Richard Clarke travel tips

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 starts in five days, and Qatar is struggling to have enough lodging to house an expected 1.2 million football fans.

Airbnb hasn’t been vocal about its strategy for experiences since it paused adding new ones last year or even a couple of weeks ago when it confirmed it has been removing some experiences providers from its platform.

Corporate travel could get complicated: Expedia Group has a big stake in Amex Global Business Travel. Booking.com is partners with CWT. What happens to those relationships if the merger between Amex GBT and CWT goes through? Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott specifically noted CWT’s ties to Booking.com for Business as an upside to the deal as it tries to reach more small businesses customers.

Tripadvisor said Monday it was reviewing a potential sale of the company to Liberty Tripadvisor, which has long held a controlling stake in the travel reviews site.

In December 2019, Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia Business Services, moderated a fireside chat with Chairman Barry Diller and Vice Chairman Peter Kern at an all-hands employee meeting. Expedia Group had just parted ways with its CEO and CFO, and Kern would soon be named CEO.

If you’ve seen a tweetstorm about the alleged “Airbnb collapse” and are wondering if the data seems too dramatic – you’re not alone, or even wrong. 

Hope you’re having a good week so far. Hello from across the pond — I’m in London bringing you a European edition today. I was here to moderate a panel discussion at the Short Term Rentalz Summit yesterday and it was delightful. 

New York City’s short-term rental regulations could slash up to 70% of Airbnb’s 23,000 active listings in the city after September 5. Experts are divided on how the move might affect hotels, and their forecasts are foggy. Yet the analyses reveal interesting details about this critical lodging market regardless.

We used to talk in pre-pandemic years about how travel is moving East, with the epicentre and greatest volumes of travel no longer happening in North America or Europe, but in Asia. The pandemic has shifted that momentum back somewhat, and the Middle East has really taken on the role of connecting parts of the world.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, December 23, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Luxury hotel companies could flash a half-decent report card this year thanks to a post-pandemic surge in demand. But they could do better long-term if management teams sharpen their focus on opportunities to woo well-off consumers who increasingly care about experiences.

Santa Fe, New Mexico hotel La Fonda’s move to branch into short-term rentals to accommodate the demand for hotel guests is yet another affirmation in the world of blended travel.

All types of hotels have enjoyed stellar performance in the post-pandemic surge, but it’s properties offering something distinctive in a particular market that have the most promising financial returns. Investors see the most potential gain in hotels that address growing guest tastes for distinctive, experiential offerings.

Taking advantage of long-term trends that may boost hotel pricing power, driving more earnings per square meter at a hotel with concepts like “hybrid hospitality,” and exploring the potential of generative artificial intelligence are all potential areas of upheaval for hotel investors, owners, asset managers, and corporate brands.

Hyatt is acquiring UK boutique hotel booking site Mr and Mrs Smith for £53 million — or about about $66 million in today’s exchange rates at the time of the announcement.

InterContinental Hotels Group accompanied its first-quarter earnings with the news that group CEO Keith Barr will be replaced by IHG‘s Americas CEO Elie Maalouf on June 30. Barr has led IHG for six years, and Maalouf has been in his role since 2015.

Enthusiasm for extended-stay hotels seems boundless among U.S. hotel developers. The national extended stay pipeline is now 44% of supply, up by almost 10% in the last 18 months.

Tripadvisor is currently attempting a turnaround under a new CEO hired in 2022, and one of the reasons it needs one is Google had used its market power to divert users to sponsored ads and take back the free traffic Tripadvisor benefited from.

Accor reported on Thursday a profit surge in the first half of the year that it mainly credited to pricing its hotel rooms above inflationary operational costs. Demand swelled across regions and property types.