Skift Originals

The global Covid-19 crisis is one of the greatest challenges the travel industry has ever faced. As we enter a new phase of recovery planning, Skift will present its tentpole European event -- Skift Forum Europe -- as an online conference to provide a rapid response and a platform for travel leaders to share ideas on June 30.

What will travel look like on the other side of the pandemic? Skift Research’s monthly travel tracker looks into consumer’s changing attitudes about travel when they start to travel again.

In response to the global crisis and its effect on travel, Skift has launched a series of online summits to provide tactical ideas, critical analysis, and perspectives on the solutions needed in this time. Each online summit will focus on a unique sector within travel, featuring Skift editors in conversation with industry leaders, all sharing their perspectives on “Travel’s Path Forward.”

Global trade show cancellations have eclipsed the 500 mark, causing a major economic impact on the events industry. All eyes are now turning to event tech to connect audiences and help companies track the status of their own meetings.

Eventbrite closed 2019 stronger than expected, but the company's stock still stumbled after last week's earnings call. The events industry is clearly at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

We've decided to move two of our forums to new dates in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Skift Forum Europe will now be held on June 29–30 in Madrid, and Skift Forum Asia in Singapore on Oct. 13–15. We hope you can join us for these seminal travel industry events.

The travel arrangement and reservation services sector has experienced strong growth for the past few years and outperformed other major travel verticals. We believe this trend will continue in the next few years, aided by more digital transformation.

Travel advisors still exist; tour operators are the last sector to move to digital; online travel platforms are scrambling to keep the growth rate high. We are expecting to see more changes shaping the travel arrangement and reservation services sector in the next few years.

There is no doubt that the latest wellness trends will impact the travel space. Just how fast companies will begin implementing the trends is the real question.

One of our goals is to always surprise our readers. So we asked our editors to push the envelope on making predictions for the New Year. They did not disappoint, from Amazon buying Expedia to JetBlue going away. What we are really trying to do here is prepare our readers for more of the unexpected in 2020 — and we'll be there to cover it.