Skift Take The travel industry in Southeast Asia is continuing to grow, and so is the short-term rental industry worldwide. Justin Dawes Five travel tech startups have announced fundraises this week totaling more than $144 million. >>Gother (formerly TraveliGo), an online travel agency based in Thailand, has raised $25 million from Kasikorn Bank Group. The news about the funding and rebrand was...
Skift Take As Tongcheng Travel waits for China to relax restrictions and open travel, the online travel company has used the downtime to diversify its user base. Now if only the borders would fully reopen! Peden Doma Bhutia Catch them young clearly seems to be the mantra for Tongcheng Travel as the Chinese online travel agency has been steadily ramping up efforts to enhance its brand influence...
Skift Take Does JetBlue’s surprise bid for Spirit make sense for the carrier’s network? At first glance, Wall Street didn’t think so. Madhu Unnikrishnan JetBlue Airways threw the airline world for a loop with a surprise bid for ultra-low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, that may derail Spirit’s planned merger with Frontier Airlines. JetBlue’s $3.6 billion deal offers investors a...
Startups
13 Travel Startups Raise $600 Million in 2 Weeks
Twelve’s massive total fundraise of $645 million shows that the company is positioning itself for a future where alternative jet fuels aren’t just trendy, but essential. Skift has now reported 16 travel startups that have raised over $100 million so far this year.
Justin Dawes | 2 hours ago
Expedia Group Vice Chairman and CEO Peter Kern spoke with Skift Executive Editor Dennis Schaal at Skift Global Forum 2021. The two discussed the theme “Powering Travel Beyond the Booking to Boost Recovery.” You can watch a full video of their discussion as well as read a transcript of it, below. Dennis Schaal: Hey everybody. Don’t forget if you have questions for Peter ask them through the Skift...
Skift Take Online travel agencies and credit card companies — other than Chase — have Southwest-envy. Not having Southwest flights is a major hole in their travel offerings. Dennis Schaal Chase cardholders can book Southwest Airlines flights through the Chase Travel portal, and that’s a rarity for leisure travelers. You can’t do it through American Express, Citi or Capital One’s travel platforms...
Skift Take Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz creates a new development company to help realize his tourism sector dreams. Josh Corder The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has formed another development company, Ardara, solely focused on the upcoming AlWadi destination. Launched by Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who serves as PIF’s chairman, Ardara adds to the crown prince’s...
Skift Take Airlines saw capacity and passenger traffic recover to pre-Covid levels and opened up their checkbooks to sign deals for their long-term future with new aircraft. Ajay Awtaney Global aviation had a dream run in 2023. Everything that went wrong during the pandemic seemed to reverse – and then some. It wasn’t all smooth. Airlines went bankrupt (Go First), mergers got announced (Hawaiian...
Skift Take Carnival Cruise executives don’t see the macroeconomic slowdown everybody is talking about. Dawit Habtemariam Carnival Cruise executives had their conference call to discuss third-quarter results Friday, and Wall Street analysts kept asking about the risk of a consumer slowdown. The answer was always the same: “We’re trying to say it as plainly as we can. We just have not seen...
Skift Take Both 2022 and 2023 were banner years for U.S. hotels. But owners and operators may face more headwinds when it concerns bottom-line profitability in 2024. Sean O’Neill Hoteliers in numerous U.S. markets in 2022 and 2023 found travelers happy to pay greater space rates post-pandemic. Robust rates allowed numerous operators to equal inflationary operational expenses and financial...