Golf-Hotel-Resorts AND CASINO News: Weekend Review: Gogo Wi-Fi Often a No-Go + 5 Big Themes Defining Travel

May 5, 2018

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Note From the Editor

Sometimes it takes an outsider, or at least a C-Suite newcomer, to tell it like it is and bring in a fresh perspective. Oakleigh Thorne, who's been on the job as CEO of Gogo for two months, isn't exactly an interloper: He's been on the board and he owns 30 percent of the company. But he's saying things publicly that have gone unsaid for years — namely that Gogo, which once almost had a monopoly on in-flight Wi-Fi on board U.S. airlines, has lost its mojo. And that Wi-Fi connectivity up in the air often sucked. It wasn't exactly an effective sales pitch, though, if indeed Thorne is trying to sell the company.

— Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor

The Inaugural Skift Tech Forum Is Rapidly Approaching

We've assembled a leading group of speakers for Skift Tech Forum in Silicon Valley this June, including top executives from the aviation, hospitality, online travel, and travel tech sectors, and more. Don't miss innovative CEOs, CTOs, and CDOs from every sector of the industry and secure your spot today.

How much of a future does Gogo have as an independent public company? We'll see. But it sounds like the new CEO is open to pursuing alternatives.

Why the Hotel Lobby Is the Perfect Antidote to Airbnb

The power of a great lobby is a huge differentiator in hospitality. Hotels shouldn't forget its power. In fact, they should double down.

The 5 Big Themes Driving Travel in 2018: Lessons From Skift Forum Europe

There is no set formula on how to do it, but it's clear that the most progressive companies in travel are intent on reinventing their businesses, and value propositions. On the other hand, certain things that still work, like customer service and personalized hospitality, will survive the cut.

Accor Pushes Further Into Luxury With $567 Million Mövenpick Deal

Where there is smoke there is fire and Sebastien Bazin's comments at Skift Forum Europe last week hinted at an imminent deal.

Sabre's Back to the Basics Strategy Shift Starts to Bear Fruit

CEO Sean Menke has gained breathing room to provide positive surprises. Getting cloud-based distribution and operations software right is hard. So the company is relying on concepts from top-tier management consulting firms as guidance.

Editor's Picks

How Europe Came Back From the Brink: Read the New Magazine

Check out our magazine to see how Europe raced back to be a global leader in tourism growth — and what that means to the larger travel industry in the region.

Frontier Airlines Pilots Ask Feds for OK to Pursue a Strike

U.S. airline strikes are extremely rare because of government regulations designed to prevent them. For that reason, there's no guarantee Frontier's pilots will receive the permission they seek. But remember the last major U.S. pilot strike? It was in 2010, at Spirit Airlines, when it was controlled by Indigo Partners. The same private equity firm now owns Frontier.

Corporate Travel's Fear of Failure Dims Innovation

It blows my mind that corporate travel executives say the same exact thing at this conference every year. It's like Groundhog Day with more suits and fewer laughs. Everyone wants to be one step ahead, but where is the incentive to actually take that step?

Cape Town's Water Crisis: What the Tourism Industry Can Learn From the Myth and the Reality

The Cape Town water crisis has more to do with improper water management and inaccurate, inconsistent messaging than the city actually being in completely dire circumstances. That's why collaboration matters, between huge global organizations all the way down to individual travelers and locals, to promote the reality of international issues and the benefits tourism can have if done in a sustainable way.

Venice Tourism Checkpoints Are a Sign of Europe's Fractured Approach to Overtourism

For a city that's afraid of becoming a theme park, it's certainly starting to look more like one with turnstiles and fast passes to get in the door. The summer travel season is just starting to heat up.

How Strong Are Airplane Windows?

Is Southwest having what might best be described as a United problem? The airline faced one major incident a couple of weeks ago, and now passengers are paying much more attention to what ordinarily would be minor events.

The Business of Dining Out

Over at Skift Table, we dive deep into how restaurants work and what consumers expect from their experience. Subscribe to our daily newsletter now, and read below to understand what happened this week in the industry.

Local Companies Still Deliver Amid Growing National Competition

Instead of bowing out under pressure from national competition, local food delivery services in smaller markets across the U.S. are seeing sales lifts and renewed restaurant partnerships as Grubhub and Uber Eats show up on their scene.

Amass Chef Explains How to Hit the Money Spot With a Zero-Waste Restaurant

Zero-waste is the food world's latest favorite catchphrase, but only a few restaurateurs are turning the trend into sustainable profits.

Why Have a Press Release When You Can Have a Movie Trailer?

In the pivot-to-video media landscape, it looks like words are no longer enough for new restaurant opening announcements.

Shake Shack's Latest Earnings Don't Quite Deliver on Its Promises

Shake Shack pushes forward with grand expansion plans, but low same-store sales continue to raise questions about the brand's viability.

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