Accor’s Onefinestay Problem + Epcot’s Middle Age Crisis + Skyscanner Looks Beyond Flights

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

July 24, 2017 View in browser

Note From the Editor We bring you news from around the world today: An update on travel agencies in Singapore; a look at the latest losses for London-based Onefinestay; and a piece on the growth at Scotland-headquartered metasearch company Skyscanner. And then there's an entirely different kind of world — the one built by Walt Disney. Our dive into just-announced plans for the company's Epcot theme park in Florida shows how the entertainment giant is bringing one of its oldest properties into a modern, franchise-driven future. — Hannah Sampson, News Editor Skift Insights Deck: Bringing Humanity Back to Business Travel [SPONSORED] Sponsored by Egencia There's a growing focus on the importance of business traveler satisfaction and its impact on employee productivity and retention in today's corporate travel industry. Download this free report today! Download Now Top Stories The Skift Global Forum Two-Month-Out Update Tomorrow, Skift Global Forum will officially be two months away. Take a look back at 2016's event and find out what's to come in the remaining months leading up to the event. Don't miss your chance to register. Disney's Once-Futuristic Epcot Is Getting a Modern Overhaul Epcot, the theme park that once represented Walt Disney's vision of an experimental future, is about to get a transformation that will bring it more in line with the parent company's current strategy. AccorHotels Has a Lot of Work to Do With Onefinestay Onefinestay is a nice idea but like so many other nice ideas it isn't a profitable one, at least not yet. AccorHotels has a lot of work to do to turn the business around and justify the millions of dollars it has already spent. Singapore's Old-School Travel Agencies Struggle While Innovators Thrive Over 100 travel agencies have ceased operations in Singapore in the first six months of the year. But a closer look shows the trade is not dying; it is renewing. Skyscanner Is Seeing Growth in Its Hotel and Car Rental Business While it's interesting to note Skyscanner's growth in hotels and car hire, commission from flight searches is still the source of most of its revenue. It seems likely that the company will look to take a bigger slice of the airline market rather than push too hard into other areas. Travel Podcasts to Get You Through Your Summer Vacation Leaving for your summer vacation? Take these podcast episodes with you to decode the travel trends you see on the road. Still Popular Marriott and Hilton's New Cancellation Policies Won't Impact Corporate Travel as Much as You Think Forty-eight hours isn't too bad, but things might be tougher for everyone, corporate and leisure travelers alike, if the policy stretches to 72 hours down the line. Smart Travel Companies Leverage Tech Giants Rather Than Fear Them A new white paper critiques today's industry mania for mergers, which is driven by a fear of rising digital gatekeepers such as Airbnb, Google, and Expedia. The contrarian take is refreshing but begs questions. Business Travel Spending Is Expected to Gain Steam Globally by 2018 While growth prospects for business travel spending look strong for next year into 2020, there is still enough uncertainty that experts are adding lots of caveats to their forecast. For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab. You received this email because you are subscribed to Skift Daily Newsletter from Skift.

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