Future of Lodging

Hospitality companies provided more than a million beds to emergency and frontline workers during the pandemic. As the legions of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine grow, they're back at it with a little tech boost to assist.

Fractional ownership isn't to be confused with the longstanding concept of timeshare. Still, ready for the sales pitch?

Wyndham plans to throttle its recovery forward with a wave of international openings this year. The uncertain factor is if investors want this, given the company's resilience during the pandemic stemmed from domestic travel demand.

It may not have seen the largest profit of major hotel companies last year, but Accor’s swing from a multibillion-dollar loss to a multimillion-dollar profit over the span of 12 months is a major win for a company with significant exposure to Europe and other areas more dependent on international travel.

Holiday Inn Express is still the bread and butter at IHG, but newer brands like Avid and Voco are vaulting up the charts to account more for future expansion at the company.

Skift has long pointed out that the lines are blurring among formerly separate categories in hospitality. The move to hybrid, or blended hospitality, has only sped up lately, as this latest merger highlights.

As part of its "connected trip" and loyalty strategy, Booking Holdings argued it can convince hotels and other partners to offer up substantial discounts and perks, and this would spur incremental bookings. But do hotels really want to be a cog in building the Booking.com brand?

Good morning from Skift. It's Wednesday, February 23, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Last year was a rebuilding one for IHG, as the company trimmed off underperforming Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels from its portfolio.

Marriott, Hilton, Choice Hotels, and Wyndham all swung to profitability last year, per earnings reports this week. Even if Hyatt didn't, the other reports mostly amounted to a strong sign of recovery well under way for hotel companies with a significant presence in the U.S.