Skift Travel News Blog

Explora Journeys, a privately-owned sub-brand of the MSC Group, is applying a “luxury lifestyle hotel” ethos to its Millennial-friendly cruise ships, which will feature Ocean penthouses and residences, in addition to entry-level Ocean suites. 

Setting sail on July 17, 2023, Explora 1 will be the first in a series of as many as six new cruise ships from Swiss company Explora Journeys (the second will debut in 2028). The inaugural vessel will feature 461 cabins that have been designed to be “homes at sea”. 

In an attempt to make the penthouses and residences distinct to those found in a hotel, Explora Journeys has attempted to imbue the passenger experience with an “ocean state of mind,” prioritising natural light, color, space, privacy, and a connection with the sea (all cabins have outdoor space and ocean views). 

With Ocean suites measuring from 300 square feet (plus extra space on the terraces), Ocean penthouses (across four categories) are larger, going up to 730 square feet, while Ocean residences (also in four types) have footprints of up to 1,600 square feet. 

All penthouses have a lounge with a dining table for four people and Italian Molteni&C sofa, adjacent to a separate bedroom. Residences on the other hand have separate living, dining and sleeping areas, and expansive terraces with room for Molteni&C loungers and even hot tubs on the terraces of the largest ones. 

All penthouses and residences have hand-picked artwork, walk-in wardrobes with a seated vanity area and bathrooms with heated floors. Amenities include Dyson Supersonic hairdryers, binoculars, wireless bed-side charging, personalised minibars, espresso machines with bio-degradable pods, kettles, teapots and refillable water bottles. Bed linens and towels are by Italian textile company Frette. 

Guests staying in Ocean residences also have access to a team of Residence Hosts who provide butler services around the clock. 

Tapping into the in-room workout trend, penthouses will be equipped with the Technogym kit, while residences will have an additional Technogym bench so passengers don’t have to go to the gym. 

Jason Gelineau, head of product for Explora Journeys, says that the company has also made efforts to lower its planetary impact. “Environmental respect and sustainability have been key in design choices, ensuring a balance between the tactile and visual experience of every material used. 

“Eco-friendly details such as refillable bathroom amenities have also been weaved into the suite offering and where feasible, we are sourcing sustainable products including B Corp-certified items. We will also have a no single-use plastic policy on board,” he says.

Starwood Capital Group is the latest real estate investment firm to join Airbnb’s apartment rental listing service.

Starwood has joined several other real estate partners in the program, including GoldOller Real Estate Investments, Milhaus, Space Craft, Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, Equity Residential and UDR Inc.

The service launched in November 2023, intended to showcase Airbnb-friendly apartments in the face of growing short-term rental regulation, has seen 43 percent growth from 175 at inception to 250 properties, across 38 cities.

Airbnb’s program, aimed at rental properties that are also eligible for short-term stays, makes it easier for people who want to rent out their apartments to do so. A key element of the program is that only units permitted for short-term sublets are shown as it works with all stakeholders, addressing the cloak-and-dagger approach of hosts who have not been able to openly sublet their apartments and promote or share their listings.

Overseas buyers have made up nearly half of the recent investment in Japanese hotels because of the yen’s relative weakness to other currencies, Japan’s lower interest rates compared to rates in many other major countries, and a rebound in international tourism.

Bloomberg News reported the following striking statement:

“Overseas buyers were responsible for 47% of the 494.3 billion yen ($3.7 billion) invested in hotel deals that closed in the past 12 months — the highest proportion since 2014, according to data at the end of March from research firm MSCI Real Assets.”

Savills recently issued a report predicting low upcoming hotel supply, which will help hotels sustain pricing power. On the demand side, the country is making a concerted effort to reach record levels of inbound tourism, perhaps with a 60 million a year target for 2025.

The amount of time a first-time visitor visa applicant in India has to wait for an interview has fallen from an average of 669 days in mid-March to 337 days in early April, a 50 percent drop, according to the U.S. Travel Association. 

The industry lobby group attributed the wait time reduction to the State Department’s initiatives this year to reduce the visa backlog. In India, it has put in place a number of initiatives, such as bringing processing staff in on weekends, making embassies available to Indian nationals in other countries and hiring more staff.

“The results we’re seeing in India are proof that—with the right tools—State can make significant progress on this issue,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman in a statement. “However, there is clearly more work ahead to lower wait times worldwide.”

India is one of the U.S.’s top source markets that are experiencing long visa processing times, which reinforces a Skift megatrend that border bottlenecks will slow the recovery of international travel. Brazil, Mexico and Colombia wait times are at 511 days, 590 days and 752 days, respectively, as of April 14, according to U.S. Travel. The State Department has put in place initiatives in those countries similar to the ones it put in India.

Applicants in India had an especially absurd wait time. In January, for example, they had to wait 999 days for an interview at the Mumbai embassy. 

The country’s rough visa situation was caused by embassies being “shut down completely” by a presidential proclamation during the pandemic combined with the country’s historically high (and now pent-up) demand for all visa categories, said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services Julie Stufft in an interview with Skift.

U.S. Travel encouraged the State Department to continue the initiatives that have proven effective in India in other countries. It also pointed out that competitors are taking away U.S. global travel market share by allowing visa-free travel from the visa backlogged markets. The European Union, for example, allows travelers from Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Israel and Venezuela to visit without a visa.

“No one will wait years for a visa to visit the U.S. when so many other countries welcome global travelers with open arms,” said Freeman. “The State Department must continue to make international visitors an economic priority before we lose them to other destinations.”

With “Wisdom & Obi,” the creative team at Expedia have successfully captured the essence of travel.

Travel is all about creating lasting memories and experiences that stay with us long after the journey has ended. Travel advertising is no exception – it should seek to capture the imagination of its audience and inspire them to explore new places, try new things and create unforgettable moments. But how do travel brands achieve this? Expedia’s in-house creative team might just have the answer.

With this campaign, Expedia has shifted its advertising approach, focussing on the compelling force of inclusive storytelling, with this latest ad showcasing the emotional connection between a father and son and exploring the universal feeling of nostalgia that travel so often creates.

By tapping into our emotions, travel brands can create narratives that resonate with audiences on a personal level, which is something the Expedia team has done very successfully with this new campaign. As the video says, “You were made to remember some days forever, we were made to help you find the best way there.”

This post is a part of Skift Ideas, which highlights exciting new creative projects, campaigns, designs, and future-making ideas across the travel industry. Skift will also feature a number of leading projects across travel at our 5th annual Skift IDEA Awards, which has become the travel industry’s most coveted achievement for excellence in innovation, design, experience, and now, automation.

Learn more at: https://live.skift.com/skift-idea-awards-2023/

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG Hotels & Resorts) CEO Keith Barr told the Financial Times this week that “several shareholders” had asked his team at an investor roadshow last month if it would consider a switch away from listing on the London stock market to New York’s exchanges.

Barr told FT reporter Oliver Barnes: “There’s no clamoring” for a switch in listing from shareholders, and management was “not currently considering” the matter, but acknowledged “that could change at some point in the future.”

Barr added that London was “not a very attractive place” for listed companies and called on authorities to encourage more liquidity and loosen regulations.

In a follow-up piece on Friday, the Financial Times Lex column offered some analysis:

“For IHG, moving its shares to the US would make sense. The Americas, led by the US, are its biggest regional market by both revenue and operating profit.

Analysts assess IHG using a forward enterprise value (market value plus net debt minus cash) to a multiple of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, a proxy for cash profits. The ratio is currently about 13 times, which is roughly in line with its five-year pre-pandemic average.

This means the group trades cheaply to US peers operating similar “asset-light” models. Marriott trades on more than 14 times and Hilton nearly 16 times, according to data provider S&P Capital IQ.

Even so, that gap does not look huge. Barr will want to weigh up the costs of moving the primary listing against the benefits of pricier shares.”

The carpet is not always plusher in neighboring rooms.”

—FT’s Lex column

Ennismore, the lifestyle hospitality group, said on Thursday it’s in exclusive talks for “a long-term partnership” with Cain, a privately held investment firm, to scale the hotel brand Delano worldwide.

The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the proposed deal. French giant Accor has a majority shareholding in Ennismore.

Under the plan, Cain — which has $15 billion assets under management — would get a minority stake in the Delano brand and give unspecified help to Ennismore in its development pipeline, which includes planned Delano openings in Seoul, Istanbul, and Cartagena. Cain’s capital would also fuel the renovation of the original, flagship Delano property in the Art Deco district of Miami’s South Beach, and also fuel the growth of the sister brand Maison Delano.

Cain has a history with the Delano. In November 2020, it took over the strategic repositioning of 1685 Collins Avenue, formerly known as The Delano South Beach, to eventually bring it back as a 194-room Delano.

It has a history with Accor, too. Between 2016 and 2018, Cain International helped SBE Entertainment Group finance and institutionalize their business and acquire Morgans Hotel Group. Then Cain sold its stake in the $1 billion of assets (including brands like SLS Hotel & Residences, Delano, Mondrian) to Accor.

Cain is best known for last year joining Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in a $900 million in Aman Group, the ultra-luxury resort brand. Other past investments have included the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the Raffles in Boston.

Cain — led by CEO and co-founder Jonathan Goldstein — has also done hotel deal and development work involving brands such as Raffles, Six Senses, and the Rosewood Hotel Group and has a host of other leisure businesses, such as the Swingers Crazy Golf chain.

Most European travelers plan to take spring and early summer in the next months, according to a European Travel Commission survey. Around 40 percent will travel in June or July, while only 23 percent expect to travel in August and September, down 9 percent year over year. In April and May, almost 30 percent will take or took a trip.

The commission surveyed 6,000 Europeans in March who took at least 2 overnight trips during the last three years.

Between April and September, 72 percent of Europeans plan to travel, down 5 percent year over year.  Nearly three-quarters of Europeans over the age of 25 will travel in this period, while 61 percent of those under 25 years old plan to take a trip in this period. 

Europeans are hungry to travel in the next six months. By September, 60 percent will take multiple trips. Solo travelers are leading the trend with 34 percent planning at least trips, up 8 percent year over year.

Traveling within Europe is the top choice. Only 11 percent have trips planned for outside the region, while 58 percent will go to a neighboring country or a non-neighboring one.

Nearly half of travelers won’t change their trip budget in the next six months. Almost 20 percent will spend more. Those planning to spend more than 1,500 euros has risen by 7 percent year over year to 37 percent. 

The older traveler segment will spend more and take longer trips compared to other demographic groups.  Over half of travelers over the age of 54 will take trips that are at least 7 nights long and have budgets over 1,500 euros.

In the face of inflation and rising travel costs, travelers will cut back spending at their destinations.  About 17 percent will cut shopping expenses, 16 percent will choose less expensive accommodation and 15 percent will choose less expensive restaurants.

Europeans are also booking early to avoid higher prices. In fact, 52 percent of Europeans have already fully or partially booked their next trip, up 8 percent from 2022.

Despite a couple of rounds of layoffs since the middle of last year, Sonder hired 97 new, non-executive employees, and gave them all stocks options, as is the company’s practice.

A Sonder apartment in Rome, Italy. Source: Sonder

These were mostly city positions and customer service jobs, and were a combination of back-filling roles and new ones because of property and building openings, a spokesperson said.

Sonder’s careers page lists around 75 open positions from housekeeping leads to front desk hospitality agents and a vice president of design, development and openings in a variety of global destinations.

In its Tuesday announcement, the hospitality company said it granted a total of 327,600 shares of stock options to the 97 new employees as a whole.

Sonder’s share price at the Tuesday close was 58 cents, down 3.69 percent for the day.

Americans spent $17.4 billion traveling abroad in February, a record for the U.S., according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. 

International visitors to the U.S. spent nearly $16.9 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States, a 64 percent year over year increase. On travel and tourism-related goods and services like entertainment and food specifically, international visitors spent $9.5 billion in February, up 97 percent year over year.

Compared to American travel spending abroad, the U.S. recorded a monthly deficit of more than $480 million, meaning more money flowed out than in on travel and tourism-related activities in February. Prior to July 2021, the U.S. never recorded a monthly deficit. Since then, the U.S. has run a deficit for ten of the last 20 months, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office.