Half Of All Travelers Search For Physical Or Mental Wellness

Skift’s Megatrends for 2024 were released at the beginning of the year, our 12th annual reporting on the trends defining the travel industry.

As president and CEO of one of Europe’s most prestigious flag carriers, Pieter Elbers was at the top of his game. He successfully navigated Dutch airline KLM through the 2010s and the worst of the pandemic – it seemed like there was little he couldn’t do. 

In an exciting milestone for Skift, we are thrilled to bring our first-ever Skift India Summit to India, happening on March 19-20 in Delhi-NCR. The decision to host a groundbreaking Skift event in India has been a long time coming and reflects why now is such an important moment for India’s growth and its impact on the global travel industry.

Happy Thursday, folks! Hope you’re having a great week so far. Has it been as busy for you as it’s been for us? Today our lead item comes all the way from the Middle East. Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia brings funding news, linking the UAE and San Francisco. Also on the agenda today is Airbnb’s new housing council – Executive Editor Dennis Schaal has the deets.

Will 2024 be a Goldilocks year for the global travel industry? We’ve gone from “too cold” during the pandemic to “too hot,” as demand for revenge travel outstripped capacity. Could 2024 be “just right?”​

When the Moroccan financier Aziz Nahas decided to buy and regenerate a farm outside Marrakesh about two decades ago, he underestimated how much would grow there. Now, the 10-acre plot produces organic vegetables and fruits as well as hosting an artist residency program and a ceramic studio, all under the name Sanctuary Slimane. In 2021, Nahas’s friend the French restaurateur Benjamin Pastor suggested they partner up to start a cafe and farm shop in the busy Marrakesh neighborhood of Gueliz. Last spring, they opened the coffee shop Blue Ribbon, with offerings including fresh salads served with halloumi or beets and almonds and a bánh mí sandwich on fresh sourdough. In the fall, they added a seating area next door and the Slimane Farm Shop, which sells vegetables and products like honey and dried herbs that are grown and produced on the farm. Up next: Farmers, a restaurant headed by Blue Ribbon’s chef and located in the same building. The 46-seat space, lined with colorful Popham tiles, is scheduled to open at the end of February.

On the heels of Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week—which takes place in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia from January 15–21, 2024—there are two other Restaurant Week events happening this month throughout Northern Virginia.

IBS Software is expanding its presence in the hotel tech sector with the acquisition of Above Property Services for $90 million. 

A road trip through the remote, stunningly beautiful Himalayan valleys of Bhutan ranks as one of travel’s most exciting adventures.

Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) reports its best year for tourism ever, welcoming a record 1.22 million overnight arrivals to the nature Emirate in 2023, up 8% on 2022 numbers and bolstered by a significant 24% year-on-year pick-up in international visitors. The robust performance is underscored by RAKTDA’s strategic growth plans. From investment in tourism infrastructure, targeted initiatives to drive more visitors to the emirate, to developing an ecosystem rooted in sustainability, Ras Al Khaimah continues to reinforce its position as a destination of the future. Its key 2023 achievements include:

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Long gone are the days when social responsibility was seen as just a passing fad. Instead, more and more companies are looking for ways to make a real difference. Like Rosewood Hotel Group, which not only operates some of the world’s most exceptional hotels, but does so with a deep-rooted commitment to do good, both for people and the planet.