Cancellation Fees Pay Off + Booking Gets Personal + Too Many European Airlines

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

October 4, 2017 View in browser

Note From the Editor The U.S. hotel industry will see the fees it charges guests rise a modest $100 million this year, according to a forecast that hospitality editor Deanna Ting writes about today. Two of the trends that factored into the 3.8 percent rise in fees were: Several big chains boosted cancellation-fee revenue by making deadlines more stringent while some hotels gave back fee revenue by providing Internet access for free to loyalty program members. One step forward, two steps back — depending on your point of view. As Europe editor Patrick Whyte describes today, there is a point of view coming out of Europe that the bankruptcy of Monarch Air highlights that fact that there are just too many airlines in the European Union. That's the same argument that U.S. legacy carriers made before consolidating themselves into three dominant airlines. As with hotel fees, additional airline mergers might be seen as good for the industry, but not necessarily for consumers. — Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor Mobile and the Next Wave of Digital Disruption: A Look at the Future of Traveler Experience [SPONSORED] Sponsored by Travelport Mobile is now present along every step of the end-to-end travel journey, from research and inspiration to return. Download our latest report to learn how mobile and more recent technologies are shifting the way brands engage with travelers. Download Now Top Stories U.S. Hotel Fees Forecast to Reach $2.7 Billion in 2017 as Stricter Cancellation Policies Take Hold We all understand why hotels are collecting more fees but the types of fees and surcharges they're collecting seem to be changing in interesting ways. More stringent cancellation fees are a trend while totals for Internet-access fees declined. What Monarch Air's Bankruptcy Means for European Aviation While there might be too many European airlines, Monarch's demise shouldn't necessarily be seen as being symptomatic of wider industry problems. Like Alitalia and Air Berlin before it, the UK-based airline and tour operator had plenty of self-inflicted wounds that were exacerbated by external issues. Travel Startup Money Is Flowing But the Road to an Exit Is More Distant Blockchain and China are both areas that investors find interesting, but blockchain requires a long-term view and China is really tough, especially domestically. Meanwhile, investors are pouring money into artificial intelligence and virtual reality, and are trying to sort out which travel startups working in these fields will make it to the finish line. Trivago Makes a Tech Acquisition That Bolsters an Industry Trend While this deal is small, it signals that the Expedia-backed hotel-search company wants to better identify the desires of its customers and become more sophisticated at proposing tailor-made offers that are relevant. American Express Centurion Lounges Are a Differentiator in Credit Card Competition An airport lounge needs a lot of logistical heavy-lifting and finesse to get it right. But Amex has had some success executing on this mission, and is expanding internationally to Hong Kong. New Luxury Luxury Brands Are Beating Mass-Market Brands Across Social Media Fashion luxury brands generally tend to be ahead of travel brands in terms of marketing innovation and sophistication. We'll continue to watch this space. Luxury Luggage Raises the Bar for Sophisticated Content Marketing The travel space is rich in content. That means it's not "if," but "how" luggage brands craft their messages of exploration and sophistication that will ultimately resonate with the customer. Luxury Travelers Seek Winter Alternatives to Hard-Hit Caribbean Destinations No doubt destinations are hoping that visitors will return when islands have a chance to recover and clean up. Old habits and geography are in their favor. Still Popular 8 Questions About Hotel Safety and Security Raised by the Las Vegas Shooting Short story: Hotels are just as fine as other businesses. It's guns in the U.S. that are the problem. Best Tourism Videos of 2017 Highlight the Art of Storytelling These winning tourism videos don't use radical production elements to tell the stories of their countries. Instead, they let the landscapes and handshakes speak for themselves, and show why travel is such a beautiful and enlightening thing. AccorHotels Makes Acquisition to Deliver Other Hotel Brands to Travel Agencies Europe's largest hotelier continues to pursue CEO Sébastien Bazin's goal of diversification. Valued at about $117 million, Gekko Group will help AccorHotels grow its business-to-business services. 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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