Skift Travel News Blog

Moxy Hotels, the experiential hotel brand from Marriott Bonvoy, has opened Moxy Tromsø in the Arctic playground of Northern Norway.

Designed by the Danish Mette Fredskild Studio, the hotel features an industrial design combined with local inspirations, including murals that have been created by local artists.

Moxy Tromsø boasts 208 guest rooms equipped with all of the usual amenities, such as walk-in showers, flat-screen TVs, and LED guide lights. Yet, what truly sets it apart is its breathtaking floor-to-ceiling windows that have been designed to ‘maxmize the beauty beyond,’ offering unspoiled vistas of the surrounding fjord and mountains.

At Skift, we are looking to we are looking to recognize the impactful and inspiring projects that are redefining the travel industry, with a focus on design, creativity, and innovation.

Join the conversation and subscribe to the the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

Situated amid 55 acres of woodland in Wallace, Idaho, MoonPass Lookouts will feature a collection of five bespoke fire lookout towers elevated 30 feet above the ground.

The towers have been designed to offer guests an ‘unparalleled opportunity to witness the celestial wonders above.’

Moonpass Lookouts is the latest venture for Kristie Wolfe, a renowned Airbnb Host known for her unique builds, including The Big Idaho Potato Hotel, The Tropical Treehouse, and The Hobbit Inn.

When construction is complete, each tower will feature all of the essential amenities needed for a relaxing stay, including a full-size bed, a fully equipped kitchen, wood burning stove and a private sauna.

However the real triumph here is the smart glass roof that has been designed for stargazing.

You can hear more about Moonpass Lookouts from Kristie below:

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are celebrating the ideas that are redefining what it means to be truly innovative in the travel industry, including the projects that are defining the future of short term rentals and reimagining the guest experience.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

Listen to the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

Travelers will have a new option between Barcelona and Lyon, and Madrid and Marseille come July. That’s when Spain’s rail operator, Renfe, will launch new through high-speed train service on both routes, and reconnecting the country’s high-speed rail networks after an eight month hiatus.

Renfe will launch AVE high-speed train service from Barcelona to Lyon on July 13, and Madrid to Marseille on July 28. Both services will initially operate four-days-a-week — Friday through Monday — before expanding to daily in September and October, respectively. Travel times, however, will not exactly be speedy: Barcelona-Lyon will take just under five hours, and Madrid-Marseille just over eight hours.

Travelers can fly between Barcelona and Lyon on either EasyJet or Vueling in an hour-and-a-half, and between Madrid and Marseille on either Iberia or Ryanair in an hour-and-forty-five minutes, according to Cirium Diio schedules.

However, an increased concern in climate issues in Europe could work to Renfe’s benefit. Air France executives have said that they doubt domestic France travel demand will ever return to 2019 levels as many travelers, including lucrative corporates, switch to trains for more trips where rail options are competitve.

Renfe’s new cross-border service is not the first on either the Barcelona-Lyon or Madrid-Marseille routes. France’s SNCF operated high-speed TGV trains in partnership with Renfe on both routes until December.

Ask Skift is our artificial intelligence chatbot that offers a new way for readers to better engage with our breadth of knowledge and our latest experimentation creating products travel professionals rely on. It digs into news stories, Skift Research reports, Airline Weekly issues, Skift Live events, the Daily Lodging Report, and more to answer many questions about the travel industry.

Following on our story about footballer Lionel Messi’s deal with Saudi Arabia’s tourism board, we turned to Ask Skift to learn more about celebrity travel marketing deals.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has revealed the itinerary for the latest instalment of its ‘SFO Celebrates‘ program, which aims to bring San Francisco’s neighborhoods and cultural events to airport guests.

The Pride Series will feature live entertainment in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 to showcase the talent and creativity of San Francisco’s LGBTQIA+ community. 

In addition to the live activations in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 – which includes a Drag Extravaganza – there will also be Pride-themed photo stations in Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, a performance by the world’s first LGBTQ-identified cheerleading team, Cheer San Francisco, and much more.

For more information about SFO Celebrates, please visit: www.flysfo.com/sfo-celebrates.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are celebrating the ideas that are redefining what it means to be truly innovative in the travel industry, including the organizations and projects leading to social change or benefiting communities.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

Listen to the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

AutoFlight has unveiled the concept interior for its Prosperity I EVTOL air taxi, with the full-scale craft set to be showcased at Le Bourget Paris Air Show next week.

The interior, which has been brought to life by legendary automotive designer Frank Stephenson, draws on Stephensons’ previous successes with brands including Ferrari, Maserati, McLaren and MINI.

The aircraft represents a fusion of ‘style, science, and sustainable urban mobility,’ with AutoFlight asserting its commitment to sustainable urban mobility by selecting recycled and reusable materials for use on the aircraft.

Take a look at the video below to find out more about the design process:

“We are delighted to have Frank Stephenson, a true industry pioneer, lending his remarkable talent to our Prosperity I eVTOL. His unparalleled design expertise has added a new dimension to our aircraft, elevating it to a whole new level. With Frank’s touch, Prosperity I truly embodies the future of urban air mobility,” said Tian Yu, CEO of AutoFlight.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are celebrating the ideas that are redefining what it means to be truly innovative in the travel industry.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

Listen to the Skift Ideas Podcast here.

John De Fries will step down as president and CEO of Hawaii Tourism Authority effective September 15. ​De Fries did not accept an invitation from the board to extend his three-year employment contract.

He became president and CEO in September 2020 amid the pandemic. He was the first native Hawaiian to lead the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Once in the position, he tried to put a greater emphasis on destination management in response to community dissatisfaction with tourism’s impact on the environment and resident quality of life.

The island’s tourism agency had missteps in its attempts to change course. It had a messy procurement process to award the multi-million contract to market the island to the mainland U.S. 

Under De Fries’ time, the legislature stripped away the agency’s autonomy. Lawmakers removed its transient accommodation source and its state procurement exemption.

Hawaii’s lawmakers almost dissolved the agency in a recent legislative session. The agency came out of the session without a state budget and now has to submit funding requests to the governor, who will vet them with lawmakers.

De Fries was invited to extend his contract in the March board meeting. After the recent legislative session, he told the board on May 9 he would not extend his extension.

Iglucraft, an Estonia-based company, creates a range of handcrafted timber cabins and saunas that seamlessly blend into their natural surroundings.

The nomadic pods – which are fully customizable and come with a range of amenities – are created using natural materials and feature organic forms, helping users to find ‘a more natural way of being than the everyday life in perfectly linear cityscapes’.

With famous clients including David Beckham and Gordon Ramsey, the pods are available to order online.

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for the innovative projects that are defining the future of guest experience.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.

Enthusiasm for extended-stay hotels seems boundless among U.S. hotel developers. The national extended stay pipeline is now 44% of supply, up by almost 10% in the last 18 months.

Analysts at Bernstein, led by Richard Clarke, produced a chart in a research note on Thursday that captures the trend — using data from STR, the hotel performance benchmarking firm. The chart shows how extended-stay development takes an increasingly large share of the mix of hotel development.

The chart has lagging data. Since October, several hotel groups, including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham, and BWH (Best Western) have debuted new extended-stay brands. The new options may drive developer interest higher.

Looking ahead, which hotel groups are best-positioned to gain from the tailwinds?

“Marriott leads all asset light groups in extended stay exposure, at more than 15% of their global portfolio and 4.5% ahead of Hilton at number 2 — so naturally stands to gain from demand tailwinds. However, Hilton looks best placed to capture supply growth, with its Home2 brand boasting an impressive relative pipeline of 108% of supply, despite being well established with more than 60,000 rooms.”

—Richard Clarke, Niall Mitchelson, and Kate Xiao of Bernstein

Delta Flight Products (DFP) has partnered with UK-based consortium Air4All on a new prototype seat they say will provide powered wheelchair users with the opportunity to remain in their chairs throughout their entire travel journey.

The patented prototype, which was debuted at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Germany, folds up to enable a standard passenger seat to accommodate a wheelchair via a restraint, while granting users access to the headrest, center console tray table and cocktail table.

“Air4All is collaborating with DFP and our strong production and manufacturing capabilities to explore new ways to deliver equal access to comfort, safety, and dignity for all customers. This patented design offers new possibilities for customers with disabilities to enjoy a travel experience they truly deserve,” said Rick Salanitri, president of Delta Flight Products.

In 2022, disability rights activist Tanzila Khan joined us at Skift Global Forum East 2022 to talk on this important subject, and “Why Travel Should Think Like a Community”. You can take a look at the full video below:

At the Skift IDEA Awards, we are looking for the organizations elevating the travel industry’s role as a force for good by affecting meaningful change, including those leading to social change or benefiting communities.

If you have an exciting project to share, head to the Skift IDEA Awards today and start your submission. The final deadline for entries is June 20, 2023.