Hyatt Buys Standard, Shakira Pitches Despegar and Hotel Loyalty Licensing

Growing up in Singapore, I thought I'd seen most of my country — a city-state just slightly smaller than the size of New York City.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 4, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Thousands of hotel workers went on strike across major U.S. cities between Sunday and Tuesday. The 21 strikes, organized by the Unite Here union, targeted properties branded by the major hotel groups Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Accor.

Local Dubai hotel group FIVE reported financial results Monday that show the company has continued to benefit from the emirate’s robust tourism sector, but also that it will need to look elsewhere for growth.

Koji, the mold that transforms soy beans and wheat into soy sauce and rice into sake, is so beloved in Japan that it has its own holiday. And lately, chefs have been finding new uses for the fungus, which has a fruity aroma and an ability to make “anything it touches better,” says Jeremy Umansky, 41, the owner of Larder deli in Cleveland. He uses koji for almost everything: to cure pastrami; to ferment Chinese-style black beans, which are ground and swirled into chocolate babka to embolden the chocolate; and to sprinkle over salads and fries in the form of what the restaurant calls Special K, a seasoning of dried ground koji. “It’s a harmonizer,” he says. Bartenders, too, are taking note. At Nancy’s Hustle in Houston, the bar manager, Zach Hornberger, 32, adds it to the nonalcoholic Silver Brining cocktail, a sweet-sour-salty mix of pickle brine, grapefruit and lime juices, koji and tonic. “It brings this umami background to beverages, and it plays well with citrus, taming the high acid notes and rounding the drink as a whole,” he says. At the restaurant Fête in Honolulu, the bar manager, Fabrice McCarthy, 41, infuses rum with shio koji (a slurry of koji, water and salt) and shakes it into a mai tai to add salinity — the effect, he says, is similar to how salted peanuts make you want to drink more beer. Ryan Chetiyawardana, 40, the owner of the bar Lyaness in London, experiments with koji in multiple forms — for one cocktail, he ferments parsnips with koji, which he says unlocks the sweetness and delivers “a huge tropical brightness.” While koji often plays a supporting role, at Paradiso in Barcelona, it wraps around the entire lip of the glass used for the Fleming, named for Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, another influential mold. For this fungus-inspired cocktail, which includes grapefruit, tequila and miso, the manager of Paradiso’s research lab, Matteo Ciarpaglini, 30, one-upped a classic salt rim with a fluffy cloud of koji, its floral fragrance accompanying every taste. —

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.

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.

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.