Bermuda's Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned + Accor Builds Digital Roadmap + Caesars Tries No Gaming

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

June 7, 2018

Editor's Note The hotel and golf course owners, the restaurateurs, the cruise line operators and everyone else making money up and down the tourism economy in Bermuda owe a bit of gratitude this week to an openly gay, former cricket player named Maryellen Jackson and the advocates at OUTBermuda. They were the ones who sued to overturn a same-sex marriage ban, which carried huge implications for tourism. A court ruling on Wednesday overturned that ban, as Skift's Dan Peltier first reported. "The ruling is significant in that it underscores how a same-sex marriage ban is no longer acceptable to many travelers – LGBTQ or straight – and the potential consequences for tourism of rolling back progress," Tourism Reporter Peltier wrote. The court has pushed Bermuda back onto the right side of history, returning the focus to the more progressive gay rights policies the island had in place when the ban came along. Now it's time for the Bermuda Tourism Authority, headed by its openly gay CEO Kevin Dallas, and all the people of Bermuda to do more to speak directly to the LBGTQ community to make them feel welcome. — Tom Lowry, Managing Editor Top Stories Take Our Global Business Traveler Survey Calling all corporate travel managers and business travelers — we need your input! We're looking to learn more about your business travel habits, plus which traveler tools you use in this short 5-10 minute survey. We'll release our findings in a report later this year. Take Survey Bermuda Court Overturns Same-Sex Marriage Ban in Win For Tourism Industry The Bermuda Triangle is legendary for making things mysteriously disappear. But one thing that wasn't lost in Bermuda this week was a legal understanding that a ban on same-sex marriage is bad for business and morally wrong in 2018. Thailand-Based Hotel and Restaurant Giant Minor to Take Over NH Hotels AccorHotels and the rest of the hotel industry have some competition in their respective quests to get bigger. Skift Tech Forum Preview: Accor's Chief Digital Officer on Creating a Technology Roadmap Maud Bailly has been at the heart of AccorHotels' recent transformation. She'll hopefully shed some light on the company's digital strategy and how it intends to use all its new acquisitions. Caesars Bets on Growing Its Business With Non-Gaming Hotels We're putting our money on the Cromwell and LINQ brands to do well with the hotel owner/developer set, which is increasingly looking for upscale lifestyle and select-service brands. As for the Caesars Palace and Flamingo brands — they're so inextricably tied to Vegas and to gaming, it'll be hard to convince guests otherwise. Skift Forum Europe 2018 On-Stage Videos Are Now Live Missed Skift Forum Europe in person? Now you can watch the sessions from our event in Berlin, featuring speakers from top travel companies including Marriott, AccorHotels, Airbnb, Ryanair, and Booking.com. Where Does Air France-KLM Go From Here? Until Air France-KLM implements a long-term cohesive strategy, it probably will keep falling behind its main competitors, International Airlines Group and Lufthansa Group. But unless the macroeconomic environment changes, it should be OK. Even with rising fuel prices, now is a good time to be in the airline business. Explore Trends in Hotel Operations at the Annual HOW Festival Sponsored by Hotel Operations Weekend Hotel Operations Weekend (HOW) will be held Oct. 3-5, 2018, in Porec, Croatia. The HOW Festival presents and discusses global trends in everyday hotel operations with GMs and middle management directors. Click here to learn more. AccorHotels Buys Catering Tech Company Adoria Catering is a key growth area for AccorHotels and this deal complements a number of others it has done in the sector. Flexible Meeting Spaces Become Common as Small Events Evolve Venues are getting smarter about designing space in a more flexible way to enable more creative events. This is a welcome change as companies and groups gravitate away from the tired old meeting concepts and toward more memorable, experiential events. Popular Now Skift's Top Travel Startups to Watch 2018 Better, faster, stronger. We pinpointed 20 venture-backed companies — mostly young — that promise breakaway potential. These startups prove that innovation is happening everywhere, from Atlanta to Ramallah to Queensland. It's Not Just Airbnb — HomeAway Starts Adding Hotels Too While Airbnb has been brashly adding independent hotels, HomeAway has been quietly doing the same — although it has been using an entirely different business model given its ties to parent Expedia. Curation may have its place, but all of these companies realize that the more inventory and choice they give consumers, the more likely they are to spend on a stay. Lisbon's Overtourism Lesson: Living Like a Local Is Not Enough Lisbon's post-crisis evolution and corresponding tourism boom show the dramatic impact and lasting ramifications of overtourism. Efforts have centered on sustainable tourism and limiting tourism's potential negative impacts, but, in our view, the focus has been all wrong. Sustainable tourism should be about sustainable cultures, and we all have a role to play. 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.

Follow us Our address: 145 W 30th Street 5th Floor New York,  NY  10001  USA  Copyright © 2018 Skift, All rights reserved.

If you'd like to unsubscribe from this email, click here If you'd like to receive fewer emails, click here If someone shared this email with you and you would like to subscribe, visit our newsletters page on Skift