JetBlue-Spirit’s Next Battle 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 JetBlue-Spirit Airline Union: Let the Lawyering Begin: JetBlue has the takeover deal it wanted. But before getting control of its rival Spirit, Washington will need to give its green light. Here are the ways this could unfold.

Graduate Hotels Enters Short-Term Rentals With Eye on College Football Fans: Expect other hotel brands to watch the Graduate Hotels’ experiment. Professionally managing vacation rentals may be a path for hotels to expand their reach while minimizing some risks.

More Countries Seek Digital Nomads Who’ll Be Invested in Local Communities: Can nomad visas change the storytelling about beach and party destinations enough to attract long-term and culturally respectful visitors? We are about to find out.

Hyatt’s Business Travel Comeback Overshadowed by Record Leisure Demand: Hyatt, best known for appealing to business travelers, is relying lately on vacationers who accounted for half its business in the most recent quarter. Yet July data points to group business and banqueting tracking toward a comeback that’s faster than some expected.

Hyatt to Use More Automation When Setting Hotel Room Rates: Hyatt’s move to change its revenue management software foreshadows a broader trend. Expect more hotel companies to embrace automation while looking at a bigger picture than just the supply and demand of rooms.

Time for Hotels to Stop Cheating on Their Branding: Hotels use a branding model that is, for the most part, broken. That reality leaves a gap for savvy marketers to exploit. Here’s a refresher on tactics to use according to the professor who literally wrote the book on hospitality branding.

What Separated Airbnb From Online Travel Rivals in 2nd Quarter – in One Chart: Airbnb leads the pack by far in its recovery from pre-pandemic 2019. But will that disparity diminish once the recovery of cities, and long-haul travel accelerates?

4 Takeaways From Airbnb’s Second Quarter Report: Airbnb’s revenue stream wasn’t as internationally diverse in the second quarter as it was pre-pandemic, but it is slowly creeping back to that level as international markets open.

Thailand Looks to Legalize Casinos in Latest Effort to Win Back Tourists: As Thailand pulls out all stops to woo tourists, the number one tourism destination in Southeast Asia pre-pandemic is clearly feeling like it may lose out to its neighbors if it doesn’t roll the dice.

Trivago Considers Adding Free Links Like Google Did: You can expect to see wider adoption of the free links in metasearch that Google started in 2021. More hotels means more site visitors, and eventually revenue.