Get ready for an inspiring journey at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas on November 12, 2024. This event gathers industry leaders and visionaries to illuminate the latest trends and transformative developments shaping the future of aviation.
23.10.2024 - 11:25 / skift.com / Rashaad Jorden / Sean Oneill / Fred Dixon / Cathay Pacific / Aria Suite / Gordon Smith
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, October 23, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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NYC Tourism + Conventions, the city’s destination marketing organization, announced on Tuesday it named Julie Coker as its next president and CEO, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam.
Coker, who has held the same roles at the San Diego Tourism Authority since 2020, will assume her new position on December 9. She succeeds Fred Dixon, who served as NYC Tourism’s CEO for close to a decade before stepping down earlier this year to lead Brand USA
Coker will take the helm as New York City’s tourism chief as the region prepares to welcome several major events, including the FIFA World Cup final in 2026.
Next, InterContinental Hotels Group had a strong third quarter in terms of hotel openings. But the company also saw a slowdown in revenue growth, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.
IHG added 17,500 rooms across 98 hotels, more than doubling its growth pace from the same period in 2023. O’Neill notes that a lot of that growth came from a deal with the German hotel group Novum Hospitality, which added roughly 6,000 rooms to IHG’s portfolio.
However, IHG only saw a 1.5% growth in revenue per available room worldwide during the third quarter. O’Neill notes a weak economy in China and turmoil in the Middle East contributed to the slowdown in revenue growth.
Finally, Cathay Pacific recently unveiled the Aria Suite, the carrier’s new business class cabin. And the company has plans for a new first class cabin that its chairman called “mindblowing” in an exclusive interview with Airlines Editor Gordon Smith.
Cathay Chair Patrick Healy told Skift that having a world-class cabin is part of the carrier’s aspirations to be one of the best premium airlines in the world. CEO Ronald Lam said Cathay plans to reveal the new cabin in 2025 or 2026, with Smith noting the carrier is awaiting Boeing’s new 777X aircraft before launching a new first-class cabin.
Get ready for an inspiring journey at the Skift Aviation Forum in Dallas on November 12, 2024. This event gathers industry leaders and visionaries to illuminate the latest trends and transformative developments shaping the future of aviation.
Accor raised its profit outlook after luxury hotels and the Paris Olympics helped drive growth, even as the French hospitality giant grappled with weakness in China’s domestic market.
The New York City Council on Wednesday passed a hotel licensing bill that has sparked an intense debate between supporters who claim it will improve safety and working conditions and opponents who argue it will hobble the hotel industry.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, October 22, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
NYC Tourism + Conventions, the city’s official destination marketing organization, announced Tuesday that it had named Julie Coker its next president and CEO.
NYC Tourism + Conventions, the city’s official destination marketing organization, announced Tuesday that it had named Julie Coker its next president and CEO.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) saw strong momentum in its expansion efforts in the third quarter. The hotel group added 17,500 rooms across 98 hotels, more than doubling its growth pace from the same period last year.
Last week was an important one for Cathay Pacific. The Hong Kong carrier unveiled its new business class cabin, known as the ‘Aria Suite’. The product represents a significant leap forward in passenger comfort and design for some of the airline’s most lucrative customers – but the launch presented questions about future of first class.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, October 18, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
“As far back as I can remember, I knew I was different,” says Alexander Smalls. Growing up in a Gullah Geechee household in Spartanburg, North Carolina, the chef says he recognized the implication of those differences—in appearance, history, and cuisine. “I discovered early that my friends did not eat any of the foods that I ate. My foods were more akin to West Africa, you know, and very much pronounced in that way,” he says. It wan't until he moved to New York as an adult, that he assimilated the value of that diasporic connective tissue. “Food was a big part of cultural expression and identity of the African diaspora,” he says.
Business class cabins on airlines around the world are evolving, becoming less of a seat in the sky and more of a design-centered small hotel room.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, October 17, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.