The Best-Compensated Online Travel CEOs

Artificial intelligence has been a major discussion in travel over the last year, and that’s why the theme of the Skift Global Forum is Connection in the Age of AI.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Friday, September 8. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

In our weekend roundup, we delve into the pros and cons of Google’s latest foray into the tours and activities industry, providing insights into how online travel agencies might stand to benefit. We also catch up with IHG’s new CEO Elie Maalouf and his ambitious plans for the brand’s future. From AI’s influence on the travel sector to the latest controversies in short-term rentals, keep reading for a comprehensive look at the most pressing issues in today’s travel landscape.

Airbnb was the top-spending travel brand on U.S. national TV during the first 11 months of 2022 at an estimated $86.5 million, but it was merely the ninth most-seen among travel websites, hotels and motels, resorts and theme parks, cruise lines and airlines.

The world’s biggest airline is ready for Thanksgiving, having already battled through several hurricanes in recent months.

Do you remember a few years ago how there was so much talk in online travel about the Booking Holdings–Expedia Group duopoly? How Expedia Group, which owned Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotels.com, and Booking, with brands including Booking.com, Kayak, Priceline and Agoda, controlled the hotel market and a whole lot more in travel?

Twelve minutes. That’s all the time it took for the board of directors of Avianca, the second largest airline in Latin America, to set the fate of the carrier and begin a series of sweeping changes to the airline industry in the region.

Theme park and resort operator Merlin Entertainments has appointed longtime sports and media executive Scott O’Neil as its CEO effective Tuesday. O’Neil replaces Nick Varney, who announced in April that he was retiring from the company he launched in 1999.

The inaugural Skift Aviation Forum welcomed Robert Isom, the CEO of American Airlines, as its first speaker at the Statler Hotel in downtown Dallas. During the interview he shared how the world’s biggest airline was prepared for the upcoming Thanksgiving vacation, and already looking ahead to the future with a focus on recruiting and training pilots, and staffing the carrier back up.

On the Beach Group CEO Simon Cooper, who founded the UK-based beach holidays online travel agency in 2004, will resign his post within the next 12 months, and Chief Financial Officer Shaun Morton will take over the CEO duties, the company announced.

Sun Country Airlines CEO Jude Bricker believes it’s premature to draw firm conclusions about the emergence of new travel patterns seven months into the travel industry’s recovery. But Bricker said at the recent Skift Aviation Forum that surging airfares are changing travelers’ behaviors, including driving more consumers to fly on Tuesdays instead of the weekend.

One of the best definitions of high-end hospitality I saw this year suggested: “Luxury is when the standard operating procedure isn’t showing.” This hit the nail on the head for the products and experiences that transcend good into great. The guest feels a sense of detail, thoughtful anticipation, and comfort but the gears and machinations to deliver it remains hidden.