2025 Archives

United’s David Kinzelman discussed the importance of eliminating friction for travelers at Skift Aviation Forum 2025.

Across Africa, luxury travel is evolving beyond gated resorts and safari lodges toward experiences rooted in culture, creativity, and community. With rising investment, expanding airlift, and a young generation seeking purpose-driven experiences, the continent is redefining what modern luxury means.

The hotel stay now sits at the center of a wider ecosystem. As hospitality expands into wellness, residences, mobility, and retail, the strongest brands will create connected worlds that run on loyalty and emotional relevance, rather than relying solely on room revenue.

Experiential retail is becoming a powerful, yet overlooked driver of tourism. Retail spaces that combine food, music, art, and local culture are becoming vital touchpoints in the modern travel journey.

As travelers invest more in premium, emotionally charged trips, hotels face rising pressure to provide continuity and reassurance. Peace of mind has not only become the ultimate luxury, but a new measure of guest loyalty.

As discretionary travel spending softens, timeshare owners remain the travel industry’s most reliable leisure segment. These travelers continue to book, plan, and take vacations at rates far above the broader market — a testament to the power of prepaid “banked leisure.”

Loyalty programs should provide curated accommodations suggestions, rather than calling it a perk if they send their customers back to a generic search box to start again from scratch.

Business travel is going to look a lot different when autonomous driving removes structural friction and the math starts shifting. Serving this new kind of travel is the real opportunity.

It's extremely difficult to see how the online travel agencies emerge from the LLM platform shift unscathed.

In 2026, the luxury bubble will swell. As wealth concentrates, premium becomes the engine of global tourism. The risk? When travel depends on the top 10% — and, increasingly, the top 1% — the entire industry rises and falls with them.