Coronavirus and Travel

The hotel industry needs a third-party verification system for the litany of new Covid cleaning and safety measures. In a crowded field of privatized competitors, it isn't clear if Unite Here Local 11's will become the industry standard — but hotel guests and workers should welcome its transparent approach.

Whatever happens to the future of work will determine what business travel and the meetings & event sectors come back as. Skift is starting a new weekly briefing to help Pro subscribers navigate this new future of corporate travel.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is a massive life raft to many travel companies, but industry groups still want more targeted relief and stimulus to accelerate a full recovery that could be years away.

Much has been made about how the pandemic has affected so many travel businesses. But what about travel media? Interviews with the creators of one travel newsletter reveal the larger dilemma of when to encourage travel, and when you do the complete opposite.

Palisociety sees plenty of growth opportunities in the small, boutique hotel space. The only problem? More of the bigger brands are beginning to see the same benefits of focusing on these properties.

The CDC has released its first guidelines for Americans who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 but stopped short of removing warnings against travel. However, it's not clear if the guidance will make much difference as more and more people book flights and hotels.

A growing number of digital health passports could be a risk by overcomplicating things, but folding them into an established digital ID platform should address that.

What Las Vegas convention travel downturn? The $6.25 billion Las Vegas Sands sale last week is more a testament to confidence in the meetings and event travel rebound than it is to the current business climate.

In our top travel stories this week, we took a Skift Deep Dive to find out why all-inclusive, luxury resorts will never be the same. We also explored post-pandemic recovery in the Philippines, Airbnb’s host dilemma, the much-anticipated electric aircraft, Hertz plans after bankruptcy, and more.