Hyatt Buys Standard, Shakira Pitches Despegar and Hotel Loyalty Licensing

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, August 27, 2024, and now, here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Alva Vanderbilt's 39th birthday present from her husband was a 140,000-square-foot summer "cottage" on the shores of Newport, Rhode Island.

The thing about Hawaii cruises is that there’s no bad time of year to take one. Thanks to its year-round sunshine and warm weather, Hawaii will be there for you whenever you’re ready to set sail.

Hotel contracts with hospitality union UNITE HERE are ending this month, and if hotel workers don’t receive the better benefits and higher wages they’re asking for, an estimated 10,000+ workers could go on strike across the country in what could be the biggest hotel strike in American history. 

I'm a big proponent of creating a spending strategy when applying for a new credit card. That way, I never miss out on a welcome bonus and don't overspend trying to achieve one.

Exciting news, Carnival Cruise Line fans: A visit to a massively revamped private island is in your future.

I'd never cruised before — but when 12 of my friends from high school hatched a plan to celebrate our 60th birthdays on a four-night Royal Caribbean cruise, I immediately said yes.

India’s tourism industry is experiencing a major transformation, fueled by the growing middle class and increasing disposable income. Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia and India Reporter Bulbul Dhawan recap this month’s developments, discussing India’s rising influence in global tourism. With the country’s booming economy making headlines, what does this mean for global travel?  

The Skift Research team recently unveiled its State of Travel 2024 report, a 400-page that documents the consumer and business trends in various sectors of the travel industry — including hotels and online travel agencies.

The rapidly brightening sky was painted with swaths of orange, pink, and yellow. The early-morning light revealed a city that seemed to be little more than a patchwork of haphazardly planned mid-rise buildings in varying states of repair, punctuated with sprawling bushes, trees quivering in the morning breeze, and lawns sloping toward the nearby sea. The nocturnal beep-beep of tree frogs gave way to the insistent chirp of morning birds that rose from the trees to swoop across the sky like animated chevrons. As I watched the Senegalese sunrise on my first day in Africa, I was vibrating with anticipation. Dakar was waking up, and I was here to witness it.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, August 22, 2024, and now, here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Universal Orlando currently boasts eight on-site hotels, offering guests easy access to the fun of Universal's theme parks. Next year, they'll add three more to that lineup to accommodate the influx of guests likely to flock to Orlando when Universal Epic Universe, the resort's newest theme park, opens in 2025. Epic Universe is being built on a 750-acre site a few miles away from Universal's existing parks and hotels and will nearly double the size of Universal Orlando Resort, further exacerbating the need for additional hotels.