Wouter Geerts

There is still so much uncertainty around the Omicron variant, but already much needed recovery in Asia Pacific is stalling as reopenings are postponed.

There is still some weakness in the recovery of the airline sector, particularly in flight search levels and the pricing power of airlines. However, data from the Skift Recovery Index shows that flight bookings and capacity are making major strides toward pre-pandemic levels.

The Hotel Tech Benchmark dashboards and reports respond to a dire need from hoteliers, tech vendors, and investors alike. Understanding the makeup of hotel tech categories, and identifying growth opportunities, will help the industry drive its move towards digitization.

Much is riding on the success of the Dubai Expo — not just for the Emirati. The Expo is undoubtedly the largest tourism-oriented event since the start of the pandemic. Many lessons will be learned from how the city state handles the coming months.

Hotels need to be where the consumers are. Offering digital and alternative payment options is key to benefitting from current trends, and this means working with fintech players that are able to offer these services by integrating into hotel tech systems.

Most hoteliers would rather not think about their payment tech, as long as it works. But payment habits are changing, and so is payment tech. Hoteliers — and hotel tech vendors and investors — will want to be on top of these changes, especially now that revenues are suppressed.

Uncertainty prevails as travel's recovery speeds up in some countries, while others see previous gains dissipating. Overall, the global recovery stalled at 65 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest findings from the Skift Recovery Index.

Mexico’s score increased to 100 index points, which indicates that the country’s travel industry has fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. A momentous occasion, but a closer look shows that not all sectors are back to normal.

Travel loyalty programs really are frequency programs. As frequency is directly linked to emissions in travel, how can travel companies find environmentally friendly ways to reward its most valuable customers?

Europe is finally seeing its fortunes turning. Almost the whole continent saw cases dropping rapidly in May, with an immediate effect on travel's recovery. France, Italy, Spain, and Germany are the big winners, but the UK is on the eve of a contraction in our score.