How to Follow All the AI in Travel Headlines

First Things

Like many others who follow innovation in the tech space, we’ve been covering advances in how the companies we cover get creative with AI. In order to bring all our coverage together, this week we launched a new weekly newsletter digest that will deliver all of our AI stories to subscribers’ inboxes every Friday. You can read more about the newsletter and also subscribe here.

We’ve now released full videos of all the sessions from the recent Skift Future of Lodging Forum on YouTube, where you can watch for free. We return to in-person experiences in early June in New York City for the Skift Short-Term Rental Summit. We sold out of early-bird tickets last week, but regular price tickets remain, as do discounted group tickets. Learn more here. Skift Pro subscribers get discounts or can watch the livestream for free.

Top Headlines

Peru’s Machu Picchu Solution: Tour Operators Developing New Trekking Region

With over 25,000 miles of Inca Main Road to explore, alternative routes to the world-famous Machu Picchu Inca citadel trek are being scouted. And it’s long overdue.

New American Airlines Strategy Leaves Agencies With Dramatically Higher Airfares

Three days into the airline’s ticketing shakeup, travel agencies are seeing big gaps in ticket prices. They were warned, but there appear to be other issues on the horizon.

Expedia Releases ChatGPT-Powered AI Chatbot on Mobile App

Expedia Group is the biggest player in travel to have publicly released a chatbot tool powered by ChatGPT. This is just the beginning, and if any anyone has the resources to really see what this tech can do in travel, it would be companies like Expedia.

Ireland’s Doyle Collection Revamps Luxury Hotel Strategy

True, Doyle Collection, a family-run luxury hotel group, is a small player. But the strategy of its new CEO Gordon Drake, who previously sold Six Senses to IHG and Fairmont Raffles to Accor, underscores what indie brands are thinking now.

Alloggio Takes Private Equity Exit in Path for Struggling Short-Term Rentals  

Private Equity restructuring for some short-term rental companies may be welcome — even as it means change of management, possible furloughs and cutting parts of the business. Analysts warn against spelling doom against the entire industry, however, demand still remains strong.

Zooey Deschanel Is the New Girl to Promote Choice Hotels Direct Booking

Although Choice Hotels may not see celebrities as mandatory in marketing campaigns, it didn’t hesitate to turn to star power to sell the benefits of using its website.

Delta, United, JetBlue, American to Cut New York Flights This Summer

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and American Airlines have all indicated they will cut flights in the New York City area this summer as the region, one of the busiest in the U.S., faces a shortage of air traffic controllers.

What E3’s Cancellation Means for the Meetings Industry

65,000 attendees, 4,000 jobs, and $88 million in revenue won’t be coming to Los Angeles in June, with leading video-game-industry trade show E3 canceled for 2023. It was meant to be the first in-person show since 2019.

Listen Here

Skift CEO Rafat Ali sat down with Glasgow Caledonian University lecturer Michael J. O’Regan to talk about O’Regan’s recent article about the overuse of the term “overtourism” in media coverage of the travel industry. You can listen, below, or download from your preferred podcast platform.

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Chart of the Week: Hotel Tech Investment Priorities

Our new Skift Research Report: Booking Engines, Website Builders, and Direct Booking Tools provides an overview of these tech categories, their market size, and growth potential. 64% of hotels worldwide (76% of global room supply) use booking engines, and 45% of hotels (60% of global room supply) use website builders and direct booking tools. Read more.