Good morning from Skift. It’s Thursday, September 12, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today. Listen Now Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS Episode Notes A growing number of women are making waves in leadership positions throughout the travel industry, and Skift is featuring 25 of them in our inaugural list, Generation Next: The Women Shaping Travel’s...
Ground Transport AI-Powered Revenue Management Transforms Ground Transportation The integration of AI-powered revenue management by ground transportation operators is transforming the industry, introducing dynamic pricing and demand forecasting. Traditionally reliant on static pricing, the bus industry is now embracing more granular control over pricing strategies, allowing operators to adjust...
Noha Abdalla Choice Hotels CMO Noha Abdalla, the chief marketing officer at Choice Hotels, considers herself a problem solver, and she’s had several marketing positions over the years where she’s worked as a quasi-internal consultant charged with taking on a new challenge. At Choice Hotels, which she joined in 2022, the goal was to expand beyond the company’s traditional focus on the franchisee...
I listen to travel tech companies that have boosted their revenue despite the pandemic shock to the travel industry. These vendors can reveal clues about what’s on the minds of travel execs shopping for tech. But to be clear: When I sum up a vendor’s views and forecasts, I’m not saying they’re the last word on any topic. This week, I listened closely to Cloudbeds. Cloudbeds, based in San Diego...
One week after Ariane Gorin took over as the new CEO of Expedia Group, the company issued a statement Friday that Chief Technology Officer Rathi Murthy, and Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president, core services product & engineering, are no longer working at the company. Expedia Group cited “a violation of company policy,” but wouldn’t provide additional details on their exits. The...
Online Travel This Week Online travel has a ton of loose ends, questions to be answered, and fortunes to be won or blown, and these issues didn’t get resolved, of course, just because the Gregorian calendar spent its annual allotment of days on December 31. Here are some of the open questions for online travel in 2022: Who Will Be Tripadvisor’s Next CEO? The search for a CEO at Tripadvisor to...
Hotels Hyatt Exec Explains Soft Brand Strategy With Boutique Luxury Hotels One of Hyatt’s many business models is to take indie luxury hotels that pride themselves on being boutique-y, providing them the benefits of Hyatt (distribution! marketing! operational support!) and then downplaying any sign of corporate involvement in the eyes of guests. So far, it’s working. Sean...
In Saudi Arabia’s latest tourism campaign, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi aims to bust the stereotypes global travelers may have about the kingdom. The campaign emphasizes that Saudi Arabia has a lot to offer and is a welcoming destination, said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority. Saudi has been hyperfocused on cutting its dependence on oil and diversifying its economy. Over...
Skift Take Join us for the eagerly awaited Skift Global Forum opening reception, presented by Turkish Airlines, featuring a fireside chat with Hilton’s CEO, Christopher Nassetta, and seize the opportunity to network, gain valuable insights, and be inspired as the travel industry’s future takes center stage on September 26. — Nicole Meyer The much-anticipated opening reception for...
The Trump Organization may finally have a buyer for its Washington, D.C., hotel. Miami-based CGI Merchant Group is in advanced talks to acquire the Trump International Hotel in D.C. for close to $370 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. The acquisition would come in well below the initial $500 million the Trump family originally marketed the hotel at in late 2019. But the sale would still...