Airbnb Eases Check-Ins + No-Bleisure Blues + Brand USA Caught Off Guard

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

June 9, 2017 View in browser

Note From the Editor Few things can be more frustrating when showing up to your Airbnb rental than being unable to find the host's check-in instructions, including the double-secret code to the lockbox. Thankfully, Airbnb started enabling hosts to insert the instructions into its app, no Internet access required. Another thing that isn't required is adding an extra leisure day onto your business trip, and a new business travel study finds that only about one-third of road warriors do so. Except millennials, of course. To their credit, they like the whole bleisure thing — or have the opportunity to take advantage of it — considerably more than the rest of the pack. Go figure. — Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor Why a Seamless Payment Strategy is Key to Selling More Ancillary Services [SPONSORED] Sponsored by worldpay Travel providers who want to provide customers with a seamless travel experience should no longer think of the payment process as an afterthought. Stories to Start Your Friday Airbnb App Now Provides Hosts' Check-In Instructions for Guests Why didn't Airbnb think of this earlier? Interview: Brand USA CEO Counts on Congress to Reverse Trump's Plan to Kill It Brand USA has reported positive returns on investment and built the U.S.' national tourism marketing operations from the ground up over the past six years. But now one of its most important tasks is ensuring the President -- and his Twitter handle -- don't derail its momentum. Time-Starved Business Travelers Are Missing the Bleisure Trend While bleisure travel isn't growing in a huge way, this study shows nearly half of millennial business travelers add leisure to business trips. Those young travelers could cut back as they get older — or employers might need to better adjust to a rise in bleisure down the road. Lufthansa Group CEO: Electronics Ban Would Be a 'Mess' If some form of a global electronics ban in airliner cabins is enacted, expect delays and disruptions as airports and airlines struggle to adapt. The EU Wants to Make it Easier to Deal With Unfair Aviation Competition While there is no specific mention of the big Gulf airlines, they would likely be a target for any new measure designed to rein in supposed anti-competitive practices. European airlines, alongside those in the U.S., have long said the likes of Emirates and Etihad have an unfair advantage. European airlines surely welcome any new rule that attempts to level the playing field. CEO Interview: Distribution Firm DHISCO Tries to Bounce Back for the Post-Hotel Era DHISCO boss Toni Portmann said the hotel distribution tech company has completely modernized its formerly limited and failure-prone system. But we're still waiting to see a wave of new contract announcements, including for alternative lodging providers. Indian Agency Goomo Raises More Than $25 Million: Travel Startup Funding This Week Private equity aims to scale up an Indian agency with a core business traveler clientele, while two rival subscription airlines combine, and a clone of Airbnb for gay travelers receives funding. Clearly, some investors favor companies that focus on niches. Business Travel Growth Is Expected to Rise in U.S. Despite Recent Dip International travel to the U.S. will continue to grow this year, according to U.S. Travel. But given the unpredictability of the U.S. government at this time, the outlook could get worse in a hurry. Don't-Miss Newsletters Our newsletters have a new look, but they have the same great content. Read the most recent editions, below, and subscribe here now. Business of Loyalty: British Airways Uses Its Loyalty Program to Apologize After things go bad, a big burst of loyalty generosity is an easy way for a travel provider to say "we're sorry." Skift New Luxury Newsletter: High-End Retail Flies Higher Nothing creates FOMO like a desirable object that you don't quite know the price of at a great airport boutique you only pass through once in a blue moon. Meetings Innovation Report: The Future of Crowdsourced Group Learning There's a big demand for event tech platforms that help conference attendees co-create their own educational and networking journeys. One company may have finally produced a matchmaking tool that actually delivers on that demand. Chefs+Tech: Grocerants Might Be the Future of Casual Dining As interest in casual dining wanes, everyone's betting big on fast-casual, including Whole Foods. Since fast-casual + grocery store= grocerant, Whole Foods' latest move as as trendy as it is smart. U.S. Business Travel Is Still Expected to Grow in 2017 — Skift Corporate Travel Innovation Report Perhaps the fears of a business travel downturn in the U.S. have been overblown. 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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