After Sonder’s Collapse, Francis Davidson Returns With an AI Travel Agent
Another AI travel agent might not be news. One built by the founder of Sonder, with something to prove, is.
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Why AI Still Isn’t Ready to Book Your Vacation
stay competitive in an AI-accelerated marketplace.
June 3 in New York City.
Iran Impact News
Iran War Drives Middle East Tourism Slump — and a Global Demand Shift
Demand didn’t disappear. It just left the Gulf — and it’s not clear when it’s coming back.
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Airline News
About All that Airline M&A — CEOs Say There’s Nothing to Buy
After a frenzy of speculation about airline M&A, talks have dried up. The industry is too consolidated for the big carriers to merge, and the smaller ones don’t have viable partners.
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Jet Stream
Stay ahead of the fast-moving world of global airlines.
Curated By Meghna Maharishi
Skift Podcast Network
Listen to daily and weekly podcasts from Skift’s editors and experts.
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Travel’s Sustainability Fairytale Won’t Get Its Happy Ending
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Q&A: Africa Emerges as the Next Frontier of Luxury Travel
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Q&A: Accommodation Curation Will Change the Loyalty Landscape
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Q&A: Asia’s Luxury Resurgence Realigns the Global Travel Order
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The Luxury Bubble Will Just Get Bigger
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Teetotalling Travelers Are Just Saying No to Booze
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Travel Marketers Try to Woo Large Language Models
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Asia’s Must-Have Travel Flex Is Great Skin
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Cracks Emerge in the Online Travel Agency Oligopoly
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Vibe Coding Will Unleash a Tsunami of Travel Startups
Discover More Stories
Aviation’s New Third Rail: AI Pricing
Airline pricing has always been a blackbox. The systems are deeply complex, and AI may make them more so. The fear is “surveillance pricing” and you’re going to be hearing a lot more about it.
Project Sunrise: The Business of Breaking Aviation’s Final Frontier
By pushing nonstop flying to the edge of what’s technically possible, Qantas wants to change how Australia connects with world – but does the business case hold altitude?
The Travel Climate 10
In an industry racing against climate deadlines, the fastest path to impact is turning every breakthrough into a blueprint.
The New Science of Hotel Pricing
Hotel pricing by gut instinct and Excel spreadsheets is out. Operators are finally getting serious about revenue management.
The B2B Battleground: Expedia, Booking and Hopper Are Redefining Online Travel’s Quiet Money Machine
If online travel agencies want to go to where people are booking travel, they are going to have to make the B2B game an integral part of their businesses. Otherwise, they’ll be handing those potential customers to competitors.
State of Talent in Travel 2025
We don’t believe that talent is a topic that should be confined to meetings with HR or recruiters. We believe that talent is a board-level conversation and deserves to be treated as such. Hiring, training, and retaining top talent should be a core focus of every travel leader, everywhere.
Skift Power Rankings: Who’s Making the Biggest Bets in Travel
Non-core expansion. Rewired distribution. Live public-policy experiments. This year’s Power Rankings spotlight the leaders taking the biggest risks in travel, staking cash, reputation, and time on moves they can’t easily unwind. The next 12 months will reveal who placed smart bets — and who just rolled the dice.
Generation Next: The Risk Takers
Women aren’t afraid of risk – but they do face unique challenges. These leaders have blown past them and are reshaping the travel industry in the process.
State of Travel 2025
The future of travel is unfolding now; you just need the right data and insights to see it. The State of Travel report is your essential guide to understanding the trends shaping our industry and staying ahead of the modern traveler as a company, association, or destination.
Hotel News
Marriott’s EMEA Chief 100 Days In: A Region Running in Two Gears
The Iran war has turned Marriott’s EMEA region into two businesses at once. Jones’s bet is that Europe and Africa can carry the 20% of fee business the Middle East has lost — at least until a ceasefire changes the math.
Latest Hotel News
Newsletter
Every Thursday
Early Check-In
Keep up with the latest hotel and hospitality news.
Curated By Sean O’Neill
Skift + McKinsey & Company
Agentic AI could upend the travel industry. Understand the implications and potential for travel and hospitality organizations with the report Remapping Travel With Agentic AI.
Online Travel News
After Sonder’s Collapse, Francis Davidson Returns With an AI Travel Agent
Another AI travel agent might not be news. One built by the founder of Sonder, with something to prove, is.
Latest Online Travel News
The best-networked travel industry executive search firm.
Skift Exec Search finds future leaders today.
Insights
New Report: Competing for Relevance in the AI Era
Travel marketing is entering a new phase as AI and shifting discovery habits reshape how brands connect with travelers. Based on insights from 10 industry leaders, this report explores how marketing is becoming more dynamic, more connected, and more dependent on relevance, trust, and real-time value.
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How Payment Systems Are Changing in Travel and Hospitality
Payment systems increasingly surface at moments that affect both the guest experience and internal operations. This report examines how industry leaders describe the current state of payments, where they see constraints, and which capabilities they believe will matter most over the next several years.
Sponsored 
Why Airlines Are Embracing Digital Transformation
The race to modernize aviation is underway. Legacy systems, static loyalty models, and siloed operations are giving way to connected, digital systems built for scale. The carriers that move early and build smart will set the pace for the next decade of air travel.
Sponsored 
From shifting consumer tastes to the impact of AI, global travel is undergoing unprecedented change.
Skift Advisory helps make sense of it all.
Travel and Climate News
Record Seaweed Levels Are Hitting Caribbean Beaches — Hotels Are Cutting Prices
Sargassum has gone from a nuisance to a structural threat for Caribbean tourism, and 2026 is shaping up to be the worst year on record.
Latest Climate and Travel News
Newsletter
Every Month
GreenShift
A deep dive into the intersection of climate change and travel.
Curated By Darin Graham
Travel Loyalty
Artificial Intelligence
Experiences
Skift Travel Health Index
February 2026 Highlights
After a promising start to the year, the travel industry saw growth level off in February 2026. An index of 100 this month, indicates a stable market that matches performance levels seen in 2025, yet, this plateau also signals a cautionary phase for travel.
Skift Event Highlights
What 1,000+ Travel Executives Really Think About Conferences
We surveyed over 1,000 people across the travel industry. Founders, heads of commercial, product leads, the people who either approve event budgets or end up defending them later.
From Vibe Coding to Exclusive LLM Deals: AI Takeaways From Agoda’s CEO
Travel industry employees, whether they work for Agoda or somewhere else, need to adapt to AI workflows. If they don’t they’ll be obsolete and looking for new jobs.
Skift Megatrends Debate: How Fast Will AI Disrupt Travel?
A VC and Skift research analyst agreed AI will transform travel distribution. They disagreed on timing — and on whether consumers will trust a machine with their most consequential purchases.
World Cup Could Help Reverse U.S. Tourism Slide
Mega sporting events are a big pull for travelers, and could help the U.S. overcome other forces keeping tourists away.
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Focused on connecting companies with Skift’s unique ecosystem of travel industry influencers and decision makers, our in-house marketing studio creates engaging, insightful content and experiences for brands.
Deep Dives
Winners, Losers, and Lots of Premium Seats: Europe’s Airline Scorecard
Premium cabins still drive profits, but it’s the low-cost threat that keeps Europe’s legacy carriers up at night.
‘It’s Like Being in an Oven:’ How Extreme Heat Is Changing Travel
Climate disruption isn’t just a future threat – it’s already changing the way we travel. Businesses have no choice but to adapt.
Every One of Marriott’s Hotel Brands, Explained
We break down each of Marriott’s more than 30 hotel brands, highlighting key differentiators and market positioning.
Extreme Loyalty: The Airlines Turning Travel Into a Competitive Sport
In a drive for loyalty and attention, high-stakes travel challenges are growing in popularity. These airline campaigns generate buzz, but they also raise thorny questions around ethics, sustainability, and long-term brand impact.
The Silent Years of the U.S. Travel Industry Are Upon Us
At Skift, our job is to pay attention, to connect the dots, even when others can’t or won’t. We’ll keep reporting. We’ll keep listening. Because the story of the travel industry — especially now — isn’t going to tell itself.
Travel Leaders (Anonymously) Speak Out on Trump’s Turbulent First 100 Days
“So very painful” sums up how many travel leaders are feeling on the first major milestone of the second Trump administration.
Flying Cars and Supersonic Jets: Silicon Valley’s New Arms Race
Amid heightened concerns about U.S. aviation infrastructure, several startups are bullish that they will significantly disrupt the travel experience in the next few years.
Religious Tourism: The Indian Travel Industry’s Next Big Bet
The money from the pockets of Indian devotees is overflowing from the donation boxes in temples and spilling onto the travel industry. Hotels, airlines, and travel agencies are all placing their faith in the business of religion.