Rafat Ali travel tips

The boom of conversational AI is making so many new possibilities dreamt of for decades finally possible. The technology today is 100 percent there, what matters is whether, or when, large companies will adopt it for product development.

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky says a points-based loyalty program is not in the company’s future.

Luxury travel has grown in popularity in recent years, with the sector’s boom expected to continue this year. So what are the major trends in luxury travel?

Ritesh Agarwal launched Oyo with the ambition of becoming the world’s largest hotel chain. After experiencing some pandemic-era struggles, Oyo has seen the hotel business rebound strongly. Its vacation rental subsidiary in Europe has also done well.

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Following a triumphant sold-out edition last year, Skift Short-Term Rental Summit is making its comeback in New York City on June 5. Expanding on Skift’s comprehensive coverage of short-term rentals, the Summit will explore the impact of distribution, platforms, and technology on both traditional and unconventional vacation rentals. Join us for insights into consumer behavior, investor perspective, and more.

We are thrilled to announce the inaugural Skift Data + AI Summit, set to take place in New York City on June 4.

Expedia Group announced after its fourth quarter 2023 earnings call that Ariane Gorin would become the online travel agency’s CEO on May 13, succeeding current CEO Peter Kern. Gorin will join the board of directors, where Kern will remain. Barry Diller will continue in his roles as Expedia Group’s senior executive and chairman.

In an exciting milestone for Skift, we are thrilled to bring our first-ever Skift India Summit to India, happening on March 19-20 in Delhi-NCR. The decision to host a groundbreaking Skift event in India has been a long time coming and reflects why now is such an important moment for India’s growth and its impact on the global travel industry.

As we enter into a new year, it is the perfect time to take a look back at the iconic year of events that occurred in 2023. We kicked-off the year with our annual Megatrends, in New York City, London and online. Then in March, we took Skift’s Future of Lodging Forum to London and in June, we brought back one of our most popular events, Skift Short-Term Rental Summit, where we had a SOLD OUT show. We later hosted our 10th and largest Skift Global Forum yet in New York City while simultaneously introducing our first ever Skift Meetings Forum. We rounded out the year with our fourth-annual Skift Aviation Forum in Fort Worth, Texas in November and hosted our second-annual Skift Global Forum East in Dubai in December. Truly a year for the books.

It’s been just over a year since ChatGPT launched, and everyone gets that artificial intelligence will have a huge impact on businesses in every industry, including travel. Less clear is the timeline and where the changes will hit most.

It’s one of the biggest questions in global tourism: What the hell is happening to tourism from China? It’s a question a lot of us tried to answer throughout 2023 after China reopened – on January 8 – after 3 years of lockdown.

As we prepare to return to Dubai for Skift Global Forum East on December 12-14, we’re revisiting a few of the most popular sessions from last year’s event.

At the beginning of each year, Skift launches its annual Megatrends, forecasting the top trends that will define the travel industry for the year ahead. See last year’s predictions here. 

In anticipation of Skift Global Forum East, happening in Dubai December 12-14, I wanted to sit down with both our Middle East Report, Josh Corder, and Twenty31 Consulting (now Skift Advisory) Managing Director, Joe Naaman, to discuss a big picture view on growth and dynamics in the Middle East.

In a long, dense and fascinating proposed rule document the U.S. Federal Trade Commission published earlier this month in the Federal Register, it outlines what the affect of fee transparency will be on the time consumers save to book online.

In late September, Hyatt Hotels announced that it was exiting its vacation rental management business while launching an online short-term rental platform soon. Its Destination Residences Management unit was sold to a real estate investor called Lowe, which, through an affiliate, will run it under Lowe and Coral Tree, though no price was disclosed at the time of the announcement.

That’s according to latest research put out by the Global Wellness Institute, in its annual state of the global wellness sector, of which tourism is one part.

Booking Holdings, whose $1.8 billion deal to acquire Sweden’s eTraveli Group was blocked by European Commission earlier this year, paid out $90 million in termination fee this October, according to a nugget in its latest quarterly statement.

Even though the big MGM-Marriott loyalty & booking partnership that was announced earlier this year with much fanfare has been delayed until early 2024 — ostensibly due to MGM’s cybersecurity threat which derailed much of its business over weeks — MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle is very bullish about it.

Hidden in Tripadvisor’s latest earnings from earlier this week was some updates on its AI-based trip planning feature that it launched in July, along with some concrete numbers on performance of AI-assisted travel planning.

India is having a moment. And Skift has been there documenting it for the last few years as it is ready to shape the future of the global travel industry. The India outbound traveler is poised to become the biggest global force in coming years, and the Indian domestic market is one every major global brand is now clamoring to be part of.