Skift Daily Briefing

Vrbo More Than Doubled Some Hosts' Commissions and They're Not Happy

Alaska Airlines shifts its growth strategy away from a capacity-constrained Seattle toward Portland and San Diego, Vrbo faces host backlash after more than doubling commi

British Airways Is Ripping Out 52 Seats to Make Room for Premium

Airbnb quietly rebuilds its luxury homes program with in-person inspections and a tight bar, British Airways removes 52 seats from its biggest plane to turn nearly half o

Delta Is Building a Media Network and Your Flight Data Is the Product

Brand USA welcomes back a familiar face as it fights for congressional reauthorization, a vacation rental roll-up flips the private equity script by letting founders keep

Choice Hotels Just Bought an RV Club and Now Has to Prove It Matters

Choice Hotels Just Bought an RV Club and Now Has to Prove It Matters Choice Hotels acquires Harvest Hosts for $130 million in its first move outside of hotels, Airbnb la

Kayak's Founders Are Back and They Want to Reinvent the OTA

Booking Holdings launches Lola, an AI travel assistant from Kayak's founders that bets memberships can replace commissions, Alaska Airlines doubles down on premium cabins

Bangkok's Floods Hit Airports Right as Golden Week Begins

Bangkok floods snarl airports and threaten to redirect Golden Week travelers just as Chinese arrivals were tracking 78% ahead of last year, Expedia's latest layoffs zero

Airbnb's CEO Just Put a Date on His AI Agent

Brian Chesky commits to launching Airbnb's AI travel agent in 2027 and bets the chat interface is the wrong format for travel, Barry Diller walks away from an $18 billion

Airbnb and Vrbo Are Betting Big on Sponsored Listings. AI Agents Don't Care.

Vrbo and Airbnb go all in on paid placement just as AI booking agents signal they won't factor it in, IHG and Hyatt hand creators the keys and learn to let go of control,

Airbnb's Next Big Business Might Be Hotels

Airbnb's Next Big Business Might Be Hotels Airbnb makes a serious push into hotels with 3,900 properties live and CEO Brian Chesky calling it a potential ten-times oppor

Your Credit Card Knows Your Travel Habits. Banks Are Betting on It Differently.

Banks are splitting into two camps on travel — those who want to own your trip and those who use travel perks to own your financial life, Turo announces car delivery stra

Trip.com Just Took a $770 Million Hit and It's Changing the Rules for Hotels

China's antitrust crackdown costs Trip.com $770 million and forces a full overhaul of how hotels compete on its platform, American Airlines puts the industry on notice th

Dubai Hoteliers Just Wrote Off the Rest of 2026

Gulf hoteliers at Arabian Travel Market align on a 2027 recovery timeline as pricing stays stuck despite rebounding occupancy, Lindblad makes its biggest acquisition yet

AirBaltic Just Filed for Bankruptcy and Passengers Won't Even Notice

Latvia's AirBaltic files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as fuel costs and a failed IPO take their toll, Starlink is becoming a must-have for airlines but somebody i

Gulf Tourism Is Having a Lost Year

The Iran war has quietly devastated Gulf tourism with Dubai hotel rates down 50% and recovery not expected before late 2027, Meta launches an AI agent called Muse that ca

The EU Just Gave Cities a Roadmap to Crack Down on Airbnb

The EU Just Gave Cities a Roadmap to Crack Down on Airbnb The EU hands cities a legal framework to justify short-term rental restrictions, Navan buys AI-powered events p

Google Is Stripping Travel Search in Europe to Avoid More Fines

Google Is Stripping Travel Search in Europe to Avoid More Fines Google scales back hotel, flight, and restaurant search features across Europe to dodge further EU fines,

The Southwest You Grew Up With Is Gone

Southwest announces airport lounges and keeps reinventing itself into something almost unrecognizable, Uber cuts 3,300 jobs and pulls focus back to its core as travel amb

Travel's Biggest Names Just Walked Into the White House

Travel industry executives meet with President Trump to push for more inbound tourists, Uber cuts 3,300 jobs while doubling down on robotaxis and quietly sidelining its t

Airbnb Just Poached Booking.com's Hotel Boss

Airbnb names a former Booking.com hotel chief as its new chief business officer as its hotel push accelerates, AirDNA launches a dynamic pricing tool aimed at the 85% of

That Stunning Hotel You Found on TikTok Might Not Be Real

A bombshell estimate flips the script on who actually leads in B2B hotel bookings, Marriott presses its sales teams to close a $1.55 billion gap in group bookings for 202