Articles tagged “skift feature”

Franchise agreements, like casinos, tend to favor the house. Now, as a generation of hotel contracts begin to expire, some owners are deciding to walk away from the table.

Ten years after Hilton, Marriott, and other chains began coaxing travelers to book directly, online travel agencies still control roughly the same slice of the pie. Yet the chains have won the economics: lower commissions, better contract terms, and stronger loyalty programs.

Geopolitics no longer hovers in the background for travel, it shows up directly in booking numbers. It could be a diplomatic freeze, or a conflict nowhere near your destination. Demand vanishes or, almost worse, reroutes overnight to a competitor destination that was ready to catch it.

Hotels that cut fossil fuels can lower operating costs and risk and even improve guest comfort, but the industry still treats decarbonization as optional, too expensive, confusing, and hard to compare or find.

Every ambitious project deserves a second draft. The war just cleared the desk for Saudi to write one.

The big hotel brands have never been more profitable. The owners — those who actually run the hotels — are getting hit from all sides. The franchise model is showing cracks.

Southwest is starting to look a lot like other airlines after decades of going its own way. There will be bumps and some loyal passengers will gripe. None of that will matter if it delivers on its profit goals.

Travelers say they aren't ready to let AI book a trip. The industry is spending billions anyway — and no one has answered the most basic question: who pays when AI agents get it wrong?

ICE's Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis revealed what happens when hotels become political battlegrounds — and why the industry isn't ready for what's coming.

Lifestyle hotels have moved from niche rebellion to mainstream strategy. As the model spreads, can it still surprise guests, or does scale make ‘cool’ start to look the same?