Lebawit Lily Girma

Lily is Skift's global tourism reporter. Prior to that, she wrote travel stories focused on culture and sustainability for BBC, CNN, and Travel + Leisure, and others. Born in Ethiopia and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, she calls herself a serial expat and loves to debate the power of tourism to tip the scales of imbalance in the world. Lily splits her time between the Dominican Republic and the eastern U.S.

Latest Stories

Tourism

Brand USA Ready to Welcome Restless Global Travelers Ahead of a Funding Boost

The pandemic has highlighted Brand USA's role in driving international visitor demand and tourism's importance as the country's #2 export. Will the global fascination with coming to America transcend politics once borders reopen? Brand USA is betting on it.

Lebawit Lily Girma | 3 years ago

Travel Technology

Hopper CEO Hopes to Create a Google-Crushing Superapp for Travel

The generational signs are there, according to Hopper Chief Frederic Lalonde , and they're showing a future for superapps in the West.

Lebawit Lily Girma | 3 years ago

Tourism

Travel Needs to Get Ahead of the ‘Great Migration’: Strategist Parag Khanna

The media may be spinning a tale of increased nationalism, but that's not what's actually happening. The travel industry's focus must stay on the world's shifting human mobility patterns where it can play a huge role and reap the benefits.

Lebawit Lily Girma | 3 years ago

Tourism

Tourism’s Time for Talk Is Over

Will the industry seize this historic moment to go beyond discourse, and rebuild in a way that puts communities first?

Lebawit Lily Girma | 3 years ago

Tourism

Canada’s Tourism Industry Sees So Much Riding on Upcoming Elections

As Covid continues to show, timing is everything when reopening for tourism. Will the elected party get behind Canada's travel industry until the uncertainty fades, or will more businesses collapse?

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift | 3 years ago

Tourism

Skift Global Forum Preview: Africa Tourism Leader Sees Big Opportunity Ahead to Diversify

The gloom-and-doom narrative that mainstream news loves to associate with Africa is no reflection on its tourism future — if its travel industry seizes the chance to innovate post pandemic.

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift | 3 years ago

Tourism

Discover Puerto Rico Becomes Marketer-For-Hire to Others

It's a win-win for the island's destination marketing group and for its in-destination clients — but how many other tourism boards are ready to follow suit at this time?

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift | 3 years ago

Tourism

Destinations Put Aside Old Rivalries With New Combined Marketing

This new "friends not rivals" approach to marketing destinations might just get more traction from today's changed traveler.

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift | 3 years ago

Tourism

U.S. Elevates Travel Warnings for Canada and Puerto Rico

It doesn't bode well for tourism between the two northern neighbors, especially when Canada reopened its land border with the U.S. just three weeks ago.

Susan Heavey and David Shepardson, Reuters | 3 years ago

Tourism

Global Travel Restrictions Are Averaging 350 Per Country This Far Into Pandemic

Tourism isn't getting back to normal anytime soon, and this UBS report is a stark reminder of that.

Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift | 3 years ago