Golf-Hotel-Resorts AND CASINO News: Airbnb’s Road to an IPO + Sabre Fires 900 + Airlines Cut Out Middlemen

August 2, 2017

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Note From the Editor

Oh, there's a helluva lot of disruption portrayed in today's stories. Hospitality editor Deanna Ting takes a really deep look at Airbnb's road to an initial public offering, and the promise and challenges along the way. We've written a lot of stories about Airbnb, which can be a polarizing company, over the years, but the one you will read today is one of the most thorough and insightful that I've seen.

Speaking of polarizing, there is also big corporate travel and airline news today. After a several-year hiatus in which it was preoccupied with a merger, American Airlines has returned to trying to get travel management companies to bypass global distribution systems, as travel tech editor Sean O'Neill points out. Meanwhile, in the age of Trump, the World Travel & Tourism Council has appointed its first female boss — the former head of tourism in Mexico. Interesting times ahead on all of these fronts.

— Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor

Just Announced — Skift Lens Documentary Unit

Yesterday we announced the launch of our new documentary unit, Skift Lens. Find out about our visual storytelling and check out our first feature documentary, which explores the impact of overtourism in one of the world's most popular destinations: Barcelona.

Learn More

We all know Airbnb will go public someday — it's just a question of when. When will it finally be ready — and what does the company need to do before it does?

Sabre Axes 900 Workers to Revamp Some of Its Business Lines

By cutting the management ranks, Sabre's new CEO Sean Menke addresses a gripe of "management bloat" among workers writing on review sites like Glassdoor. He also wisely cuts costs to fund new investment.

Royal Caribbean Says Just About Everything Is Going Right

Royal Caribbean Cruises has stuck by its plan to avoid lowering fares to fill up ships, and that strategy appears to be working. But the cruise operator is benefitting from a lot of other factors right now too.

WTTC Appoints Mexico's Gloria Guevara Manzo As Its First Female CEO

WTTC is staying committed to its goal of helping the global travel industry speak with one voice. But with Guevara's appointment, it's signaling the need for more women in leadership roles and the importance of Latin America's tourism growth.

American Airlines Revives Direct-Connect Moves While Sabre Questions Feasibility

American is reviving its direct-booking conflict with distribution middlemen like Sabre. Advances in technology and fat profits at U.S. airlines make the threat more plausible now than a decade ago.

UK Cruise Agency Buys German Rival to Create 'European Leader'

Cruise.co's mix of reviews and vacations has helped fuel its rise. Its private equity owners obviously want it to get even bigger and to do so it needs to buy up the competition.

The Luxury Cruise Lines Sailing the Waters of the Amazon

As European rivers become overcrowded, luxury travelers are looking to escape the masses. They are finding the isolation they seek in Peru's Amazon region.

A Brief History of Personality-Driven Luxury Travel Companies

These four entrepreneurs took the first steps toward what would become modern adventure and luxury travel, and their first-hand accounts hold lessons -- and entertainment -- for all those who followed in their wake.

The Canadian Nunnery That's Become a Wellness Retreat

Le Monastere des Augustines may seem somewhat spartan, but it provides the quintessential transformation experience that today's luxury traveler seeks.

From the Archives

We frequently talk about the travails of overtourism, and this is the deep dive that really kicked off the conversation. Other media sites tried to imitate our reporting after the fact, but you'll only find the original here.

Iceland and the Trials of 21st Century Tourism

Once, Iceland's top industry was fishing. Then, heavy industry took over. Now, tourism drives economic growth in Iceland. What are the challenges that increased tourism creates for a unique nation like Iceland?

We're excited to go deep into one of the more pressing issues in travel today in our first ever original short film.

Hyatt Isn't Abandoning Expedia Just Yet as the Two Sides Reach Agreement in Principle

The Hyatt-Expedia crisis seems to be averted, for now.

Ctrip and Skyscanner: A Look at How the Deal Went Down

Ctrip's purchase of Skyscanner continued the trend of metasearch consolidation and should provide Ctrip with support for its outbound and inbound businesses.

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