Rob Torres travel tips

Sponsored listings on Expedia.com and Hotels.com are a “significant” portion of Expedia Group’s advertising business, and the company is considering ways to launch them for the first time on its vacation rental platform Vrbo, as well.

Online travel booking sites report higher hotel rates in Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games, but Paris isn’t alone. Some Olympic events will take place beyond the city limits, and there were increases in hotel rates for these other destinations, as well.

Skift Global Forum Eastwill gather the top CEOs and travel industry leaders to the heart of the Middle East in Dubai, from Dec. 13-15 for three days of sessions, panels and networking opportunities. The Forum will look at the future of travel in the dynamic and growing Middle East and Asian regions, pull apart recent trends and discuss what they mean for the growth and future of the multi-faceted region. 

Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, December 15, and we are live in Dubai for one last day. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

In some ways the Middle East is a victim of its own success: It weathered the pandemic relatively well, and the luxury market proved resilient. But now as tourism to the region swiftly recovers, the challenge is how do brands operating there stand out when inter-regional competition is so fierce?

Richard Holden, who was general manager of Google Travel for the past three years, and led its product management team for almost seven years before that, has been replaced, Skift has learned.