Day 1 For New Uber CEO + 6 Essential Luxury Trends + Hyatt's Wellness Splurge

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

August 30, 2017 View in browser

Note From the Editors Dara Khosrowshahi, who was the Expedia CEO until yesterday, probably won't have time to update his LinkedIn profile today because he'll be busy meeting his new Silicon Valley employees at Uber. He reports for duty today. Now the question becomes — and we expect to have some indication today — who's keeping the lights on and making decisions at Expedia given that the company's CEO has bolted at the speed of light. We're not going to say we warned you before Sunday that Khosrowshahi would find himself in a new job before long, but we DID ask him in 2016 what could make him leave the company within five years. The answer was not "taking over Uber," but it did involve advances in voice-based queries — maybe a hint at the kind of thinking he'll take to the transportation company now that he's made the leap. Speaking of a corporate boss in a new job, we heard from two airline executives about their reactions to the early months of Donald Trump's presidency. Air China's vice president for North America says that demand for flights from China to the U.S. is down since Trump took office, which he blames in part on fewer visas being approved. And United Airlines President Scott Kirby is hopeful that the government will eventually take some kind of action against Gulf carriers in the long-running Open Skies debate. — Hannah Sampson and Dennis Schaal How a Corporate Travel Manager Thinks About Business Travel Today [SPONSORED] Sponsored by Egencia The responsibilities of today's corporate travel managers have become increasingly complex as new technology developments, global uncertainty, higher travel costs, and a growing focus on traveler satisfaction influence how employees travel. Read More Top Stories Expedia CEO Starts New Job as Uber Boss Today Khosrowshahi takes over a unicorn in Uber and will have the challenge of his life to get the ride-share company speeding along and toward an IPO with a trunk-full of controversies and problems. The choice of the next Expedia CEO to succeed him is indeed a critical one that will have far-reaching implications. This Is Not a Freakin' Trade Conference: Year Four Over the past five years of running Skift, I've seen clearly that the largest consumer and tech changes converge in travel, and what's happening here has lessons for the world beyond the industry. The Other Reason Expedia's CEO Would Have Left His Company What would make Expedia obsolete and cause Khosrowshahi to leave? Expedia's apparently outgoing CEO answered that question for us last year and talked about big technology trends a few years in the offing. But is he bolting because he thinks Expedia's best days are behind it? United Airlines President Expects U.S. Action Against Gulf Carriers Someday This Open Skies debate never goes away, does it? So far, the Trump administration hasn't treated it much differently than the Obama administration, at least publicly. We'll have to see whether it eventually takes a tougher stance. Hyatt Buys Yet Another Wellness Brand, Exhale Hyatt is taking the concepts of wellness and "adjacent spaces" very, very seriously. Expedia Spent $148 Million to Buy SilverRail for Its Train Booking Tech Expedia's purchase price for a majority stake in SilverRail was double the sum that SilverRail had raised from investors. The price tag was a multiple of the investment but not a stellar exit for shareholders. Air China Says More Chinese Travelers Are Being Denied U.S. Visas There's no public data here, so it's hard to know how much of an issue this is. But generally, inbound tourism to the United States is important, so if fewer visas are being granted, it's probably not good for American businesses. Events Are Getting More Analytical to Measure Success Event organizers are looking to new metrics to measure the success of their events. Luxury Reports The 6 Big Trends That Are Reshaping Luxury Travel In the luxury travel space, at a macro level, demand is growing for the accumulation of travel memories drawn from transformative moments that resonate deeply with the individual traveler's ideal of personal fulfillment, and his or her best aspirational version of themselves. Artificial Intelligence's Unrecognized Potential for Luxury Travel Brands It's clear that there are ways in which luxury brands can differentiate their customer experience using artificial intelligence, but it will require a sophistication that is still unseen in the travel industry. Mall Operator Westfield Emulates Luxury Hotels for New Service Style It is difficult to distill years of nuanced luxury training down into a single program, but Westfield's eagerness to look to luxury hospitality is a sign that it is headed in the right direction. Popular Now 8 Insights Into Uber CEO Pick Dara Khosrowshahi From Peers and Rivals With a two-decade track record in online travel, Khosrowshahi has had his duck-and cover as well as been-on-a mountaintop moments. If Uber's looking for a steady hand, and a guy with experience who isn't afraid to take a U-turn when called for, then they could have done a helluva lot worse. American Considers Selling Few-Frills Economy Fares to Europe Don't hate American Airlines if it unbundles fares on some transatlantic routes. By flying discounters like Wow Air and Norwegian, travelers have shown how much they like cheap no-frills airlines. American needs to give the people what they want — $99 one-way fares to Barcelona. Interview: New Choice Hotels CEO Is Ready to Dominate His Sectors It'll be interesting to see how Pacious' understanding of digital technology and online distribution will inform Choice's future business strategy. 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