Experiences tips

Sandemans Tours has partnered with TripAdmit to integrate its digital tipping and reviews platform, TipDirect, across its network of guides in more than 30 cities across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

A dry “underwater” hologram experience featuring numerous sea creatures has opened at Four Seasons Resort Landaa Giraavaru.

Bookings have surged for Klook, one of Asia’s leading online marketplaces for travel experiences.

“Morocco is open, Morocco is safe, and Morocco is still an incredible place to visit.”

TUI-owned FirstChoice.co.uk has relaunched as a vibrant new travel and experiences booking platform as the brand looks to strengthen its position with the flexible, independent traveler.

The impact of Morocco’s deadly earthquake is still being assessed as emergency services continue rescue operations. The 6.8-magnitude earthquake has claimed more than 2,000 lives, and thousands more are injured, after the natural disaster struck about 50 miles outside of Marrakesh in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco on Friday.

The high-end, experiential travel show Pure Life Experience, meant to take place in Marrakesh from 10 to 13 September, has been canceled.

TUI Group wants to shift more than 50% of its bookings to its TUI App, an ambitious long-term goal for Europe’s largest holiday package tour operator, given that app bookings account for less than 10% of its sales in key markets like the UK and Germany. 

Earning miles and points is easy for consumers who sign up for credit cards or special rewards programs. But knowing where and how to use those points to make their travel dreams come true has proven much more challenging – an estimated $30 billion in loyalty points go unredeemed each year.  

Turo, the peer-to-peer car rental startup, has seen an uptick in electric vehicle use for summer road trips.

Ongoing demand for experiences points to a potential market worth hundreds of millions of dollars. With 70% of tours and activities still offline, companies are investing in tech that reduces booking friction and also enhancing the in-person experience.

Marriott Bonvoy has launched a self-paced walking tour, Capture the City Miami, curated in partnership with Greater Miami and Miami Beach and local fashion blogger Daniela Ramirez. 

Casino operator MGM Resorts International is finding Formula One’s inaugural stop in Las Vegas is as much of a draw as its slot machines this year, and it is not the only company realizing that travelers are increasingly seeking out experiences beyond the traditional draws for tourists.

Madrid, long known mainly for its architecture, vibrant nightlife, and electric food markets, has the sixth longest metro system in the world. And if you’ve ever taken a ride on Line 1, particularly between Bilbao and Iglesia, and thought you saw a blurry, abandoned-looking station while peering out the window, you weren’t mistaken.

Further investments in Tripadvisor’s Viator tours and activities brand, as well as making Tripadvisor’s core hotel price-comparison feature more relevant to travelers will likely be key elements of the company’s turnaround strategy, executives hinted, although they plan on first laying out their complete vision to investors in 2023.

Online travel platforms that pay close attention to the unique curation of their tours and activities will own the longtail game of discovery.

Luxury hotels and resorts, with all their amenities, are usually the playgrounds of the rich and famous and are reserved exclusively for overnight guests who pay top dollar to stay there. 

General searches that take travelers to multiple websites and a broad selection of options need to be better, irrespective of what phase the consumer is in when planning their trip.

While many travel companies fret over delivering personalized recommendations to potential or existing customers through artificial intelligence and other technologies, Tripadvisor is supplementing those efforts the old-fashioned way — by emailing a quiz.

FareHarbor, the Booking Holdings’ tours and activities reservations tech platform, has a new CEO, Skift has learned.

Tour operators need to make serious inroads into tech adoption to capitalize on the forced digital offshoots created by the pandemic. A Skift 2023 Megatrend forecasts that the global tours and activities software market is set to skyrocket, with a projected value of $1.2 billion by 2026.