Coronavirus and Travel

The eagerly awaited recovery in air travel that airlines have talked up may arrive late to the gate if the U.S. mandates negative Covid-19 tests for all domestic air travelers. The potential move could set back recovery efforts underway in the beleaguered industry.

It's as good a time as any to test new revenue models, but this may just be a financial buffer until demand comes back.

It may not be an outright acquisition, but Accor's partnership with Faena further builds on the Paris-based hotel giant's plan to be a leader in the trendy, lifestyle hotel sector coming out of the pandemic.

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines has the airline industry looking toward an "inflection point" when the travel recovery takes off later this year. That spike in flyers could mean some sky-high fares but, after more than a year stuck at home, travelers may not care.

Hotel operators may not see much revenue from offering their event spaces as coronavirus vaccine sites, but this is about the long game: the easier it is to vaccinate people, the quicker a hotel industry recovery can take place.

Nearly a year since Covid's start, the lack of a united front among travel and tourism's leading organizations and groups continues — this time, with confounding, divergent opinions on vaccine mandates. This fragmented approach is sure to stunt the industry's pace of recovery.