Coronavirus and Travel

Another day, another pandemic-born hotel investment group. But Olive Tree Hotels & Resorts is after a type of hotel product not many investors crave, which could provide more of an open playing field.

Not every hotel company is cruising into summer with accelerated springtime bookings like those for Marriott and Hilton. Accor needs greater vaccine access in Europe as well as lockdowns to lift before recovery is possible.

There may be momentum behind the travel industry's recovery, but plenty of uncertainty is still ahead. Now is not the time to drive customers away with sneaky, overnight devaluing of loyalty points.

Just because the risk is low for surface spread of coronavirus doesn’t mean hotels are going to back away from door seals and hourly lobby cleanings. There’s still a psychological and confidence factor at play in bringing back more travelers.

Payment technology has never been the most exciting part of the travel industry, but agencies that don't offer expense solutions could lose out as companies restart their travel programs.

The Utah legislature's bet on the tourism economy placed the state ahead of the recovery compared to its neighbors in the American West. As more vaccinated Americans flock to its big outdoor spaces this year, Travel Utah's challenge remains managing and educating those crowds on responsible travel.

Hotel group Accor has big ambitions in Asia for its co-working brand Wojo. But it probably shouldn't count on the region rolling out the red carpet for remote workers.

Extended Stay America's significant hotel ownership, an industry anomaly these days, drove it to sell, or at least that was the C-suite argument. Buildings are getting old and need a lot of money to renovate. Major shareholders aren't buying that argument.

Our Reopening Travel liveblog explains the when and the where of how the reopening and recovery of travel is unfolding by the numbers and where it goes from here. Check it out at Reopening.travel.