Travel in county Summit

Prior to joining the Saudi Tourism Ministry as a senior advisor , Gloria led the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) as President and CEO, having joined in 2017. WTTC represents the global travel & tourism private sector worldwide, a sector that generates 10% of GDP and accounts for 300 million jobs globally. Gloria was the global voice for the sector and, under her leadership, WTTC led the industry’s agenda during the most difficult crisis in history, the Covid19 pandemic. WTTC successfully unified the sector and implemented measures to reduce the impact such as the creation of the “Safe Travels” global protocols and a stamp that were granted to more than 400 destinations around the world. WTTC also pursued active engagement with over 150 governments to share best practices and public policies to support workers and the private sector, including millions of SMEs, in addition to providing guidelines from lessons learned to help the strong recovery.

Airbnb said that the flexible search features it has rolled out since early 2021 have so far diverted bookings from destinations coping with overtourism and peak travel times, according to data it shared on Friday.

Multiple Colorado counties and towns approved ballot measures on November 8 to shift lodging tax revenue—a key funding source for tourism promotion— toward local community initiatives. The passage of the measures underscore the Skift megatrend that communities are no longer spectators in travel.

No wiggle room exists anymore for superficial business as usual.

Due to an increase in demand in the short-term rental sector, Skift is back with our Skift Short-Term Rental Summit on June 7 in New York City. Building upon Skift’s comprehensive coverage of short-term rentals, this summit will focus on the forefront of the impact of technology, platforms, and professionalization on both the urban and traditional vacation rental category.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 25. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

British actor Idris Elba thinks Dubai deserves an Oscar award for its incredible tourism story.

Skift, Inc., the most influential media company in global travel, and ShortTermRentalz, a division of the International Hospitality Media portfolio that provides the news and intelligence for the short term rental industry, are announcing a content and media partnership to share fresh ideas and insights at their respective events.

Event organizers in Abu Dhabi will no longer be required to pay tourism tax. Hosting an event in Abu Dhabi had incurred a 10 percent tax per ticket sold. “For further support to the investment environment in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, it has been decided to exempt event organizers from the tourism fee of 10 percent on tickets sold,” a circular from the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi stated recently. The circular also said it is mandatory for event organizers to obtain event licenses in accordance with the regulations specified for this purpose. Event organizers are also required to declare the revenues generated from these events, submit supporting financial statements, and cooperate with revenue auditors or individuals designated by the department of culture and tourism to validate the accuracy of their declarations.

India will invest around $12 billion over the next two years in airports, aircraft and recruitment to meet the booming demand for air travel. The country aims to increase the number of airports from the present 148 to 220 by 2025, for which private builders will contribute roughly $9 billion, with the balance coming from the government-run Airports Authority of India. It entails new terminal construction, greenfield projects, and refurbishment of existing buildings, including old military airfields from the colonial era, as per a Bloomberg report. “We need to put in place the civil aviation infrastructure and capabilities that by 2047 would be able to support a $20 trillion economy within India,” said the country’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at the ongoing CAPA India Aviation Summit in New Delhi. Scindia said passenger capacity at India’s six major airports is expected to grow to 420 million in four years from 192 million today, and Indian carriers’ fleet will grow to 2,000 aircraft in five years from 700. Additionally, India has eased leasing rules for airlines to lease more aircraft to address aircraft shortages as travel rebounds from the pandemic. He also highlighted how India had tweaked its airplane leasing program to enable airlines to add more aircraft to meet passenger demand, including more “wet leasing,” or renting of planes with crew, for domestic and international routes. Tata Group-owned Air India last month announced a record order for 470 jets and is due to take another 25 leased aircraft.

Laurence Tosi, founder and managing partner of investment firm WestCap, views the short-term rental industry as a major winner coming out of the pandemic. But he thinks the boom experienced in recent years is winding down.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, June 2. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

When we said Skift is committed to our coverage of short-term rentals, we meant it. Ahead of the sold-out Short-Term Rental Summit in New York City, we’re launching the Skift Short-Term Rental Report, a premium newsletter that will hit your inbox three times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) starting June 13.

The sold-out Skift Short-Term Rental Summit brought nearly 300 attendees to New York City this week to discuss the current state and the future of the industry. What was the best part? Hard to choose, honestly. As one attendee wrote on LinkedIn, “There were SO many great presentations and discussions at the Skift Short-Term Rental Summit in NYC yesterday.” You can watch all the sessions at on our event site here, and choose for yourself.

Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy has grown from 60,000 listings to 115,000 in just a year. But the premium short-term rental offering from the world’s largest hospitality group isn’t focused on being the biggest.

Expedia Group and Vacasa are both moving forward with tech investments to compete with other big players in the short-term rental industry. Executives from both public companies shared details about current projects during Skift’s Short-Term Rental Summit in New York on Wednesday. 

The major players in short-term rentals — Airbnb, Expedia/Vrbo and Booking.com — seldom work together as a unit when faced with tough city crackdowns around the world.

For the first time in his 25 years as an investor, WestCap Founder Laurence Tosi says that the short-term rental market and overall economy possess the most extreme economic health indicators he has ever seen. With strong positives and negatives, it is hard to gauge what will happen next.

Sonder CEO Francis Davidson acknowledges that his company has undergone a lot of changes throughout the years, and it’s poised for more, with the short-term rental operator considering expansions to popular leisure markets.

The evolution of blended leisure and business travel has been an enormous boon for businesses in all sectors of the travel industry, including short-term rentals. The rise in demand for short-term rentals can be attributed in the part to the surge in blended travelers.