Skift

Bringing you the latest #travelindustry insights through breaking news, cutting-edge research, and world-class events. Stay in-the-know:

[Skift @skift]

"I'd rather have closed the business than compromise the vision." RARE India's Shoba Rudra on finding an investor who gets it, and what comes next for experiential hospitality in India.

Full interview here: https://t.co/ObpTDqEZDv

In partnership with @RareIndia

[Skift @skift]

📈 Today, leading minds in travel and technology gathered at the SOLD OUT Skift Data + AI Summit in New York, revealing critical insights for the future of our industry. Here are a few powerful takeaways:

1. Stop Piloting, Start Operating: The era of endless AI pilots is over. Companies seeing real results are treating AI as a continuous production system, not a test. Governance, infrastructure, and clean data are the foundation, not afterthoughts.

2. AI's Biggest Barrier Is Culture, Not Code: From Expedia to Air Canada, leaders agreed the hardest part of scaling AI isn't the technology, it's the people. Change management and empowering employees to experiment are what separate the leaders from the laggards.

3. The Revenue Era Has Arrived: AI in travel has spent 18 months proving it can cut costs. Now it's proving it can grow revenue. Priceline, Hilton, and Expedia all shared live examples of AI tools driving higher conversion, engagement, and bookings.

4. 94% of Hotels Are Invisible to AI Search: A landmark Cornell Hotel School study revealed that 94% of hotels don't appear in AI search at all. As travelers increasingly start their journeys through AI platforms, visibility has become a commercial imperative.

5. Judgment and Taste Will Define the Winners: The companies that win the AI era won't be those with the best models or cleverest prompts. They'll be the ones that combine deep industry expertise with the courage to fundamentally change how they work.

A huge thank you to all attendees, speakers, sponsors, and the Skift team who contributed to making today's Summit so insightful 👏.

[Skift @skift]

What happens when AI agents start planning, booking, and managing travel on behalf of consumers? Our latest report explores how technology leaders across travel are rebuilding infrastructure, modernizing data systems, and preparing for a future defined by interoperability, real-time intelligence, and open ecosystems.

Huge thanks to the leaders who shared their perspectives: Royce Chwin (Destination Vancouver), Damien Pfirsch (Agoda), Nirmal Mukhi (ASAPP), Sam Liyanage (American Airlines), Mark Hollyhead (Aven Hospitality), Scott Strickland (Wyndham Hotels & Resorts), Garry Wiseman (Sabre), Abe Dev (Riyadh Air), John Bryant (Sojern), and Raman Bukkapatnam (Marriott Vacations Worldwide).

Get the free report here: https://t.co/Lfg5ZxWAr2

[Skift @skift]

82% of travel decisions are influenced by women.

The industry's response? More female-forward imagery, a wellness add-on and a campaign brief that says "women 35–54."

That's not strategy. That's lazy demographics with a marketing budget.
A new piece from Skift makes the case that treating women travelers as a single segment isn't just a marketing failure - it's a revenue leak the industry keeps choosing to ignore.

The women who understand this better than anyone and are doing it differently are the ones running commercial strategy, product and brand at the world's leading travel and hospitality companies.

And they're gathering next week at the Women Leading Travel Forum June 8–10, The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans

Last chance to join the room: https://t.co/12urwnghdV

[Skift @skift]

Francis Davidson built Sonder into one of the most ambitious but ultimately cautionary tales about hospitality startups. Now he’s back with another venture that couldn’t be more different from Sonder: There are no long-term apartment leases and hardly any physical footprint.

The company is called Odessia — meant to conjure a “Greek goddess of travel” — and it offers an AI-powered travel planning tool and booking agent.

“I’m so happy to be moving on to something like just a blank new slate,” Davidson said in a Skift interview Tuesday.

https://t.co/KQew9GFK66

[Skift @skift]

Neal Jones took over as Marriott International’s EMEA president in March, just as the Iran war broke out. One hundred days in, he is running a region pulling in opposite directions.

“It’s quite a unique situation that frankly is probably new to everybody,” Jones told Skift in his first media interview since taking the job. “We’re actually operating two very fundamentally different phases of business within the same operating region.”

https://t.co/g7Bok97si8

[Skift @skift]

Vietnam is riding one of the strongest tourism surges in Southeast Asia right now, and it just found a new partner to help keep it going.

On Monday, Vietnam and the Philippines signed a Tourism Cooperation Program for 2026–2029 in Manila, during Vietnamese President Tô Lâm’s state visit. Both governments are committing to joint marketing campaigns, bundled travel packages, and more flights connecting Manila and Cebu with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

https://t.co/OyTeYJ76VZ

[Skift @skift]

Allegiant Air wants to grow its credit card and loyalty program as a way to increase non-ticket revenue, CEO Greg Anderson told Skift.

“I think the biggest opportunity for us right now is on the co-brand remuneration side of the house — 5% of our revenue is from co-branded credit cards,” he told Skift at the CAPA Americas conference in Charleston last week.

“Compare that to other players in the industry, the legacy carriers, they’re closer to 15%. I think Alaska, Southwest are above that 15%. We see a big opportunity for us to increase that percentage for Allegiant.”

https://t.co/EE239zcHqw

[Skift @skift]

For decades, travel companies have optimized forms, filters, and dropdowns. Sierra’s Pol Peiffer argues the next interface is conversation - and the AI agent is becoming the new front door.

In this Skift Data + AI Summit speaker Q&A, Peiffer explains why the biggest AI opportunity is revenue growth, not cost savings, and why companies built around structured search may be competing against an interface travelers no longer want to use.

Read the full conversation: https://t.co/AtXAVhpc9h

[Skift @skift]

Sargassum seaweed is washing ashore across the Caribbean in record quantities this summer. Data released Monday by the University of South Florida shows almost every region of the Caribbean and Gulf hit record-high levels in May — and volumes are likely to increase further in June, potentially making 2026 the worst year since monitoring began.

“Lots of sargassum seaweed washing onto the beaches here. More than usual,” a Mexican travel agency head told Skift. “I see prices are cut by up to 40% in some of the hotels for June, July and August. I have never seen such prices.

https://t.co/arHbRD2pPg

[Skift @skift]

AI is putting pressure on outdated systems, fragmented data, and disconnected commerce infrastructure. See how travel technology leaders are rebuilding around flexibility, interoperability, and real-time intelligence in our latest report. Sponsored by @ASAPP, Aven Hospitality, Sabre and @Sojern.

Get the free report here: https://t.co/4xgafhqYYu

What’s the biggest data or systems challenge holding your organization back from scaling AI?

[Skift @skift]

The biggest advantage in travel AI may not be having the best model. It may be having the most trusted product.

That’s the argument https://t.co/YSbHQc3PCc Interim CTO Vipul Hingne is bringing to the Skift Data + AI Summit tomorrow.

In this speaker Q&A, Hingne explains why AI capabilities are rapidly commoditizing, why the most valuable AI is often invisible to travelers, and why trust - not model sophistication - will determine which companies win as AI takes on more decisions, bookings, and payments.

Read the full conversation: https://t.co/lSVhHo4EWA

[Skift @skift]

Here’s a Skift Research stat the travel industry has been citing for years: 82% of travel decisions are influenced by women. And the industry’s response has been largely the same: more female-forward imagery, a few wellness add-ons, and a campaign brief that says “women 35-54.”

But that is not strategy. It is lazy demographics with a marketing budget.

https://t.co/lYDLIaiApe

[Skift @skift]

It's Official: For the second year in a row, the Skift Data + AI Summit is SOLD OUT.

Tomorrow in New York City, we'll welcome a full house of travel industry leaders, innovators, and decision-makers for a day of bold ideas, sharp insights, and conversations about what's next for data and AI in travel.

To everyone joining us in person: we're excited to see you.

Didn't get a ticket? You can still be part of the conversation. The Summit will be livestreamed, with free access exclusively for Skift subscribers:
https://t.co/wCrQW9EtMM

Thank you to our speakers, partners, and community for helping make this event a sellout once again.

[Skift @skift]

AI travel search agents can generate massive volumes of search queries, dramatically increasing costs for airlines and travel distributors and disrupting traditional look-to-book economics.

Airlines are especially vulnerable due to richer live data and new standards like NDC, leading to higher data loads and infrastructure strain, while hotels face similar but different challenges around inventory control and distribution.

The travel industry is responding with limits, smarter filtering, and dynamic pricing, but lacks transparency around actual search costs and who ultimately bears them.

https://t.co/smmlszpMgW

[Skift @skift]

“Tourism enablement is about creating the conditions for sustainable success.
But technology is the enabler, not the experience. AI makes it easier to find; the human experience brings travelers back." — Donovan White, Director of Tourism, Jamaica Tourist Board 🌴

Download the new Caribbean Destination Intelligence Report to learn more about attracting travelers in a new era of tourism, sponsored by @VisitJamaicaNow.

👀 https://t.co/8ZUwxLGolZ

[Skift @skift]

⚡ 72 hours. $100 off. One chance to save.

The Skift IDEA Awards Flash Sale starts today and ends June 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Enter now for $499 and showcase the innovation, creativity, and impact your team is bringing to the travel industry.

Use code IDEAS26FLASH: https://t.co/1tkr8yrvEv

🏆 Pay now at the lowest rate but have until July 1 to submit your entry.

[Skift @skift]

If you're walking into Skift Data + AI Summit tomorrow morning - read this first.

Rafat Ali laid out the five tensions that thread through every session on the agenda. The data behind each one. The specific question to put to each speaker. You'll get more out of the day if you walk in knowing which tension is yours.

Pre-read here: https://t.co/s6QTOHnjpI
See you at 8:30.

[Skift @skift]

Hilton launched its 28th hotel brand on Monday, designed for smaller college towns that its Graduate chain doesn’t reach. It’s a wager that demand in college towns can support a lifestyle hotel if it has a lower development cost.

The brand, Undergraduate by Hilton, has fewer amenities and is cheaper to run than the Graduate brand Hilton bought in 2024 for $210 million. Skift was the first to report in January that Undergraduate was in the works.

Here's what to expect:

https://t.co/LicLd6DmiE

[Skift @skift]

Expedia Group appointed ex-Pinterest executive Bill Watkins as general manager of global advertising and is positioning the product as targeting travelers who’ve already made bookings — versus those just thinking about it.

That differentiated approach is a contrast to the advertising programs of Google, Meta and others, which target travel intent.

In other words, since Google and Meta don’t handle travel bookings, they are offering reach to an audience of consumers who may or may not buy travel soon.

https://t.co/QCxZQFBNWd