Hopper appears to be going viral. In July, about 1.3 million U.S. consumers downloaded the mobile app for booking travel, giving the Montreal-based online travel agency a broader audience and a goldmine of user data. Hopper had the most popular travel booking app in the first half of 2021 as measured by U.S. downloads in […]
27/09/2021 22:00:56

Several hotel groups have tried to lower costs for roughly a decade by driving more consumers to book directly. During the pandemic recovery, hoteliers have by and large continued to avoid overusing aggregators such as Expedia and Booking.com for much of their online sales. “It’s personally been great to see the hotel industry overall not […]
27/09/2021 12:30:02

Canada is trying to use the lure of travel perks to convince America’s frequent flying elite to fly north on Air Canada, as the country steps up efforts to revive crucial traffic from the U.S., a Canadian official told Reuters. Covid-19 has battered travel from Canada’s largest tourism market. During the first half of 2021, […]
27/09/2021 08:50:57

Investment group Blackstone notched a massive windfall on a casino resort in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Blackstone inked a deal to sell its Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas resort for $5.65 billion, a roughly 3,000-room property the company bought in 2014 for $1.7 billion. The company has since spent $500 million in upgrading […]
27/09/2021 05:45:42

Covid protocols have been predicated on creating space and reducing contact between guests and staff. Luxury hospitality has used a fine-toothed comb to re-evaluate every element of the experience, optimizing for safety with staff behind glass, contactless screens, and other facets. The human-to-human element has most certainly been reduced. But as Covid continues and guests […]
27/09/2021 05:00:28

There’s plenty of deal making happening in the hotel industry, but the major brands aren’t generating the activity. Blackstone announced late last week plans to acquire Condor Hospitality Trust’s entire real estate portfolio for $305 million, or roughly $160,000 per room. The deal — which encompasses 15 limited-service hotels across brands like Residence Inn and […]
26/09/2021 23:30:52

Cuba is allowing a staggered opening from Friday of restaurants, shopping centres and beaches in provinces that have lowered coronavirus cases even as it battles some of the highest nationwide rates of infection per capita worldwide. The easing of lockdown restrictions coincides with preparations by the cash-strapped Caribbean island nation for its tourist high season, […]
26/09/2021 04:00:56

Throughout the week we are posting original stories night and day covering news and travel trends, including on the impact of coronavirus. Every weekend we will offer you a chance to read the most essential stories again in case you missed them earlier. U.S. to Ease Travel Restrictions for All Vaccinated Travelers Worldwide From November: […]
25/09/2021 07:00:40

Travel tech company RateGain, which is on track to go public on an Indian stock exchange most likely by year-end, said late this week it was buying Myhotelshop, a hotel marketing technology vendor based in Leipzig, Germany. The companies didn’t disclose the deal terms, but said they expected to have regulatory approval within about a […]
25/09/2021 05:00:14

Brian Chesky boldly predicted a new golden age of travel at Skift Global Forum this week. He thinks tourism will come back in an altered state because of the changes the pandemic generated, but returning bigger than ever. Workplace changes on the horizon mean traditional business travel reduces as more people will be untethered from […]
24/09/2021 09:45:09