Last-Minute Bookings, Viator's New Ads and China's Air Recovery

16.07.2024 - 12:51 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, July 16, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. 

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Last-minute travel booking sites have often done well during economic downturns. Executive Editor Dennis Schaal provides information about companies like last-minute vacation rental site Whimstay, which has announced discounted inventory deals with several major travel brands.  

Whimstay recently unveiled a partnership with Expedia Group and Vrbo that will furnish the company with up to 250,000 new listings. Whimstay, which targets Millennial and Gen Z travelers, gets its inventory from property managers eager to offer rooms at discounted rates rather than see them unoccupied. 

Schaal notes the partnership, to be implemented during the third quarter of this year, will enable travelers to access discounts on Whimstay, especially when they book within 30 days of the stay.    

Next, tours and activity brand Viator has unveiled two new ads with the catchphrase “Regret Less. Do More” that highlight travel mishaps and how Viator could have helped avoid them, writes Travel Experiences Reporter Jesse Chase-Lubitz. 

One ad features a family on an empty, rundown bus in London while the other shows two people hanging from a cliff after a mountain biking trip goes haywire. The campaign emphasizes Viator’s offerings, such as guided tours and an option for free cancellations. 

Viator said it wants to avoid the temptation of producing typical ads with smiling people against beautiful backdrops. 

Finally, international air travel from China is making progress in its recovery from the pandemic. But getting back to 2019 levels is taking longer than anticipated, writes Reporter Christiana Sciaudone.

Sciaudone notes the number of flights between China and the U.S. will be a quarter of pre-Covid levels this year due to China’s weak economy and geopolitical tensions between the two countries. In addition, a study by the Asian Development Bank found that the aviation industry should prepare for a “possible permanent reduction in future growth” in air travel from China.