Intrepid Buys French Tour Operator Altaï — Its Biggest Acquisition Yet: Exclusive
Intrepid Travel announced the purchase of France’s Altaï Group, its largest deal to date, adding roughly $71.5 million in annual revenue and 35,000 customers. The acquisition lifts France to Intrepid’s fourth‑largest market after Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. CEO James Thornton says the company will keep hunting deals, aiming for at least one new market acquisition each year through 2027. The move deepens Intrepid’s European footprint and reinforces its adventure‑focused, boutique‑accommodation model.
JetBlue CEO’s Staff Note: No Bankruptcy Now — But ‘Decks Are Stacked Against Smaller Carriers Like Us’
JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty told staff the airline is not weighing Chapter 11, despite market chatter that soaring fuel costs could force a bankruptcy filing. She said the carrier has enough liquidity and has secured new financing to weather the price...
China’s Comac Lands Its Most Significant International Customer Yet
Vietnam’s low‑cost carrier Vietjet has signed a lease for ten Comac C909 regional jets, marking the Chinese manufacturer’s most significant international customer to date. The C909, a 78‑97 seat aircraft, will initially operate on routes between Vietnam and China, building...
Marriott Launches Autograph Collection in India: Exclusive
Marriott International announced the launch of its Autograph Collection in India, debuting with the Noormahal palace hotel in Karnal, Haryana. The addition brings Marriott’s brand count in the country to 19 and underscores its strategy to grow a portfolio of...
American Airlines Rejects United Merger Talk: ‘Not Interested’
American Airlines publicly rejected United Airlines' merger proposal, stating it is not interested in any discussions and highlighting antitrust concerns. United CEO Scott Kirby had recently pitched the idea to senior U.S. government officials, arguing it could boost the United...
NYC Sues Landlord Over Illegal Short-Term Rentals, Says Airbnb Could Have Done More
New York City has filed a lawsuit against a Brooklyn and Bronx landlord and his associates for operating illegal short‑term rentals that bypass the city’s registration rules. The defendants allegedly created fake host profiles on Airbnb, then turned legally listed...
Disney World Price Increase Targets Higher-End Tickets
Walt Disney World announced ticket price hikes for 2027, with peak single‑day tickets increasing across all four Orlando parks. The Magic Kingdom sees a $10 rise to $219, EPCOT climbs $15 to $214, while Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom each...
Hotels and Airlines Vs. NerdWallet and Reddit: Who’s Winning in AI Visibility
AI travel assistants are increasingly pulling information from third‑party sites rather than hotel or airline homepages. Limy’s analysis shows NerdWallet accounts for 13.6% of citations, outpacing Hyatt’s own site at 10.3%, while Reddit also ranks among the top sources. Direct...
Google Now Tracks Individual Hotel Prices
Google has added individual hotel price‑tracking alerts, letting users monitor specific properties and receive email notifications when rates change significantly. The feature is accessible worldwide for signed‑in users in English and Spanish via Google Search or google.com/hotels. It expands Google’s...
Authorities Around the World Are Banning Flight Ads Due To Climate. But Will It Change Anything?
Amsterdam will become the first capital to prohibit outdoor advertising for flights, cruises and other high‑carbon services on May 1, setting a precedent for a wave of bans across Europe and beyond. So far, two countries, two regions and more than...
New Research: Why Hotel Loyalty Is No Longer Just a Marketing Tool
New research from Global Hotel Alliance, based on 9,000+ travelers, shows hotel loyalty programs have shifted from simple points schemes to core commercial engines that drive booking choices, direct‑channel demand and ancillary spend. Loyalty is now a baseline expectation, with...
Why Indian Hotels and Airlines Are Taking a Slice of Food Delivery Apps
Indian hotels and airlines are expanding loyalty programs by partnering with food‑delivery and e‑commerce platforms such as Swiggy and Flipkart. Marriott Bonvoy’s recent tie‑up with Swiggy gives the brand access to the platform’s 17.7 million average monthly transacting users. The collaborations...
What Hotels Are Getting Wrong About AI
Richard Valtr, founder of cloud‑based PMS Mews, says most hotels are treating AI as a checkbox exercise, adding chatbots and voice assistants without a cohesive strategy. He argues the industry focuses on yield management—price optimization—while neglecting broader strategy management that...
Saudi Arabia Scraps Tourism Funding In Vision 2030 Shake-Up
Saudi Arabia announced a major pivot in its Vision 2030 plan, scaling back Public Investment Fund financing for flagship tourism megaprojects such as Neom and the Red Sea Destination. The PIF will now channel capital toward artificial‑intelligence infrastructure and AI‑focused companies....
Lufthansa Is Shutting Down an Entire Airline — With Immediate Effect
Lufthansa Group has abruptly shut down its regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, grounding all 27 aircraft and ending operations with immediate effect. The decision was driven by soaring jet‑fuel costs and persistent labor unrest, prompting an accelerated capacity‑reduction strategy. Lufthansa is...
The Case for Smarter Global Advocacy For Travel — Not More Cheerleading
The World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest Economic Impact Research touts a record $11.6 trillion contribution to global GDP, 366 million jobs and 4.1% growth in 2025. The report positions travel as the world’s fastest‑growing sector but excludes comparisons with higher‑growth industries...
How Cartels, Conflict, and Live Tourism Are Redrawing the American Travel Map
In 2026 American travelers are reshaping their itineraries around safety rather than cost, as cartel violence in Mexico and ongoing conflict in the Middle East raise security alarms. U.S. embassies issued shelter‑in‑place orders for popular Mexican beach towns, prompting many...
Akasa Heads to Hanoi as Iran War Freezes Gulf Expansion Plans
Akasa Air has shelved its planned Gulf expansion after the Iran war disrupted routes and raised operating costs. Instead, the carrier will launch direct Mumbai‑Hanoi flights on September 4, adding Hanoi as its seventh international city with four weekly services. The...
SiteMinder Wants Hotels to Show Up When AI Does the Booking
SiteMinder announced a major platform expansion that connects its network of 53,000 hotels to AI‑powered trip‑planning tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. The rollout uses the Model Context Protocol to deliver live rates, availability and property details directly to conversational...
Spirit Could Liquidate This Week as Trustee Seeks to Delay Bankruptcy Exit
Spirit Airlines faces a possible liquidation as early as this week, driven by soaring jet fuel prices that jeopardize its post‑bankruptcy restructuring. The carrier remains in talks with creditors, leaving the timeline and outcome uncertain. If liquidation proceeds, United and...
No Merger Talk for Delta: ‘We’re Successful on Our Own’
Delta Air Lines’ chief commercial officer Joe Esposito told reporters the carrier has no interest in merging, citing its strong standalone performance. The comment comes amid speculation that United Airlines may pursue a merger with American Airlines, a deal that...
Sri Lanka Partners With Alipay+ to Tap Into Asia’s Booming Travel Market
Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority and national payments network LankaPay have teamed up with Alipay+, the unified wallet gateway owned by Ant International, to streamline payments for Asian travelers. The partnership enables users of Alipay+ partner e‑wallets to pay via...
Saudi Arabia’s Hotel Boom Has a Catch: Rates Are Falling Fast
Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector exploded in 2025, with licensed hotel facilities expanding 34.2% year‑over‑year. At the same time, average room rates slipped 11.7% between Q4 2024 and Q4 2025, even as occupancy and visitor numbers rose. Tourism already accounts for about 5%...
Hilton CEO Argues the Bull Case Despite Iran War and Weak World Cup Signals
Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta delivered a bullish outlook at the Semafor World Economy Summit, forecasting that 2026 will outpace 2025 for the hotel sector. He cited a rebound in U.S. mid‑market demand, supportive government policies, AI‑driven pricing, and infrastructure spending...
JetBlue Rumors? Now American? What a United Mega-Merger Would Mean
United Airlines is reportedly weighing two mega‑merger options—first a partnership‑turned‑potential deal with JetBlue, now a more ambitious tie‑up with American Airlines. A United‑American combination would create the world’s largest carrier by capacity and revenue, commanding roughly 40% of the domestic...
Booking CEO Glenn Fogel Took Pay Cut in 2025 After 2 Big Years
Booking Holdings chief executive Glenn Fogel saw his 2025 total compensation drop 21% to $35.4 million, primarily because stock awards were reduced after two exceptionally lucrative years. The decline was not tied to performance lapses; the company still outperformed revenue and...
The Five Layers of the AI Travel Stack, and the Fight Over Which One Matters
The article maps the AI travel stack into five layers—model, orchestration, product, legibility, and an overarching OS/platform layer—and shows how major online travel agencies (OTAs) are staking bets on different tiers. Booking Holdings and Trip.com are developing proprietary large language...
Delta Walks Back Climate Targets
Delta Air Lines has withdrawn its pledge to source 10% of jet fuel from sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 and recharacterized its 2050 net‑zero goal as an aspiration rather than a firm target. The revisions were posted on the...
Expedia: Only 8% Trust AI to Book Travel
Expedia Group’s latest survey shows only 8% of travelers trust AI to book trips, preferring human‑run brands for the purchase stage. While AI is embraced for itinerary planning, concerns over control, privacy, and service limit adoption for bookings. Expedia is...
Southwest CEO: We Have a 20% Cost Edge on American, Delta, and United
Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told investors that the carrier’s operating costs are about 20% lower than those of American, Delta and United. The advantage stems from Southwest’s single‑aircraft fleet and point‑to‑point network, which keep maintenance and scheduling expenses down....
LVMH’s Bumpy Quarter: What War Impact Signals About Luxury Travel
LVMH reported a 6% drop in first‑quarter sales, falling to €19.1 billion (about $20.8 billion). The decline was driven largely by the Middle East conflict, which slashed tourist spending in the region by 30‑70% and erased roughly one percentage point of organic...
U.S. Tourism Rebound Continues, But Asia Is a Soft Spot
U.S. inbound tourism rose to roughly 2.5 million visitors in March, marking a 3.6% year‑over‑year gain and extending the recovery that began in February. The surge was powered primarily by a 6.4% jump in travelers from Western Europe and solid growth...
The Squeeze: Inside the Crisis Crushing America’s Hotel Owners
Small and midscale hotel owners in the United States are feeling the squeeze as rising operating costs, higher interest rates and labor shortages drive occupancy down. Meanwhile, major hotel brands are posting record profits by leaning on asset‑light franchise models...
Canadian Visits to the U.S. Dropped Again in March — 14-Month Streak
Canadian resident trips to the United States by car fell 4.5% in March, marking the 14th consecutive month of decline. The slowdown in the rate of decline suggests a flattening but not a reversal. Border towns such as New York...
Skyscanner, Almosafer Launch ChatGPT Apps in Middle East, Where AI Booking Is Possible
Skyscanner and Saudi OTA Almosafer launched ChatGPT‑integrated apps on April 8, letting users search and book flights across the Middle East via natural‑language prompts in English and Arabic. The services target the UAE and Saudi Arabia, markets where travelers show strong...
LEAKED: The Secret Airline CEOs WhatsApp Group
A satirical WhatsApp thread imagines former airline CEOs venting about a wave of leadership exits that began last November. The fictional chat underscores that many CEOs are leaving not for personal failings but because transformation agendas are stalled by Boeing...
Travel Is Facing a New Test: AI Fragmentation
Travel giants Amazon, Meta, and Google are each rolling out their own AI‑driven travel planning assistants, built on distinct architectures and partner networks. The lack of a shared framework means that an OTA’s presence on one platform does not automatically...
A $30 Trillion Tailwind Is the Travel Industry’s Shock Absorber. Is It Durable?
Delta CEO Ed Bastian highlighted that U.S. households earning $100,000 or more have amassed roughly $30 trillion in extra wealth since the pandemic, representing about 40% of all households. This wealth surge is sustaining strong demand for premium travel, benefitting carriers...
Closed Reefs Cost Money. A Colombian Coral Island May Have The Solution.
Colombia’s tourism board, together with the Explorers Club and local authority Coralina, piloted a marine‑health monitoring system in the San Andrés archipelago. The project uses environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis of seawater to spot stress signals in coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass...
European Hotel Investment Defied 2025’s Uncertainty. The Next Test Is Already Here.
European hotel investment proved resilient in 2025, closing with over €14.6 billion (≈$17.1 billion) across 267 deals despite a turbulent global backdrop. Capital deployment stayed above €3.4 billion (≈$4 billion) each quarter, reflecting structural demand rather than fleeting opportunism. Upscale properties led the market,...
When Flying Cheap Through the Middle East Comes With a Catch
The Iran war is forcing travelers to weigh the cheap fares offered by Gulf carriers against heightened safety and insurance risks. Qatar Airways and Emirates still list London‑Sydney business‑class tickets at roughly $6,700–$7,200, far below the $12,000‑plus fares on routes...
Why Flights Stay Cheap While Travel Costs Rise
The Skift Travel Podcast explains that travel feels more expensive because of a structural "cost disease" – labor‑intensive services like hotels, restaurants and experiences can’t reap the productivity gains that have driven down airline prices. Airlines have cut costs through...
Amit Saberwal on Growing Hotels in a Shifting Market
RedDoorz, led by founder‑CEO Amit Saberwal, is sustaining 25% year‑over‑year growth while expanding its multi‑brand portfolio, with premium brands growing 40‑50% annually. The company now operates over 100 company‑run hotels and plans to double that number within 12‑18 months, using...
Hyatt Eyes an India-First Brand — Exclusive
Hyatt Hotels is exploring a brand built exclusively for India, echoing its Atona concept in Japan. The chain, which entered the market in 1983 and now runs 55 properties, plans to double that count to 100 hotels by 2030. To...
Travel’s Tax Refund Boom Is Falling Short
The U.S. Travel Association expected a $5.1 billion lift in leisure travel from $57 billion in tax refunds, but refunds are only up 13% ($27 billion), far short of the projected 25% growth. Bank of America notes the shortfall will limit the anticipated...
Delta’s 2012 Gamble on an Oil Refinery Is Paying Off — $300 Million Boost
Delta Air Lines’ 2012 purchase of the Trainer oil refinery, once dismissed as risky, is now delivering a sizable financial upside. The refinery supplies a share of the airline’s jet‑fuel needs, allowing Delta to offset higher fuel costs during periods...
Minor Hotels Builds AI Stack From Scratch To Improve Personalization
Minor Hotels is constructing a brand‑new global AI and data platform to connect guest information across its portfolio of more than 640 hotels and 12 brands. By building the stack from the ground up, the company sidesteps the legacy‑system bottlenecks...
Hopper Takes Over Canadian Bank Deal From Expedia
Canadian travel‑tech firm Hopper has secured an exclusive agreement to power the travel and rewards portal for Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), the nation’s largest bank. The deal ends a more‑than‑a‑decade partnership that Expedia Group previously managed. RBC demanded exclusivity,...
Marriott’s Indian AI Push Is About Enhancing Staff, Not Replacing Them
Marriott International is deploying artificial intelligence across its Indian operations to streamline recruitment, human‑capital planning and routine tasks. The technology is positioned to boost staff productivity and retention rather than replace frontline employees. By automating transactional work, associates can devote...
Skift Travel Health Index Flatlines
The Skift Travel Health Index fell to 100 in February 2026, down from 105 the month before, signalling a halt in global travel momentum. The decline is linked to sudden military conflict in the Middle East, which forced airspace closures and...