Voice tips

While New Year’s Eve is seen as providing a fresh start, the holiday has taken on a different meaning to Jen Ruiz. At the beginning of 2017, this Florida lawyer turned travel blogger and expert was flying to Greece for what would be first of 12 trips that year.

Skift is advancing its commitment to shaping the future of the travel industry with the launch of Skift Elevate, an initiative dedicated to empowering underrepresented voices within the sector.

Catapulting on efforts to eliminate travel and credit card fees, the Biden administration is cracking down on corporations' "unfair practices" that "add unnecessary headaches and hassles," the White House said recently.

This is part of Global Sounds, a collection of stories spotlighting the music trends forging connections in 2024.

This spring, the hype around artificial intelligence (AI) seemed like it was starting to hit reality. Several start-ups launched widely publicized hardware with a new generation of voice assistants, generating answers using technology like that behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In particular, buzzy devices like the Humane Ai Pin offered travelers an intriguing pitch: What if AI assistants could help you with contextual information while you’re traveling—not just travel planning but actual on-the-ground adventuring?

It was eight in the morning, and the prickly July humidity had already seeped through my skin as I hopped out of the cab in Singapore’s Little India. Greeted by the bustle of vendors setting up, I was transported back to my childhood, to days spent wandering the neighborhood with my grandmother. The aroma of fresh coriander from vibrant spice stalls spurred memories of her tangy coconut prawn curry. The musky fragrance of jasmine adorning colorful flower stalls reminded me of how she’d woven them into my braids. She never would again.

Jul 20, 2024 • 4 min read

I live near a lake, which means my city sees more travelers passing through during these summer months.

I was sitting on a small wooden stool in a dark room, wearing nothing but a piece of white cloth tied around me like underwear when my Ayurvedic practitioner, Vijay, began singing me a pre-treatment prayer song. Her voice was soft and melodic, and the air around us smelled like jasmine and rose incense. Once the song was over, Vijay began to massage my scalp with warm medicated herbal oil, and I felt it dripping all over my head and onto the rest of my body. By the time she guided me over to the wooden massage table to cover the rest of my body with the warm oil, I’d already fallen into a state of deep relaxation. The voices in my mind—the ones that tend to narrate a situation as it is happening—had quieted. Of course the meditative power of massage is nothing new, but Vijay’s beautiful pre-treatment prayer song, coupled with the soothing Ayurvedic oils she rubbed into my skin, put me into one of the calmest, most grounded states I had ever experienced.

Viator, a TripAdvisor brand, has partnered with Amazon.com to integrate its vast inventory of tours, activities, and experiences into Alexa-enabled devices in hotel rooms. This marks the experience sector’s first major push into voice-activated travel bookings.

A pleasant but persistent voice followed me around for the last couple of weeks, saying, "You really should apply."

The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has partnered with the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA) to enhance advocacy for the global business events industry.

Could a crackdown on Clear be brewing in the nation's most populous state?

No sooner had British Airways Flight 9240 roared into the air over Heathrow Airport than the cabin air was pierced by a sharp, scary noise, like an alarm or a siren. The power surged and then seemed to falter, and the plane became worryingly quiet. (Too quiet?)

Last week, it was reported that locals in Málaga, Spain posted unfriendly stickers around tourist buildings that included “stinks of tourists” and “go f—ing home." 

During the recent 2024 International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC), leaders from the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC), New Zealand Māori Tourism (NZMT), and the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) revealed the brand and visual identity for a new global Indigenous tourism organization they are establishing called Destination Original International Tourism (DO-IT).

In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission received 2.6 million fraud reports totaling $10 billion lost to scams, the highest annual loss ever reported. Of those reports, the overwhelming majority were imposter scams where a fraudster impersonates a bank's fraud department, the government, a business, a relative, a love interest or a technical support representative.

“If you haven’t seen a total solar eclipse, you haven’t seen anything.” So ends NASA’s new trailer for what is arguably the celestial highlight not only of 2024 but of the entire decade—and possibly many Americans’ lifetimes.

What is likely the most anticipated attraction opening at Disney World in 2024, Tiana's Bayou Adventure, now has an opening date ... and it's sooner than originally announced!

Breeze flight attendants filed the paperwork to unionize with the Association of Flight Attendants on Monday. 

In a recent shift that has ruffled feathers in the frequent flyer community, on some flights American Airlines has replaced its customary fabric or plastic zippered business class amenity kits with cardboard boxes. This decision, ostensibly driven by ecological considerations, has sparked lively discussions in the FlyerTalk community. Members are voicing their skepticism, viewing the change as a cost-cutting measure, not a genuine environmental effort.