General travel industry news — policies, disruptions, and developments affecting travellers.
Dubai Holiday-Home Operator Silkhaus Shuts Down, Citing U.S.-Iran War
Silkhaus, a Dubai-based short-term rental operator, is shutting down at the end of November 2026. The company cited the U.S.-Iran war, which began in …
£600 for cheese? The Brazilian beach scams that cost visitors dear
Lisa Selby expected to pay 40 reais (£5.90) for two slices of barbecued cheese from a beach vendor in Rio de Janeiro. The vendor showed her the correc…
Southwest Flight Attendant Says Pets Make Her “Violently Ill,” Sues Over Choice To Work Or Lose Pay
Lisa Diane Patterson, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant based in Chicago who has worked for the carrier since 1998, filed a federal lawsuit in Ill…
MGM Resorts Sees Lost Pricing Power in Las Vegas as Travel Costs Bite
MGM Resorts reported weak summer performance on the Las Vegas Strip as rising airfares and gasoline prices dampened room demand and compressed pricing…
American Airlines Says It Can Cancel Tickets If Customers Get A ‘Windfall’ Deal, Doesn’t Have To Follow Rules
American Airlines canceled award tickets nearly three weeks after discovering a pricing error, violating its own 72-hour cancellation window outlined …
Which Airlines Are Still Skipping Dubai This Winter
At least 16 airlines from outside the Gulf region are not flying to Dubai this winter, with several now delaying their return until the end of March. …
Vrbo Launches Reserve Now, Pay Later — With a Twist on Airbnb’s Approach
Vrbo launched a Reserve Now, Pay Later feature on Wednesday, allowing travelers to book eligible vacation rentals with no upfront payment. The feature…
Royal Caribbean Says Sandals Deal Can Help It Win Half of Guests’ Travel Spend
Royal Caribbean Group is making an aggressive move to capture more of the vacation spending that repeat customers currently direct elsewhere. The crui…
Travel’s New Creator Economy: Why Brands Need Smarter Systems
# Travel's New Creator Economy: Why Brands Need Smarter Systems Travel brands face mounting pressure to master influencer marketing, yet throwing bud…
MakeMyTrip Uses an Air Travel Dip to Reach Beyond Flights
# MakeMyTrip Pivots Away From Flights as India's Travel Market Diversifies MakeMyTrip, India's largest online travel agency, is shifting its growth s…
UAE Travelers Hesitate After Houthi Attacks But Aren’t Canceling
# UAE Travelers Show Resilience Despite Houthi Threats, Adjusting Rather Than Abandoning Plans Travelers from the United Arab Emirates are navigating…
The Rise of One-Person Travel Businesses
# Solo Operators Transform Travel Industry Through Tech Infrastructure The travel industry's infrastructure has fundamentally shifted. Individual ent…
They Just Booked the Hotel Room — But They’re Already Looking for a Better Deal
# The Post-Booking Hunt: Why 41% of Travelers Keep Shopping After Hitting "Confirm" Travelers are not done shopping the moment their hotel confirmati…
Death Toll From Europe’s Extreme Summer Heat Estimated At More Than 50,000
# Europe's Extreme Heat Crisis Forces Tourism Industry Into Urgent Adaptation Mode Europe's summer heat crisis has claimed more than 50,000 lives, an…
Airbnb’s Amex Travel Deal Puts It Inside a Key Expedia B2B Channel
Airbnb just secured exclusive rental placement on American Express Travel, the corporate travel arm of the credit card giant, cutting off a major dist…
Travel VC Funding Fell for the Second Straight Quarter, Rounds for AI Companies Cut in Half
# Travel Tech Funding Faces Headwinds as Venture Capital Retreats Venture capital investment in travel technology has contracted for two consecutive …
Who Owns a Traveler’s Connectivity? Airlines, Hotels, and Platforms Share the Responsibility
# Connectivity Is Now a Core Travel Service. Who Should Fix It When It Breaks? A traveler boards a flight with American Airlines, arrives at a Marrio…
Everyone Lands in Salvador a Tourist, but Not Everyone Feels Like One
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Austrian Airlines Flight From Tel Aviv Gets MiG-29 Escort After Bomb Threat Forces Diversion
An Austrian Airlines flight departing Tel Aviv for Vienna diverted to Sofia on Sunday following a bomb threat reported during the flight. Bulgarian au…
Klook Withdraws U.S. IPO, Citing Market Conditions
Klook has withdrawn its planned U.S. initial public offering, citing market conditions. The travel experiences platform made the decision to postpone …
The War Is Changing the Economics of Saudi Tourism
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How I Got My Visa to France
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Skift Live Tourism Summit 2026: Building Recurring Demand on the World’s Biggest Stages
# Skift Live Tourism Summit 2026: The Business of Building Recurring Demand Around Global Events The live tourism industry stands at an inflection po…
Skift Creator Summit 2026: Building Trust to Influence the Transaction
# Creator Marketing Moves Beyond Hype to Drive Real Bookings Creator marketing transformed travel promotion overnight. Influencers with millions of f…
Revolut’s Travel Distribution Play Faces a U.S. Test
Revolut, the fintech giant with 45 million users worldwide, is betting that its U.S. banking license application will unlock a lucrative travel distri…
Airbnb Launches Friend-Powered Travel Maps and AI Search, and Laundry and Baby Gear Delivery
# Airbnb's New Friend Maps and AI Search Reshape How Travelers Plan Getaways Airbnb rolled out three major features that change how travelers discove…
Airbnb Launches AI Tools, Catching Up to OTA Rivals
Airbnb has entered the artificial intelligence race with new tools designed to streamline how guests discover and book short-term rentals. The move pu…
Hilton Tech Exec Says AI Agents Put OTAs ‘Under Real Threat’
Hilton's Chief Information Officer Michael Leidinger delivered a blunt assessment of the hotel industry's future at a recent conference: artificial in…
Skift Data + AI Summit Europe: Five Decisions in the Room
# AI Implementation Becomes Travel Industry's Critical Compliance Test in Europe European travel companies face a pivotal moment. Artificial intellig…
Kayak Co-Founders Launch Lola — Booking Holdings’ New AI Assistant: Exclusive
Booking Holdings is placing a bold bet on artificial intelligence to solve one of travel's most persistent headaches: coordinating fragmented bookings…
EU Anti-Greenwashing Rules Take Effect— and Some Eco-Labels May Not Survive
# EU's Strict Anti-Greenwashing Rules Transform Sustainable Travel Claims The European Union has begun enforcing tough anti-greenwashing legislation …
Instinct’s App Is Fueled by Travel — Founder Says It’s Half of Volume
# Text-Based Bookings Are Reshaping How Travelers Reserve Flights and Hotels Instinct, the mobile-first booking platform built around text message in…
Airbnb CEO on Hotels, Cars, and Flights: ‘I Had to Get Over My Ideology’
# Airbnb Expands Beyond Rentals as CEO Shifts Strategy on Hotels, Transportation, and Experiences Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has abandoned the company's…
Uber Is Coming for STR. Airbnb Has an AI Agent Coming.
# Uber and Airbnb Reshape the Short-Term Rental Battlefield The short-term rental landscape faces seismic disruption. Uber, the ride-hailing giant, i…
This “Private Equity Guy” Is Hilariously Insufferable When He Travels
# The Private Equity Bro Abroad: A Satirical Look at Luxury Travel Excess A comedic character has captured the internet's attention by skewering the …
How L Catterton Quietly Became One of Travel’s Most Interesting Investors
L Catterton, the investment arm of LVMH Luxury Goods, has emerged as a quiet force reshaping travel and hospitality through strategic capital deployme…
Cleartrip Enters India’s Fragmented Holiday Package Market
# Cleartrip Targets India's Untapped Holiday Package Market India's travel market has fragmented across multiple channels, but one segment remains st…
Royal Caribbean’s $3 Billion Sandals Deal Splits Analysts
Royal Caribbean's $3 billion bet on Sandals Resorts has left Wall Street divided over whether the cruise giant is making a brilliant strategic move or…
Chase, Amex And Citi Pay You To Shop—But A Discount Doesn’t Mean The Merchant Made More Money
# Credit Card Banks Weaponize Purchase Data To Drive Consumer Behavior, But Effectiveness Remains Murky Chase, American Express, and Citibank are fun…
Brian Chesky’s Contrarian Approach to Airbnb Experiences: ‘We’ve Now Started to Crack Locals’
# Airbnb Shifts Strategy: Targeting Locals Over Tourists with Experiences Brian Chesky, Airbnb's CEO, is betting that the future of travel experience…
To Shave or Not to Shave When Bathing Naked in Europe
# European Spa Culture: Why Body Hair Standards Differ Across the Continent Bathing customs in Europe reveal deep cultural divides that catch many Am…
Expedia Cuts 58 Roles in Latest Layoff Round
Expedia eliminated 58 positions across multiple states in its latest workforce reduction, according to a WARN notice filed in Washington state. The cu…
Staying Agile in an Unpredictable Market
# Premium Travel Demand Faces Reality Check as Industry Shifts Strategy Travel operators worldwide are placing aggressive bets on luxury and premium …
Building Systems That Take Everyone Into Account
# Travel Industry's Sustainability Reckoning: From Direct Emissions to Supply Chain Accountability The travel industry faces a reckoning. Hotels, air…
My Routine for Always Staying Ahead of My Travel Photos
# How to Master Your Travel Photo Organization Before You Even Leave Returning home from a trip with thousands of disorganized photos dumped on your …
Skift Research: Travel’s Great Recalibration Index
# Travel's Great Recalibration: How AI Curation Will Reshape Brand Survival Artificial intelligence has begun fundamentally reshaping how travelers d…
Who the 2036 Traveler Is, and What It Takes to Serve Them
# The Future Traveler: Why Hotels and Airlines Must Plan Now for 2036 Demands The gap between when travel companies collect data and when they need t…
Capital Allocation: How Should Travel Invest in Its Future?
# Travel Industry Faces Critical Choice: Physical Assets and Human Expertise Beat AI Commoditization The travel industry stands at a crossroads. As a…
Creating Value for Travelers and Investing in the Future
# Travel Companies Navigate the Platform Dilemma as New Distribution Channels Emerge Travel companies face a defining strategic choice in an increasi…
Recalibrating Travel: What AI Changes, and What It Doesn’t
# Recalibrating Travel: What AI Changes, and What It Doesn't Travel operators face a critical strategic fork. Artificial intelligence deployment deci…
We Had Five Hours To Get From Newark To JFK, So I Took My Kids To Times Square
# Five Hours Between Airports Turned Into A New York City Adventure A tight airport transfer between Newark Liberty International and New York JFK of…
Decoding the New Premium Traveler
# The Premium Travel Market Is Reshaping. Here's Who's Buying Luxury Now Travel operators across hotels, airlines, and luxury tour companies face a d…
Building Integrated Systems Before the Next Disruption
# Travel Companies Race to Fortify Systems Before the Next Crisis Hits The travel industry's vulnerability became starkly apparent during recent disr…
Revolution’s Steve Case and Certares’ Greg O’Hara Are Betting on Scarce Travel Assets
Steve Case, the AOL founder and visionary behind the early internet revolution, has shifted his investment focus toward travel assets. Paired with Gre…
Barry Diller Withdraws MGM Resorts Bid Worth $18 Billion
# Barry Diller Walks Away From $18 Billion MGM Resorts Bid Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp has withdrawn its $18 billion takeover proposal for MGM…
Brian Chesky Commits to Launching an AI Agent in 2027
# Airbnb's AI Concierge Plans Take Shape with 2027 Launch Target Brian Chesky, Airbnb's chief executive, has committed to launching an artificial int…
Agentic AI Is Raising Travel’s Tech Bill
# Agentic AI Technology Strains Travel Industry Economics Travel technology providers face a mounting infrastructure crisis. Building the backend sys…
Prince Harry Calls on Travel Industry to Put Destinations First
Prince Harry has launched a direct appeal to the global travel industry, urging operators to place destination welfare above short-term profits. Speak…
I Served In The Air Force, But I Oppose TSA’s New Military Line-Skipping Benefit
# TSA's Military Security Line Sparks Debate Over Airport Fairness The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out priority security screen…