Tom Brady is getting back to work. Just not on the gridiron.
25.08.2023 - 14:42 / skift.com / Steve Hafner / Edward Russell / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden / Peden Doma Bhutia
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, November 10. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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This week marks the 10-year anniversary of the Priceline Group — now Booking Holdings — announcing a deal to acquire travel metasearch company Kayak less than four months after Kayak went public. So how has Kayak, once described as one of the hottest brands in U.S. online travel, fared after being acquired by the world’s largest travel company?
While Kayak isn’t as powerful in metasearch as expected due to fierce competition from Google, it’s still a major player in the travel industry, reports Executive Editor Dennis Schaal in this week’s Online Travel Briefing.
Although Schaal writes Google’s flight and hotel metasearch products have sucked the life out of several rivals, Kayak CEO Steve Hafner said the company has thrived since the acquisition. Hafner cited Kayak’s expansion from 14 to 40 countries in addition to it running three Kayak-branded hotels with hospitality management company Life House.
Meanwhile, Clayton Reid, CEO of tourism marketing company MMGY Global, said Kayak remains relevant for travelers. Reid added that Kayak occupies a more prominent position in the travel planning process than competitors Tripadvisor and Trivago.
Next, Spirit Airlines plans to raise at least $500 million in debt via a deal backed by its loyalty programs. That’s another sign of the high value of loyalty programs to airlines, reports Edward Russell, editor of Airline Weekly, a Skift brand.
Spirit said in a securities filing on Wednesday that the private deal is supported by its Free Spirit and Spirit Saver$ Club programs. The carrier had previously borrowed $850 million in loyalty-backed debt in September 2020. Spirit joins other U.S. carriers that have leveraged their loyalty programs to raise capital coming out of the pandemic, as Russell notes airlines were desperate to boost their balance sheets with cash to weather the travel slowdown. United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have all raised billions through their loyalty programs.
Russell adds that the value of Spirit’s two loyalty programs is currently greater than the carrier’s value on the stock market.
We wrap today in the United Arab Emirates. A major resort development comprised of man-made islands that Dubai is hoping will boost its tourism prospects received $4.6 billion in financing, reports Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia.
Dubai-based property developer Nakheel announced it’s secured the money to develop Dubai Islands, located along the emirate’s northern coastline. The company said that more than 80 resorts and hotels, including luxury and wellness resorts, would
Tom Brady is getting back to work. Just not on the gridiron.
In the second quarter of 2023, the Middle East’s hotel construction pipeline has seen significant growth, marking its highest project count since the first quarter of 2020, according to Lodging Econometric’s Middle East Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report.
I was more than ready to leave Los Angeles after living there for seven years.
Air travel has changed drastically throughout the decades.
Air travel has changed drastically throughout the decades.
It's been about 10 years since my husband and I first visited Walt Disney World Resort with our two kids. At the time, we were the parents of preschoolers, and none of us had ever visited Disney before. The trip was hectic and stressful — and before I discovered the importance of taking an afternoon nap when visiting Walt Disney World.
Born in Southern California and then lured back after college, I've spent more than a decade here — first southeast of Los Angeles and now northeast. I've traveled all across the region, down to the border of Mexico and up to San Francisco, journeying through our deserts, forests, beaches, and mountains.
Ten years ago this week, on November 9, 2012, the Priceline Group (today’s Booking Holdings) announced a deal to acquire Kayak, the Connecticut-based metasearch engine, which had been a public company for less than four months.
Pure Michigan is back. The advertising arm of Travel Michigan, the state’s official tourism promotion office, is launching a national winter marketing campaign for the time since 2019, featuring videos showcasing Michigan as a prime destination for cold weather adventures.
Especially heavy layoffs at Google Flights, including senior managers and engineers who joined Google with the ITA Software acquisition in 2011, could signal strategy shifts in the company’s multifaceted airline business, Skift has learned.
Travel website KAYAK, owned by Booking Holdings Inc, said domestic searches for hotels within China surged last week, after the country loosened its COVID-19-related restrictions.
New Mexico visitor spend jumped more than 30 percent in the past two years, with the state seeing a significant tourism boom partly because of the New Mexico Tourism Department’s longstanding tourism campaign, New Mexico True.