Wouter Geerts

Short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo are increasingly reliant on professional property managers to provide quality inventory. This considerably closes the gaps of service standards and reliability between the rental and hotel industries, which brings key opportunities for rental operators.

The travel recovery continues, but the strong performance of a few standout countries, including the U.S., Mexico, and China, disguises continuing weakness in especially Europe and Asia.

Short-term or vacation rentals are being touted as the winners of the pandemic, and in many ways the sector is taking big steps to becoming mainstream. But losers are emerging, too, and the impact of the pandemic will reverberate for years to come.

Fuel efficiency is integral to the bottom line of airline operators. Skift Research found that efficiency improvements fluctuate considerably by year and between companies. Most were unable to achieve efficiency goals set by the industry.

Pressure is growing on airlines to reduce their carbon emissions. But how do you do that when you burn through gallons of jet fuel? Our analysis found that airlines have made good progress in becoming more fuel efficient, but have a long way to go to make significant reductions in emissions long-term.

A lot of positive vibes came from the travel industry during March. Many countries performed strongly in our Skift Recovery Index, with U.S. key indicators, in particular, up across the board.

Hotels need to reduce their carbon emissions by 66 percent by 2030, and 90 percent by 2050 to comply with the Paris Agreement on climate change. While there is a lot of talk, not all companies are walking the walk. We have identified those that are talking, and those that are walking.

Carbon reduction is gaining importance for stakeholders, and reporting is getting better amongst the largest hotel companies. Skift Research compares the emissions of six global chains to determine which is best positioned to become carbon neutral over the coming decades, and which are falling behind.

Upward we go. The Skift Recovery index registered a 4 point increase in February, no mean feat compared to the almost complete absence of movement over the past six months. Declining case counts and relaxing lockdown restrictions are to thank.

The world has become obsessed with vaccination drives, testing, and health passports. How best to reopen destinations to domestic and international visitors in coming months will be much discussed. The efficacy around all of those approaches will certainly play a central role in governments’ decision-making.