Travel Like a Tourist + Southwest Needs Speed + Business Travel Bullishness

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

August 15, 2018

Editor's Note Projections are great — if reality doesn't get in the way. A Global Business Travel Association report predicts that 2018 will turn out to be the best year for business travel since the dark days of big-bank meltdowns and home mortgages for virtually all takers a decade or so ago. Let's see if the prognosticators and number crunchers have it correct. But things like trade wars, Brexit, and other protectionist impulses could blunt the envisioned growth in business travel and reverse the trend posthaste. Real-world events always have the potential to intervene and ruin the best-penned projections, but the current climate seems to have more potential to do so than most. — Dennis Schaal, Executive Editor American Airlines Elevates the In-Flight Experience With Premium Economy Sponsored by American Airlines American Airlines' Premium Economy offering shows that airlines are going beyond the traditional cabin hierarchy to provide passengers with elevated in-flight experiences at a range of price points. Read More Top Stories Expedia Is Growing Alternative Accommodations Faster But Booking Isn't Slowing Down Booking sites are offering more types of travel products and services on their platforms. Of these verticals, alternative accommodations are a highly contested space where Booking and Airbnb lead for now. No Need to Live Like a Local: All Tourists Welcome It is time to reclaim the word tourist, and recalibrate it to mean something good. Tourists can see the world with fresh eyes, unencumbered with the daily accumulations of local life. A new hotel in North Adams, Massachusetts, seeks to do just that. Torrid Growth Projected for Business Travel Despite Tariffs and Trade Wars It looks like 2018 could be the year that business travel growth truly peaks. With the specter of trade wars, Brexit, and financial instability on the horizon, the sector's financial outlook may change in a hurry. Video: Why Southwest Airlines Needs a Super-Fast Website Southwest Airlines wants to keep its passengers happy, booking quickly, and coming back. In this video, Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Watterson explains some of the ways the airline achieves that goal. MakeMyTrip Sees Gains From Its Loyalty Programs Investors are understandably focused on MakeMyTrip's ongoing operating losses. But in good news, the company is narrowing the size of those losses while maintaining its growth rates. Luxury General Managers on How Five-Star Expectations Have Changed What better way to discover how luxury travel has evolved than to chat with veterans of the five-star hospitality space? Air Canada's President Emerges as Frontrunner for Air France-KLM CEO Job At Air Canada, Ben Smith developed a reputation as a straight shooter with employees, customers and even journalists. But Air France-KLM is a different beast. The company is broken, and the French aren't accustomed to having an outsider run their national airline. If he gets the job, it'll be an interesting ride. Save on Your Ticket to Skift Global Forum Today There are only 43 days until the fifth annual Skift Global Forum! Each year, our flagship Forum attracts over 1,000 attendees from all over the world. Want to join them? Click to reveal a special discount on your ticket! Popular Now The 21 Uncomfortable Truths That I Have Learned About the Travel Industry Never accused of holding back on what we think, what we have learned and unlearned. My lessons from six years of Skift and eight years exploring the travel industry. Booking Holdings Bought HotelsCombined for Only $140 Million Don't you just love those proverbial tuck-in acquisitions? Booking Holdings didn't break the bank for either HotelsCombined ($140 million) or FareHarbor ($250 million). Sometimes making smaller bets is a much smarter strategy than gargantuan deals, but only time will tell. The Genesis of Overtourism: Why We Came Up With the Term and What's Happened Since We came up with "overtourism," a simple portmanteau to appeal to people's baser instincts with an element of alarm and fear in it. That is the biggest reason why the term and its exploration by everyone has caught on. 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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