Wouter Geerts

Economic worries might be catching up with the travel industry, but just in time China is starting to show signs of life.

Continuing uncertainties and headwinds suppressed growth in October, with the Skift Travel Health Index sitting around the 85 percent mark since June with little movement.

High season ... what high season? In September, 57 percent of Americans traveled, 10 percentage points higher than last September. The normal fall slump after the summer months did not occur, highlighting how the vacation season is being stretched as demand — and prices — remain high.

Data is highlighting the shift away from Asia as the epicenter of travel, moving towards the Middle East and Europe. With China looking at its zero-Covid policy as the long-term solution to beating the pandemic, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the pendulum to swing back.

So much has happened in the travel industry in recent years. This new report by Skift Research puts perspective on those dizzying changes by providing definitive and data-driven insight into the current state of the travel industry, and the trends that will shape the future.

There is a lot of talk, and a lot of good intentions. Despite this, many travel companies are struggling to put net zero targets into practice. A new report by Skift Research, in partnership with McKinsey & Co., provides four strategies for travel companies to put words into actions.

While not fully recovered, travel is taking on recognizable and predictable patterns in most regions. Asia Pacific is the exception, where there are still major fluctuations in travel performance with every new announcement of loosening and tightening of pandemic-related restrictions.

A back-of-the-envelope analysis shows that a return to pre-pandemic levels of Chinese international travel would pull many Asian countries close to or beyond full recovery. Now we just need to wait for Chinese borders to reopen ...

The Skift Travel Health Index dropped for the first time in 2022, as the mess at airports and airlines is catching up with the industry.

Lines between hotels, short-term rentals and other accommodation types are blurring, but we see little merging in the business-to-business tech spaces that support these sectors. This will change, but there are some major barriers to overcome first.