Skift Take Opinions are split on the return of tourism to Phuket with travelers limited to government-accredited hotels and many small businesses shattered. Lebawit Lily Girma As Thailand’s government prepares to celebrate its reopening to foreign tourists this week, many businesses on the holiday island of Phuket aren’t so enthusiastic about the return of visitors. Phuket is a pilot programme...
Social video app TikTok is best known for animals performing tricks, people doing stylized and hip dance moves, and random events such as a baby being born mid-flight. But TikTok’s usefulness for travel marketing to Gen Z and younger millennials is becoming more apparent for U.S. travel brands who are seeing the success of foreign brands on the platform. Delta Air Lines this week launched its...
Skift Take In this dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus over a paint job, might there be deeper issues beneath the surface? Alexander Cornwell, Reuters Qatar Airways said on Tuesday the surface below the paint on some of its Airbus A350s was deteriorating faster than expected and insisted it would not take more deliveries of the carbon-composite widebody jet until the problem was resolved...
Skift Take Airbnb is attempting to win on brand name with a decreased reliance on Google while the smaller Vrbo accepted YouTube big-time, and will spend, spend, invest to benefit. Dennis Schaal, Skift Vacation rental brand name Vrbo has actually seemingly made considerable gains, even over the larger Airbnb, in current months, however it was steep marketing invest that boosted those gains as...
Skift Take Heading to court to fight Florida Guv De Santis on vaccine mandates while trying to return to travelling in the middle of a raging version– the monetary bleed makes certain to continue for big cruise. Lebawit Lily Girma Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, which is set to resume sailing from U.S. ports over the weekend, said it was seeing pent-up need for 2022 cruises even as it...
The managers of Aethos Corsica weren’t sure what to expect when debuting their nine-suite boutique hotel this month. Pandemic restrictions in many countries had quelled immediate international travel. But the owners needn’t have wondered. “We’ve been experiencing a tremendous increase in bookings recently — especially for our larger suites,” said Ariane Chapot, the general manager of the...
Airline distribution is the largest business segment for Sabre, so new airline contract terms are a big deal for the travel technology company based in Southlake, Texas. Sabre said Tuesday that a multi-year distribution contract with Delta Air Lines that it announced on Monday has terms Sabre believes will be a model for its contracts with other large carriers. The Delta contract more explicitly...
Coronavirus curbs have eased, tourists are returning, but Italy’s restaurants and hotels are facing an unexpected problem — they can’t find the staff. Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s unity government is counting on a robust rebound from last year’s recession, Italy’s deepest since World War Two, and is looking to tourism — aided by the EU’s new COVID-19 pass — to lead the way this summer. But...
Skift Take A destination resilience assessment survey for U.S. tourism boards is launching this summer — just as visitors return and as tourism leaders continue to examine how they can build back stronger before the next crisis hits. Lebawit Lily Girma, Skift As backyard tourism takes hold around the U.S. this summer and it begins to gradually rebound, the evolving role of destination marketing...
When the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the largest and only organization representing tourism’s private sector, announced five months ago the appointment of Julia Simpson as only the organization’s second female CEO, the challenges ahead seemed daunting. They are even more so today. The WTTC and its relevance as an organization faces higher scrutiny at a pivotal time when the travel...