Skift Travel News Blog

Fans attending soccer’s World Cup in Qatar this November and December must show proof of a negative Covid test upon arriving in the country, event organizers said on Thursday.

All visitors above the age of six must produce a negative result from a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure or a rapid antigen test taken in the 24 hours prior to their arrival, the event’s organizing committee said in a statement. Travelers older than 18 will also be required to download Qatar’s government-run contact tracing app Ehteraz. A green Etheraz status, which shows the user does not have a confirmed Covid case, is necessary for entering any closed indoor spaces available to the public.

However, fans traveling to Qatar for the World Cup aren’t required to be vaccinated. In addition, Qatar does not mandate travelers take a Covid test prior to departing the country. Roughly 1.5 million fans are expected to travel to the Gulf State for the tournament, which starts on Nov. 20.

The research arm of investment bank Truist reported on a conference call it held with corporate travel data company Tripbam. Takeaways included that any indications of a recession have not yet shown up in business travel bookings and pricing data.

Tripbam believes 15 percent of business travel may never fully recover but that is better than the 20% they had forecast back in January.

Global booking volumes as of mid-September have been stagnant the past several months and are running down 15 percent versus comparable 2019 levels and closer to down 25 percent for the US. Room rates are tracking up 5 percent from 2019 levels.

Looking forward to 2023, Tripbam thinks corporate rate negotiations could wind up with a 5 percent to 8 percent year-over-year increase.

Finally they think the technology sector remains a substantial drag on the overall pace of recovery, especially in the US and even more specifically for the San Francisco hotel market.

This summary appeared today in Daily Lodging Report, which offers essential industry news for hospitality and lodging executives. Subscribe here.

Volantio, an optimization startup that has many airline customers, said on Thursday it had closed a $6 million Series A fundraising.

DiamondStream Partners, an aviation and aerospace venture capital firm, led the round in the Atlanta-based company. Alaska Airlines, one of Volantio’s customers, also took an equity stake. JetBlue Technology Ventures, IAG, Amadeus Ventures, and Ingleside Investors also made follow-on investments.

“Volantio has already delivered well over $20 million in annual benefit to Alaska Airlines, and that number continues to grow,” said Shane Tackett, Alaska Airlines’ chief financial officer.

Volantio’s software uses deep learning to tackle optimization challenges. Airlines have been its flagship customers so far. Its software helps airlines pinpoint flexible passengers on full flights using data. It then prompts these flyers to switch, in return for vouchers and other incentives, to other flights, thus making seats available for more profitable last-minute bookings.

Volantio said it “recently expanded into the live events industry through a first-of-its-kind partnership with Disney Theatrical Group.”

The startup won Skift’s Air Pitch competition at Skift Global Forum in 2018.

In a securities filing on Thursday, Southwest Airlines said Bob Jordan would succeed to the position of President of the company on January 1, 2023, while also retaining the role of CEO he has had since earlier this year.

Jordan, a 34-year-old veteran of the company, will step into a role being vacated by Michael G. Van de Ven, president and chief operating officer, who submitted his resignation.

Andrew M. Watterson will rise to the position of chief operating officer as of October 1. 

Portugal is getting in on the high-speed rail bandwagon. The country’s prime minister, António Costa, unveiled Wednesday plans for a new $4.7 billion (€4.9 billion) passenger rail line that, when it opens in 2030, will cut travel train times between Lisbon and Porto by an hour-and-a-half to one hour and 19 minutes.

The planned line will connect Lisbon’s Oriente station to Porto’s Campanha station a little over 185 miles to the north. It will include four intermediate stops at Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro and Gaia. In addition, Costa said the new line will eventually extend from Porto to the Spanish city of Vigo, about another 100 miles to the north, where it will connect with Spain’s AVE high-speed rail network. The extension will include stops at Porto’s airport, Braga, and Valença.

In comments posted on Twitter, Costa highlighted the importance of connecting Portugal’s two largest city as well as the country’s international competitiveness for the investment. The high-speed rail line will also help move the country to “the forefront of the fight against climate change, [and] changing the mobility paradigm.”

Trains have taken on a renewed importance across Europe amid the push to cut carbon emissions, and the spike in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. France, for example, banned domestic flights on routes where a train makes the journey in two-and-a-half-hours or less. And, in Germany, a so-called “9 euro ticket” local and regional rail pass this summer exceeded expectations — and proved doubters wrong — in boosting rail travel and helping ease the pain of high energy prices.

In the latest round of easing travel restrictions, tourists coming in to Taiwan will not be asked to undergo mandatory Covid-19 quarantine from October 13, the ministry of health and welfare announced on Thursday.

From October 13, inbound arrivals to Taiwan would require to self-monitor for seven days instead of undergoing mandatory quarantine.

While the government has scrapped the requirement for polymerase chain reaction tests for inbound travelers, passengers aged two and above would receive four rapid test kits on arrival and are advised to test on the day of arrival or the next day.

Travelers seeking to step out during the seven-day self-monitoring period would be required to take a rapid antigen test.

While opening borders to travelers from all countries, the government has also raised the weekly limit for international visitors from 60,000 to 150,000, and announced the resumption of group tours.

On September 12, Taiwan restored visa-free entry for visitors from 54 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and diplomatic allies. From Thursday onwards, 11 more countries were included in the visa exemption list, which includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Following last week’s announcement of the Mainland Affairs Council, entry requirements for select categories of Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macau nationals have also been relaxed from Thursday onwards.

Even as many Asian destinations have scrapped most of the Covid-19 related entry restrictions, Taiwan had resorted to a strong zero-Covid policy for more than two years, where arrivals were still required to undergo a mandatory three-day quarantine at home or at a hotel, followed by four days of self-monitoring.

Taiwan had also banned inbound and outbound tour groups for more than two years.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel group, said on Wednesday it would return to breakeven before the end of the year for its sales, marketing, distribution, and loyalty activities for owners of its branded hotels.

Accor said robust sales and earnings this summer along with tight control of costs had led the group’s management to raise its full-year guidance for 2022 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — a measure of profit. Management had set guidance at above $550 million, but they now expect to generate between $593 million and $622 million (€610 and €640 million).

Accor also revealed it’s engaged in exclusive talks with Valesco Group to sell its Paris head office for about $452 million (€465 million). The asset disposal would be subject to a 12-year sale and leaseback agreement. It requires approval and is slated to be done by year-end.

The sale of the headquarters building is part of the group’s effort to lighten its balance sheet. The move toward leasing rather than owning may also provide a side benefit of letting the company scale up and down in office space as needed and as workplace trends evolve.

Guesty, a startup that simplifies the operation and marketing of short-term rental and vacation rentals, said on Wednesday it had acquired two companies — Kigo and HiRUM — to expand the brand’s position in Southern Europe and Australia.

Guesty, based in the U.S. and Israel, didn’t disclose the transaction details.

Kigo and HiRUM have “thousands of customers” using their tools for property management and operations. For example, HiRUM’s customers include Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Ramada by Wyndham, and Grand Mercure Hotels & Resorts.

The deal extends Guesty’s “capabilities for flexible inventory management, allowing operators to handle traditional hotel listings, serviced apartments, holiday homes, and short-term rentals from one dashboard,” the company said.

Guesty has been on a shopping spree since August, when it revealed a $170 million Series E funding round. Earlier this month, Guesty bought Yield Planet, a hotel-focused revenue and distribution management platform.

Expedia Group announced the launch of a startup accelerator to empower innovation on its business to business platform.

Selected startups — and small businesses, as well — would get technology and business development support, mentorship from Expedia Group personnel as well as outside experts, a non-equity grant, and access to the Expedia Group platform and products.

Companies can apply to the Open World Accelerator program by October 21 here. To qualify they must be striving to make the travel industry “more open and accessible,” be less than a decade old, and already have at least a minimum viable product.

Archana Arunkumar, Senior Vice President of Platform. “Expedia Group’s mission is to power travel for everyone, everywhere,” said Archana Arunkumar, Expedia Group’s senior vice president of platform in a statement. “Open World Accelerator is specifically designed to drive innovation in the industry, remove barriers to travel, and enable startups and SMBs to build capabilities on Expedia’s Open World™ technology platform that significantly improve the experience for every traveler.”

The National Gallery of the Faroe Islands launched an exhibition this week containing 40 images of the archipelago developed by artificial intelligence program Midjourney, becoming the first national gallery to feature a fully produced show created by artificial intelligence. 

The exhibit, which runs from September 29 through October 30, reveals how prominent artists — such as Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso — might have depicted the landscape of the remote archipelago in the North Atlantic. Visitors to the national gallery will also have the opportunity to create their own images of the Faroe Islands using Midjourney.

“When I first heard of (artificial intelligence) and Midjourney and how it is possible to create new pictures just like individual artists might have done, it immediately intrigued me,” said Karina Lykke Grand, director of the National Gallery of the Faroe Islands.

“It was fascinating to see how by giving prompts, the system can get an idea of how an artist such as Van Gogh or Picasso might have painted the Faroe Islands.”