneficiaries? Is tourism ready to demolish its neocolonial mindset? Those are the pressing questions facing the industry. For now, it’s mostly talk and no walk.

Cambodia’s Long Overdue Effort to Digitize Its Tourism Industry: Cambodia can digitally upskill its workforce and adopt technologies all it wants, but it won’t ever reach its potential as a top tourist destination if it doesn’t invest in creative digital marketing campaigns to match.

Calling Booking.com a Gatekeeper Wouldn’t Have the Impact European Regulators Expect: The European Commission found that banning certain rate parity provisions impacted competition minimally. Therefore, perhaps designating Booking.com a “gatekeeper,” were it to happen, wouldn’t be the end of online travel as we know it.

Qantas May Exclude Some Agencies With New Exclusive Lower Fares: Australia’s flag carrier is telling travel agencies to either sign up, or lose out, as its breakaway distribution strategy enters a new phase.

Ukraine Is Slowly Building Back Its Domestic Tourism Sector: Ukraine is not letting the ongoing war stop its efforts to build back a tourism base, especially for when foreign tourists eventually return. The tourism dollars would help the country rebuild its economy faster.

Yatra CEO Says an India IPO Will Help Finance Future Acquisitions: A listing on the Indian bourses for Nasdaq-listed Yatra would also help the online travel agency to partner with companies who may not have been comfortable with an overseas structure.