Travel Trends tips

With the 2024 Republican presidential ticket of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance solidified last week in Milwaukee, Democrats have a lot of work to do before their convention in less than a month – now without an official candidate or a vice presidential nominee.

Plex, a streaming company with a staff that’s fully remote, hosts a yearly retreat for more than 130 employees in locations from Mykonos to Tuscany to team-build and provide bonding opportunities. 

As the summer travel heats up, a surprising trend is emerging: Russia is experiencing a tourism uptick, according to the latest Skift Travel Health Index for June 2024. Despite the ongoing war, tourism performance in the country in June 2024 witnessed a 12 percentage point surge over May 2024. The index is at 103, which indicates a 3% rise above June 2023.

Hotels are constantly changing and a great one can turn lackluster in the blink of an eye. Maybe it has a new GM or other personnel changes. Maybe the owners are facing financial pressure. 

Business travel spending by U.S. companies may finally exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to a Deloitte report released Wednesday. 

Allegiant Air is ramping up its presence in Florida this winter. The low-cost airline announced on Tuesday that it will fly eight new nonstop routes linking a total of 13 cities along the East Coast and Midwest. 

Emirates flies almost a million passengers every week, making it one of the world’s largest international airlines. As part of this, its Skywards program aims to boost loyalty to the brand, converting first-time customers into Emirates devotees. 

When Viator announced a recent initiative to integrate its offerings with Amazon’s Alexa in select hotels, there was plenty of skepticism.

In May 2024, the travel industry reached 103, marking a 3% rise over last year, according the latest Skift Travel Health Index: May 2024 Highlights. This highlights a transition from the post-pandemic recovery phase to moderate and sustainable growth levels in 2024.

A recent BCD Travel survey found that 60% of travel buyers said their company reduced its travel budget in the past few years, and 96% introduced cost control policies. But none of that has stopped the rebound in business travel.

Marriott International has debuted a new booking platform to help small and mid-sized companies book business travel.

Few things are more tedious for the business traveler than itemizing weeks worth of client dinners, drinks with vendors and rushed breakfasts. 

Virgin Galactic plans to send a handful of paying passengers to the edge of space on June 8 as the space industry continues to grow and diversify.

Airbnb postings in New York have dwindled after a new law effectively shut down most units. And Jay Carney, global head of policy and communications at the platform, says he loves talking about it. 

Since 2021, international reservations are making up a bigger piece of bookings at Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy: It has surged from 14% to 38% of the total, according to vice president Jennifer Hsieh. 

Tim Rosolio, VP of vacation rental partner success at Expedia Group, and Ben Wolff, co-founder of tree house hotelier Onera, spoke about how the modern traveler is looking for one-of-a-kind social media moments at Skift’s Short-Term Rental Summit on Wednesday. 

The market for midterm rentals is growing, and while it’s a good alternative for those forced out of short-term rentals because of regulations, it’s not quite as lucrative an investment. 

Booking.com is taking a U.S.-first approach, tapping into increasing demand for short-term rentals from families and international travelers.

Why aren’t we using trip-planning apps? Instead, Google Maps and Google Calendar are the most popular trip-planning tools in the world, according to Gilad Berenstein, founder at Brook Bay Capital. 

Chris Hemmeter, managing director at Thayer Ventures, and Kurien Jacob, partner and managing director, Highgate Technology Ventures, spoke Tuesday at Skift’s Data+AI Summit. One theme: How hotel tech needs to evolve.

My colleague Josh Corder recently reported how Saudi Arabia is thinking about luxury: The country’s tourism leadership acknowledged that 4- and 5-star hotels will account for at most 20% of their traffic.