Sep 25, 2024 • 8 min read
18.09.2024 - 10:59 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Rashaad Jorden / Glenn Fogel
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, September 18, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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Skift Global Forum kicked off in New York City on Tuesday with big news in the U.S. travel industry. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma said U.S. travelers will have the option of renewing their passports online starting on Wednesday, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi.
Verma told Skift CEO Rafat Ali that the State Department believes half of passport renewals will be done online in the near future. However, Verma acknowledged that the online option wouldn’t necessarily be faster than the in-person process – but said that it would be a better customer experience. The State Department recently tested an online renewal process, which attracted 200,000 participants.
Next, Booking Holdings’ short-term rental business is growing fast as it tries to compete with Airbnb, reports Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes.
CEO Glenn Fogel told Executive Editor Dennis Schaal during Skift Global Forum that Booking Holdings is now selling two-thirds of the room nights for short-term rentals as Airbnb. Fogel added his company has grown its short-term rental business faster than Airbnb in 12 of the past 13 quarters.
Booking Holdings has close to 8 million short-term rental listings worldwide, but only a small number of them are in the U.S. But Fogel said its lack of U.S. listings represent an opportunity for significant growth.
Finally, Tripadvisor has informed its vacation rental guests and hosts that it will discontinue direct bookings on its platform, writes Executive Editor Dennis Schaal.
Schaal reports that reservations with check-in dates on or after November 1 will be canceled, and guests will be entitled to a full refund. However, those cancellations don’t represent the end of vacation rentals for Tripadvisor. A Tripadvisor spokesperson told Skift the company will turn to third-party providers to accept vacation rental bookings, like it does with hotels.
Sep 25, 2024 • 8 min read
If you’re one of the lucky ones with tickets to the Oasis reunion tour, all that remains is finding rock star-worthy digs. With the concerts coinciding with summer in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the best vacation rentals come with outdoor space or proximity to urban parks and beer gardens. These Guest Favorite Airbnbs in Manchester, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Cardiff are pitch perfect for the Oasis Live ’25 Tour.
As Apple and Google respectively expand their digital ID technologies to house state mobile driver's licenses in Apple and Google Wallet, Google has added an international travel feature to its wallet.
Sep 23, 2024 • 6 min read
This isn’t the old Tripadvisor, the one where the company was dependent on metasearch and chasing advertising clicks. At the new Tripadvisor, users can use generative AI for trip-planning and to book experiences, dining reservations and hotels.
Singapore has risen to the top of a ranking of the world’s strongest passports, knocking Spain off the top spot.
On a cloudy day in Portland, Maine, with the sound of seagulls cawing overhead and the air thick with the smell of salty water, I spied him: TikTok's most famous lobsterman, dressed in a Luke's Lobster T-shirt and accompanied by a bearded camera operator, ready to catch content at any moment.
Waiheke Island, off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, is known to attract a wealthy crowd.
Booking Holdings’ short-term rental business has been growing faster than Airbnb’s, and the company’s CEO plans to keep that momentum going.
The U.S. State Department’s online passport renewal program will go live September 18, according to Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma.
Sep 17, 2024 • 5 min read
Tripadvisor informed its vacation rental guests and hosts around the world that reservations with check-in dates on or after November 1 will be cancelled, and guests will receive full refunds.