Rashaad Jorden

Tour operators are understandably expressing no desire to launch Covid-related tours while the pandemic is still ongoing. But as themes like death and tragedy already feature prominently in numerous trips, history suggests some tour operators will eventually include visits to Covid memorials in their offerings.

In Skift’s top stories this week, numerous travel CEOs express pessimism about a full recovery of corporate travel, a Bill Gates-owned firm becomes the majority stakeholder in Four Seasons Hotels, and Las Vegas emerges as the U.S.' most popular business travel destination.

For tourists, interest in 9/11 has never waned, but the pandemic has been hard on tours and exhibits. The enormous media coverage of the 20th anniversary of September 11 will hopefully draw new crowds for this special day.

In Skift's top stories this week, the European Union recommends further restrictions be placed on U.S. travelers, two major companies go public, U.S. travel brands turn to TikTok to attract younger travelers, and Radisson's CEO explains why the company split in two.

Travel companies and destinations need to do extensive research and pay attention to more than the biggest sports — football and men's basketball — to find the right athletes who will be worthy returns on the promotional investments.

Cutting tourism-related carbon emissions in half is very ambitious, but travel can't go small in combating climate change. However, the fight to cut emissions will face an enormous challenge when airline passenger numbers return to pre-Covid levels.

In Skift's top stories this week, IHG makes further inroads in the luxury sector, the travel industry grapples with the prolonged absence of Chinese visitors, 2021 emerges as the year of travel companies going public, and the trend of tour operator mergers continues.

British Airways' struggles suggest a big rebound for the carrier isn't imminent, so expect the U.K. travel industry to put more pressure on the government to ease travel restrictions.

It's very beneficial from a PR standpoint for tour operators to vocally support vaccine mandates since the travel industry needs increased vaccination rates to help reach pre-pandemic travel numbers.

Although several tour operators are enjoying success in pandemic-induced partnerships, why weren't those collaborations part of the mix previously? It's possible that many tour operators have missed out on lucrative opportunities for years by not searching for fruitful partnerships.