Hotel Earnings: 7 Things We Learned From the Skift Travel 200

The Skift Global Forum brought travel’s most powerful people to New York, where they discussed some of the industry’s most important issues. What stood out from the event?

The best thing about August isn’t the searing heat – it’s the fact that summer has matured and there’s been (hopefully) plenty of time to get out and test new gear. Matador’s editors tested everything from socks and underwear to luggage to mountain bike gloves this month, and below is the stuff we loved most. The editor who recommended each is listed, so if you have beef – or a competing product – you know who to contact. Preference was given, as it should be, to brands working towards more sustainable production methods.

Big cities are my Roman Empire. I love staying in the heart of a city, but it can be hard to find hotels that offer a prime location and perfectly blended amenities that suit my travel style. Enter the Hyatt Centric Downtown Nashville.

Recently, Phocuswright's Global Travel Market Report 2024 revealed the industry exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023 with a 24 percent increase in gross bookings and a total spend of $1.5 trillion.

During segregation, Lincoln Beach was the one place on Lake Pontchartrain In New Orleans where Black people were allowed to swim. Live acts like Fats Domino and Nat King Cole drew crowds to a recreation area that included a roller coaster and swimming pools. But with passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, Black New Orleanians were finally allowed to swim at nearby Pontchartrain Beach. Lincoln Beach closed not long after.

20 CEOs. 35 sessions in all. The Skift Global Forum ran from September 17 – 19 with loads of insights into the future of travel. We heard from the biggest hotel operators, OTAs, tourism boards and other leaders of the industry. 

If a hotel full of children is not your idea of a vacation, why not try a getaway just for grown-ups? From posh city hotels to tropical resorts, these new and recently expanded adults-only escapes beckon solo travelers, couples and friends with nature hikes, classes like pottery and macramé, spa treatments, tequila tastings and perhaps the greatest luxury of all: peace and quiet.

In 2017, I moved from the East Coast of the US to the UK and promptly met my Scottish husband.

The Skift Global Forum will feature the travel industry’s most powerful people, many of whom we profiled in our recent Skift Power Rankings. How did we determine which travel executives wield the most power?

Paris has a leafy little secret: Tucked into grand boulevards, behind museums and churches, and inside hotels are secret gardens in Paris designed as back-to-nature reprieves. Secluded square? Woodsy park? Lush courtyards that look (and smell) more countryside than French capital? If you know where to look, the City of Light brims with verdant escape hatches from city life.

My first visual encounter with Dominica was through the paintings of the Italian-born artist Agostino Brunias, who made a career portraying the island in tame, stylized vignettes that glossed over the grim realities of colonial rule. But within minutes of my arrival there, from the first twist of its serpentine roads, it becomes clear there is nothing tame about this land that sits in the middle of the curve of the Lesser Antilles. It bristles with volcanic energy and glitters with the two-toned leaves of its bois canot trees, flipping from green to white as they waver in the wind. It lulls with the uneven music of its many waterfalls; it throws random rainbows across its astonishing horizons; it bewitches from the depths with its technicolor coral reefs. And when hurricane season comes, it roars.

In the ever-evolving world of travel trends, it's time to say goodbye to raw-dogging — flying without devices or any other distractions — and hello to the "TSA tray aesthetic."