Hilton Tests New Ways to Increasingly Personalize Guest Bookings

Thousands of Airbnbs and short-term rentals are about to be wiped off the map in New York City.

Hilton said Thursday that it plans to install at least six electric vehicle chargers per property at 2,000 hotels in North America, and will buy devices from Tesla. Once it fully installs them, Hilton will own more electric vehicle chargers than any other U.S.-based hotel group.

One of the best perks of flying Southwest Airlines is the ability to earn a Companion Pass®. The Companion Pass allows flyers to bring a designated friend or family member with them on flights for free. All they need to pay are the taxes, fees and other government or airport-imposed charges of at least $5.60 per one-way. There are specific ways to get the Pass, and Southwest has just introduced a few more available for a limited time.

Airbnb and New York City have often had a tough relationship, one marked by lawsuits and other disputes. Airbnb has argued that New York City’s regulations have hurt its ability to do business, which the company believes will become more challenging when the city starts enforcing its host registration law regarding short-term rentals on September 5.

Connectivity is reinforced with three strategic U.S. airline partners, American Airlines, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel giant, said on Tuesday that Omer Acar will head its brands Raffles & Orient Express as of March 1. Acar will join Accor’s other brand CEOs in its luxury and lifestyle group (Fairmont, Sofitel & MGallery, and Ennismore) — all of whom report directly to group CEO Sébastian Bazin.

Just when travelers thought that travel disruptions seen earlier this year may be easing, in May 2023 the European Union plans to introduce new fingerprint and biometric checks at external borders for third-country nationals that could lead to significantly longer wait times.

Skift Megatrends is arguably our largest companywide exercise every year, and we’ve been making our research-driven and editorially informed prognostications for a decade now.

Chris Nassetta, CEO of Hilton and incoming national chair of the U.S. Travel Association, called on Wednesday for U.S. government officials to cut visa wait times that he said were hurting the country’s domestic travel sector and U.S. federal revenues.

When guests drive up to Marina Riviera, a boutique hotel in Big Bear, California that opened in the autumn of 2022, they won’t see a big sign for Casetta, the parent company that founded the hotel portfolio in 2019. Nor will they see its Casetta floral logo splashed on every corner of the lobby (look closely on the bath products and robes, though, and you’ll find it).

This week Executive Editor Dennis Schaal stepped back from the earnings buzzsaw that has been the last month and took a longer look at three brands he covers a lot: Airbnb, Expedia, and Booking. In the case of Airbnb, he looked at what it and Booking may do with their piles of cash, as well as what it should expect from Expedia’s Vrbo. These are two stories that would not have been possible to write this time last year when Airbnb didn’t have a year behind it as a public company.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, March 6. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.