Skift Daily Briefing

Two airlines created the World Cup's best marketing moment without paying FIFA a cent, Delta launches a stripped-down business class fare that turns premium travel into a spectrum, and there's one obscure hotel metric about to tell us whether the industry's recovery is built to last. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down how Norwegian Air and British Airways generated massive...

EasyJet's potential $7 billion takeover is putting Europe's remaining independent airlines on notice, Air Canada names a new multilingual CEO after a very public language controversy, and a sharp look at why the West ended up with two half-apps instead of one super app. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down which European airlines are most likely to be next in the consolidati...

The World Cup's tourism boost is spreading far beyond host cities into markets nobody expected, AI chatbots are bypassing travel brand apps even when fully integrated, and Hilton opens a direct line to corporate travel platform Navan to cut out the middlemen. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the World Cup's ripple effect is reaching markets 60+ miles from any stadium...

Airbnb nearly doubled Marriott's World Cup marketing reach at a fraction of the cost, airlines are buying concert venue naming rights and turning them into loyalty real estate, and extended-stay hotels are having their best demand run in four years with supply thinning fast. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Airbnb's focused World Cup bet is a masterclass in what targ...

The Trump administration moves to repeal Obama-era airfare transparency rules, OTAs shift their focus from winning traveler trust to winning the trust of AI agents, and American Airlines takes a direct swing at United in Chicago with a new Tokyo route. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why rolling back airfare transparency rules is part of a broader pattern of shrinking c...

The U.S. proposes lifting a 53-year ban on supersonic flight over land, Visa launches a consumer travel platform that puts it in direct competition with the banks that pay it, and a look at the rare airline CEOs who simply never leave. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down what the FAA's proposed rule change actually means for the future of supersonic travel and how soon it c...

A wave of hotel owners are walking away from major brand flags as expiring franchise agreements expose just how little they were getting for the price, Accor and H World link loyalty programs to open up 430 million members to each other, and Best Western's parent company has a plan to finally stop shrinking. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why hotel owners are increasin...

U.S. hotel demand is having one of its strongest stretches in years and the growth is finally spreading beyond luxury, airlines are cutting seats ahead of July 4 while fares stay high, and Apple just turned its Wallet into a full trip companion with Disney leading the way. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the broadening of hotel demand beyond luxury is the most encou...

A deadly heat wave is shutting down Europe's most iconic attractions just as summer travel peaks, the airline industry backs a ban on surveillance pricing while insisting no one actually does it, and experience specialists are leaving the big OTAs in the dust after 30 years of promises. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, ⁠Sarah Dandashy⁠ breaks down why this summer's European heat wave is a preview...

Amadeus thinks it has a fix for the AI search problem quietly breaking airline economics, Marriott makes its first move into branded apartment rentals, and U.S. News just ranked America's best meeting cities and somehow put Miami dead last. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why airlines risk losing the distribution battle all over again if they don't solve their AI visibi...

Airline executives make clear that lower fuel costs won't mean cheaper tickets, Carnival posts record revenue but still trims its outlook as the Middle East war lingers, and a decade-long look at Airbnb's attempts to become a travel superapp reveals just how many times it's started and stopped. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why structural shifts in the airline industr...

One week of World Cup hotel data reveals a more complicated picture than anyone expected, Hilton signals it's building new brands again with a mysterious "Tortoise" trademark in the mix, and Hyatt's lifestyle chief is quietly cleaning house one property at a time. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why World Cup hotels are making money on rate but missing on occupancy as t...

The UK and Australia lift Gulf travel warnings as the Iran war winds down but European carriers remain grounded pending safety clearance, JetBlue doubles down on Fort Lauderdale while retreating from its New York roots, and Airbnb makes its first fintech move with a Hopper-style cancellation product. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Gulf recovery is real but slow and...

Europe hands airlines a major defeat on passenger rights after 13 years of lobbying, July Fourth travel hits a slim record carried almost entirely by cruises, and new research reveals AI is sending more travelers to travel sites but can't actually read most airline fares. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the EU's decision to keep its passenger compensation rules inta...

Marriott hotel owners demand a bigger cut of a loyalty program generating $1 billion in credit card fees, American Express drops $700 million on a European restaurant platform to quietly become one of travel's most powerful players, and Equinox Hotels is finally expanding by betting everything on sleep. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Marriott's loyalty goldmine is...

Overseas visits to the U.S. drop sharply in May as Western Europe stays home, World Cup host cities spend millions on welcome campaigns to fight a perception problem, and a ten-year look at hotels vs. OTAs reveals who actually won. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why inbound tourism is still sliding even as the World Cup kicks off, how host cities are betting big-budget...

Airline CEOs are stunned that demand hasn't buckled under a 20% fare spike, World Cup hotels are still waiting on a booking surge that may depend entirely on which teams advance, and Canadian travel to the U.S. is creeping back but still far below where it was. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why travel demand is proving more resilient than even airline executives expec...

Aviation's net zero target may be getting pushed back as sustainable fuel supply falls dramatically short, Cathay Pacific says summer demand is holding strong while the Gulf stays grounded, and luxury hotel guests are paying higher rates without blinking. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why aviation's 2050 climate pledge is losing credibility without real government fol...

The U.S. launches a $750 fast-track visa program that creates a two-tiered system for international travelers, Apple's rebuilt Siri could quietly reshape where the travel journey begins, and the most influential person in travel is someone most people have never heard of. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the new expedited visa fee is the latest signal that the U.S. i...

Airline Profits Just Got Cut in Half — and United Still Wants to Buy American The global airline industry takes a brutal hit as profits are slashed nearly in half, global travel growth turns negative for the first time this year, and United's CEO is still publicly chasing a merger American keeps refusing. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the Iran war has upended what...

World Cup travel demand is falling short of expectations as international visitors stay home, Delta quietly made its credit card a better deal while every other airline raises fees, and a top hotel tech founder says the industry is using AI to solve the wrong problem. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the international tourist windfall host cities were promised isn't...

The Iran war has dramatically reshuffled global tourism demand, the founder of collapsed startup Sonder is already back with a lean AI-powered travel agent, and Priceline just gave its AI assistant the biggest overhaul in two years. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the Middle East's tourism collapse isn't killing global demand so much as redirecting it, how Francis D...

A single AI-powered flight search just exposed a massive economic blind spot for the entire travel industry, new research reveals that treating women as one travel segment is quietly costing brands serious revenue, and Expedia's new chief AI officer just laid out the company's boldest bet yet. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why AI-powered travel search is breaking a sy...

Two blockbuster deals in one week put Barry Diller and Tilman Fertitta on track to control a massive chunk of Las Vegas hospitality, Southwest Airlines confirms it's going international and eyeing lounges, and Hilton just launched a brand new hotel concept targeting a market most chains have ignored. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the MGM and Caesars deals signal a...

United's CEO slams merger speculation and delivers a brutal public assessment of JetBlue's finances, the U.S. government spent eight years producing a one-page PDF about passenger rights, and Expedia just bet big on one of YouTube's biggest streamers to win over Gen Z. On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Scott Kirby is done buying growth and betting that weaker airlines...