Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, September 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
25.08.2023 - 14:13 / skift.com / Robert Isom / Henry Harteveldt / Rashaad Jorden
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, February 1. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
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Tourism to rural destinations had grown significantly in recent years with travelers increasingly eager to visit less-crowded locations. But Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam writes the pandemic-era boom in rural tourism is slowing down, with more Americans looking to travel to less remote destinations.
Habtemariam lists the surging popularity of big cities and the reopening of international travel as major reasons 2022 saw rural tourism gains decline. A recent United Nations World Tourism Organization report attributed Europe’s recovery to pre-pandemic levels to strong American travel demand.
Habtemariam cites Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Lake City, Colorado as rural destinations experiencing a decrease in tourism gains. Jackson Hole saw visitor numbers drop to pre-Covid levels last year after a record 2021 while Lake City projects a drop in its hotel occupancy growth rate for 2022.
Next, American Airlines recently reported it was in the black for 2022, but Contributor Ted Reed argues that CEO Robert Isom needs to accomplish more than profitability to be considered one of the top airline CEOs.
Reed writes that Isom, who has held his current position for 10 months, has to restore American to the prominence it once had in the industry. Henry Harteveldt, the president of market research firm Atmosphere Research Group, praised Isom for making American a more reliable and profitable airplane. But Harteveldt said Isom needs to improve its standing with premium travelers, adding the company has struggled to give members of the lucrative segment compelling reasons to fly with American. Reed notes the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier is planning to substantially increase the number of premium seats on its long-haul fleet by 2026.
Harteveldt also urged American to establish a better relationship with its employees, which he described as essential for it to continue operating reliably.
Finally, a growing number of travelers have committed to reducing the carbon footprint of their trips in recent years. How can they do that? Stuart McDonald, the co-founder of travel planning website Travelfish, explains in a guest column for Skift his discoveries from a recent three-week trip in Vietnam.
McDonald tracked the carbon emissions of his transportation, food and accommodation in Vietnam, acknowledging he faced difficulties in gathering figures for those three categories. He said that travelers looking to reduce their vacation-related emissions should, after not flying domestically, avoid five-star hotels, which he described as wrecking balls to
Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, September 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
This summer’s travel boom is showing no signs of slowing down during the Labor Day weekend, especially for the growing number of Americans looking to vacation overseas.
The world’s biggest airline is ready for Thanksgiving, having already battled through several hurricanes in recent months.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Monday, December 19, and we are headed back from a successful Skift Forum in Dubai. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
High levels of inflation are contributing to a decline in Americans making travel plans for December holidays this year. Almost 43 percent of U.S. adults intend to travel for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, a 4 percentage point decrease from the figure recorded last year, according to a recent survey from travel industry website The Vacationer.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, January 5, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
The pandemic has led to a permanent change in how we live our lives between work and the personal. No longer just a trite category called “bleisure,” the idea of blended traveling is front and center for every major travel company now. How new strategies focused on the blended traveler will emerge more clearly in 2023, as the industry recognizes the whole traveler holistically.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 11, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
As other sectors deal with post-epidemic corrections, travel brands continue to grow as they make up for lost ground over the last three years. Earnings season continued this week and both Meta’s and Google’s results showed the strength of travel brands during the last quarter. Read on.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, March 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Most U.S. travelers are interested in going on more environmentally friendly forms of travel, but they’re largely finding it challenging to do so.
Earth Day took place this weekend, so to mark the moment Skift Associate Editor and Archivist Rashaad Jorden wrote A Short History of the Travel Industry’s Sustainability Efforts. The story looked at how hotels, airlines, destinations, and cruises have performed around climate change the past ten-plus years. “Travel brands loudly proclaim their commitment to sustainability, but many of them have a long way to go to ensure their words aren’t lip service,” Jorden said in an email to me on Friday. Read the story in full to see what he means.