Golf-Hotel-Resorts AND CASINO News: Confronting Overtourism + Early Cruise-Booking Quandary + Online Travel Stars at Skift Global Forum

August 15, 2017

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Note From the Editor

Travel companies won't be able to ignore overtourism for much longer as tourists overrun scattered destinations like the bulls at Pamplona. If your business is to send as many people as possible to Amsterdam, Venice, or Barcelona because that benefits the bottom line, what are you going to do when destinations try to shut or, at least, block the door? We address the issue today in a story from Euromonitor that identifies many of the issues that may soon appear on your boardroom agenda.

Meanwhile, in the be-careful-what-you-wish-for category, Skift news editor Hannah Sampson reports that cruise lines have long wanted cruisers to book early so the lines didn't have to steeply discount fares to fill ships. Now that many passengers are actually booking way in advance, executives and analysts are wondering whether the cruise companies are leaving money on the table. We'll leave it to the revenue managers and other numbers-crunchers to figure it all out.

— Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor

What Operational Excellence Really Means for Business Travel [SPONSORED]

After a couple of years bubbling below the surface, the overtourism concept has broken into mainstream public consciousness this summer. Tourist boards and travel companies can no longer deny its existence; there is an urgent need for these groups to work with destinations to ensure a better balance.

Skift Global Forum 2017: Learn From Online Travel's Most Influential CEOs

From overtourism and artificial intelligence to direct-booking campaigns and the latest deals, there's a lot of ground to cover with the most-influential decision-makers in online travel.

Cruise Passengers Are Booking Earlier Than Ever. Is That a Good Thing?

Cruise companies are finally seeing the booking behavior they desired as more passengers reserve their places earlier. But observers wonder if selling inventory too far in advance means cruise lines are leaving money on the table.

Chefs+Tech: Tender Greens Readies for Growth With a New Look and Updated Tech

It'll take more than just a new logo to compete in the crowded healthy-food-fast market. The Tender Greens refresh looks great, but its new restaurant practices, menu items, and technology will make or break the growing business.

Ousted Uber CEO Plots a Comeback But it Is Not the Steve Jobs Kind

Can Kalanick mend his ways and reform Uber's toxic culture? Highly doubtful. Does he even want to? Uber's product teams are still functioning in a business-as-usual manner, but this mess won't get cleaned up until the CEO mess gets cleaned up.

Business of Loyalty: Bank of America Steps Into the Premium Travel Credit Card Game

Bank of America has a new premium loyalty credit card for the travel industry, but its uses may be limited. Still, for the right kind of traveler the new card can end up being very lucrative.

The best tourism websites in the business in 2017 are emphasizing user-generated content from platforms like Instagram and doubling down on video to make destinations seem more real rather than a part of a traveler's imagination.

Hilton's New Design Brings the Gym to the Guest Room

This is especially ideal for guests who (1) don't want their colleagues (or the general public) to see their sweaty selves in the hotel gym and (2) those rare souls who want to work out 24/7 as if no one is watching.

Channel Shock: The Future of Travel Distribution

The global distribution systems aren't going anywhere. Innovation, however, is happening in the margins of the travel distribution marketplace, with airlines seeking to regain control of their destiny.

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