Travel's Reopening and Coronavirus Recovery

Disney is about to be a century old. Its focus on immersive storytelling demonstrates it's not thinking like a centenarian.

As Hong Kong leaders acknowledge how stringent Covid policies have hammered the destination’s competitiveness, the government might soon be on its way to scrap the controversial hotel quarantine policy for…

Most industry forecasts point to an eventual recovery — even to the 2019 high of $1.4 trillion in annual spending — as business trips start to bounce back. But many underlying trends are emerging in a fragile global economy. How we travel, and for what purpose, is far from certain as we enter a new era of accountability.

Today’s edition of Skift’s daily podcast looks at Asia’s coronavirus recovery, Maine’s tourism labor woes, and two airlines betting on a hybrid plane.

Coronavirus threw traditional work and travel patterns into disarray last winter, forcing people to stay at home. But this time around concerns over sky-high energy bills could push people into co-working spaces to keep costs down.

While not fully recovered, travel is taking on recognizable and predictable patterns in most regions. Asia Pacific is the exception, where there are still major fluctuations in travel performance with every new announcement of loosening and tightening of pandemic-related restrictions.

With reduced travel restrictions, the tourism industry in the United States is seeing a rabid comeback. No place experienced that more than the Pine Tree State, which saw a surge of tourists, but found fewer workers to serve the demand. Maine's summer story may just be a proxy for the dilemma facing so many other destinations.

As Japan learns to live with the virus, the government has indicated plans to ease all travel restrictions in the “not-so-distant future,” which according to the local media could be…

While not fully recovered, travel is taking on recognizable and predictable patterns in most regions. Asia Pacific is the exception, where there are still major fluctuations in travel performance with every new announcement of loosening and tightening of pandemic-related restrictions.

Chinese airlines struggled mightily during the first half of the year under the country’s zero-Covid policy. The Big 3 all lost money but China Eastern, based in Shanghai — which suffered several lockdowns — lost the most.