Marriott's Post-Pandemic Playbook and 18 Other Coronavirus Travel Stories This Week

What To Make of Marriott’s Post-Pandemic Playbook: There is still a long road to a full economic recovery from coronavirus, but a short-term debt buyback offer and loyalty deals signal Marriott is designing a path to rebound from the worst of the pandemic.

More Americans Feeling Emboldened With 24 Percent Traveling in May: Skift Travel Tracker: Twenty-four percent of Americans traveled in May, up from 19 percent in April. However, a full travel recovery might take a very long time as more consumers start to realize Covid-19 is a longer-term battle.

Don’t Confuse Travel’s Reopening With Recovery: A Long Slog Lies Ahead: You can’t defy the laws of economics after so much value — and real — destruction across not just the global travel sector, but the human costs that continue to rise.

How Is United Airlines’ Loyalty Program Worth $22 Billion?: United opened some of the books for its MileagePlus program. It’s a highly lucrative operation, based mainly on sales of miles to third parties, including credit card companies.

Dubai Chain to Be Rare Middle Eastern Hotelier Expanding to U.S.: Sign of Things to Come?: Expanding in a pandemic is a bold move unto itself. But Dubai-based Leva Hotels’ plans to operate hotels in the U.S. are doubly courageous — and its success or failure will be closely watched back in the Middle East.

2 Hospitality CEOs Who See Very Different But Sweet Opportunities in Soured Year of Travel: Many hotels won’t come back from coronavirus shutdowns, but the downturn in travel won’t last forever. It is a shrewd business strategy to plan for future growth, if you can stomach the short-term occupancy meltdown.

Hilton Cuts Nearly a Quarter of Its Corporate Workforce: Will It Regret the Deep Layoffs?: There is always the potential of going too far with layoffs during an economic downturn. But coronavirus has upended the travel industry with so much uncertainty that Hilton’s sizable layoffs reflect a narrowed corporate focus on near-term health, survival, and reopening.

The Travel Deals That Have Fallen Victim to the Pandemic: Don’t count your deals before they’ve hatched. Coronavirus has killed valuations of many companies, and deals along with them. On the other hand, some companies, such as Grubhub, are in the right place at the right time.

Accelya to Buy Farelogix in Airline Tech Rollup: Vista, the investor behind this merger of airline tech vendors Accelya and Farelogix, is no private equity tourist. The firm has committed tens of billions to technology businesses, and it shows signs of having the wherewithal to grow Accelya into a long-term player in airline tech services.

Maldives’ Touted July Reopening Shows Complexities Behind the Hoopla: Launching a reopening campaign is exciting and positive, but the ability to visit is still the great question that the paradise must sort out — with only weeks to go.

These Are the Barriers Preventing Business Travel Bubbles From Catching On: Singapore’s so-called fast lane arrangement with China offers a glimpse into how employees could soon be traveling, but this type of shortcut won’t be easy to replicate across the rest of the world.

Carnival Expects to Burn $650 Million a Month While Cruise Operations Are Paused: When will Carnival cruise again? Company execs seem to be saying our guess is as good as theirs.

OpenTable and Kayak Bring Back 10 Percent of Furloughed Employees: If the dining and travel industries are looking for a bright spot during these dark days, then returning employees are a morsel to hang onto.

Blocked Seats May Just Lead to Airfares That Only Corporate Travelers Can Afford: With safety still rising up the traveler agenda, airlines won’t have an easy task setting prices as they balance passenger welfare with profitability.

Putting Europe’s Low-Cost Carriers in Peril Should Not Be a Lasting Legacy From Government in This Crisis: Legacy airlines are in trouble. Many deserve bailouts. But let’s not take it too far. There’s no reason to penalize low-cost airlines. If they can make money with cheap fares, let them.

How JetBlue Just Flouted Airline Industry Norms by Launching New Routes: Airlines are highly competitive businesses. Usually, the routes announced Thursday would engender a massive competitive response. But is there an appetite for that now? Hard to say.

Dormant U.S. Hotels Will Cost Cities and States Nearly $17 Billion in Tax Revenue in 2020: States and cities are going to lose a lot of tax revenues from hotels due to the pandemic. The question is how long will the drought last?

Blocked Seats May Just Lead to Airfares That Only Corporate Travelers Can Afford: With safety still rising up the traveler agenda, airlines won't have an easy task setting prices as they balance passenger welfare with profitability.

OpenTable and Kayak Bring Back 10 Percent of Furloughed Employees: If the dining and travel industries are looking for a bright spot during these dark days, then returning employees are a morsel to hang onto.