Travel News: Latest News, Breaking Stories, and Analysis of Travel

News Blog

AI Wars Comes For Travel Planning, As Bing Relaunches Around ChatGPT

The Microsoft-owned also-ran search engine Bing has relaunched around conversational chatbot technology powered by ChatGPT, the new sensation owned by OpenAI. In an event today, the CEOs of Microsoft and OpenAI gave a demo of the new Bing, and it will be open to all in coming days. The refreshed Bing provides a chatbox with…

Rafat Ali | 3 hours ago

Tourism

India Ramps Up On Sustainable Tourism With G20 Presidency

India is dialling in on tourism, and foreign tourists are picking up. Green initiatives, sustainable investments and responsible tourism will be core to its G20 presidency in 2023.

Manoj Kumar, Reuters | 8 hours ago

News Blog

Google Adds Last-Minute Rentals Platform Whimstay as Latest Partner

Google has added San Francisco-based startup Whimstay as a vacation rental partner. Whimstay focuses on booking last-minute vacation rentals and the selling of distressed inventory — or providing discounts on vacation rentals that would otherwise go unoccupied at full retail rates. Google will now add Whimstay's 150,000 vacation rental properties to its travel search function.…

Matthew Parsons | 9 hours ago

News Blog

Delta Boosts Pay 5 Percent for Flight Attendants, Most Staff

Delta Air Lines will give its non-union staff, including flight attendants but not pilots, a 5 percent pay raise this April. The move, as CEO Ed Bastian put it in a memo Tuesday, was "well earned" by staff after a challenging 2022. "This well-earned increase is a direct result of your efforts," Bastian said. "I…

Edward Russell | 9 hours ago

Hotels

Resorts Adapt to the End of the Off-Season

Staying open year-round helps many resort destinations with staffing and attracting guests in times of year that had been thought of as shoulder season or off-season before the pandemic.

Carley Thornell | 10 hours ago

Airline Weekly

Spirit Airlines Struggles to Control Costs as It Awaits Fate of JetBlue Merger

Spirit is struggling to control its costs, something that sounds a lot like its prospective merger partner JetBlue.

11 hours ago

Cruises

Royal Caribbean Hopes Cruiser Spending Splurge Will Help Reverse Losses

Royal Caribbean seems confident it's smooth sailing now that the pandemic is over and passengers are ready to spend their savings on cruise experiences. But a potential recession could mess with all that.

Dawit Habtemariam | 11 hours ago

Tourism

Rio Expects Carnival’s Return to Generate $1 Billion in Tourism Business

Blocos and samba schools will return in full force to the streets of Rio de Janeira this month for Brazil's largest annual celebration. The biggest carnival in the world is expected to generate a new record in revenues for the economy.

Sergio Queiroz, Reuters | 11 hours ago

Business Travel

Hertz Is Revamping Dollar and Thrifty Brands

Hertz has plenty to gain by going after the more price-conscious traveler with these two brands, especially as corporate America tightens its belt. But then how does it balance that with its push for more luxury electric vehicles?

Matthew Parsons | 11 hours ago

News Blog

American and JetBlue-Backed Startup Cleared to Fly Hydrogen-Powered Plane

Hydrogen-powered flight is one step closer to reality. Universal Hydrogen, which is developing a hydrogen fuel-cell powered commercial aircraft engine, has a green light from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to begin test flights. While a little later than hoped — Universal Hydrogen had aimed for the first flight of its powertrain late last year…

Edward Russell | 12 hours ago

Skift Meetings

Detroit’s Huntington Place to Be Redeveloped

Detroit is losing group business due to lacking hotel rooms. That is about to change as a 600 to 800-room hotel connected to Huntington Place is in the works.

12 hours ago