The Short Booking Window Is Not Only Holding Strong, It Is Increasing Share

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.

Sometimes, it's okay to clap when a plane lands.

During the week of May 22, North America (NORAM) and Latin America (LATAM) each saw a nearly 10% week-over-week (WoW) increase in searches leading up to Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., indicating that those travelers were booking at the last minute, especially ahead of holiday weekends.

New data from Expedia Group’s Q3 Traveler Insights shows traveler enthusiasm holds strong, with the return of seasonal trends such as quick trips for live events and short-term planning for spring and summer holidays in the Northern Hemisphere.

It took 28 years, and when it came this Friday evening before Christmas holidays, it slipped under the cover of a historic “bomb cyclone” weather catastrophe playing out over the continental United States.

CEO Christopher Nassetta said Hilton expects to organically develop its own new brands rather than chase costly acquisitions in part because “we don’t want to have to fix other people’s problems.”

Something shifted in the last two weeks on the zeitgeist about the use of artificial intelligence in our daily personal and professional lives.

Hertz has been a remarkable turnaround story of the pandemic, during which it went into a massive bankruptcy, came out of it under an investor group led by Knighthead Capital and Certares, and then went public a year ago.

Dubai will play an outsized role in the United Arab Emirates aim to attract 40 million visitors annually by 2031, so what can it do to improve its tourism industry? Four panelists — Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths, Kerzner International CEO Philippe Zuber, Emirates Airline Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim, and Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing CEO Issam Kazim — discussed at the recent Skift Global Forum East in Dubai what local tourism officials need to do to continue to attract visitors.

It gets harder and harder with each year to put a label on the kinds of travel that Skifters love the most. We hired a bunch of new people last year and, as you will see, that has meant we are dreaming much bigger.

The annual Global Risks Report, from the World Economic Forum, is here as Davos starts, and this summary chart below of top 10 short-term and long-term risks is fascinating, almost all of them have direct implications in travel, for many of these the travel industry is, in some part, one of the underlying causes of these risks. Read or download the full report here.

A great talk by Michael Swiatek, the chief strategy and planning officer at Avianca, who happens to be legally blind.