Rafat Ali, Skift
The substitution effect is real, and car rental companies for the first time are beginning to look like transitory businesses.
2 years ago
75 million Americans ready to be marketed to? Travel brands, the time to start spending money on marketing is...now!
Even as there is more awareness about benefits of time off, the overworked, under-vacationed, and under-traveled American remains a reality and the travel industry hasn't done much to band together and attempt to change it, despite some efforts by the U.S. Travel Association and brands like MasterCard and Expedia.
The American Vacation Revolution is long overdue. Which unicorn startup will disrupt American no-vacation mentality and corporate all-work-and-no-play policies?
Everyone loves the concept of the sharing economy, but when it comes close to home, feelings about it are a lot more nuanced. Lots more research needs to be done at the local and neighborhood level on the effects of the sharing economy, positive and negative.
3 years ago
Americas are overworked, and not taking enough days off in summer for a long vacation, much to the detriment of the overall travel industry here in U.S.
Despite all the sensationalism in reportage of the recent tragic incident, the reality is that the idea of gun tourism is only appealing to a small portion of Americans, and fewer still act on it.
U.S. airlines will have to come out and be more vocal about whether they explicitly ban the usage of devices such as Knee Defender, now that it is in the public consciousness. But regular Americans have spoken: they frown upon such devices.
U.S. doesn't just need BrandUSA to get international visitors to U.S., it needs a big get-out-and-travel marketing effort right in our own backyard. Of course weak-recovery economy doesn't help, whatever the marketing efforts may be.
The international travel habits of Americans remain anemic, but a positive way of looking at it: There is still a lot of potential for growth in America, and international destinations can do a lot more to incent Americans to travel.
Lesson: Always look beyond the signals emanating from early adopters on Twitter.
Amadeus + Skift
Much as the travel industry would like to move beyond pricing and fees, consumers still wants better disclosures and simplicity around ticket prices, fees and other related services. Is the travel industry listening?
