The Skift Travel Podcast
Get the latest from the most-trusted travel industry news source.
Skift sits down with creatives, executives, and entrepreneurs from across travel to discuss their insights and perspectives on the hows and whys of travelers’ habits, industry patterns, and the seismic changes happening across the industry.
Listen for exclusive conversations with travel leaders and Skift's own in-house editors and analysts. Presented by EF World Journeys.
Read the latest news every day at skift.com/news
151
Why You Can’t Miss the Skift Future of Lodging ...
Skift's Founder, Rafat Ali, and Director of Editorial Events, Brian Quinn, discuss the upcoming inaugural edition of the Skift Future of Lodging Summit.
13 min
152
The Hotel Innovations Guests Really Want With c...
CitizenM is renowned not only for its design-forward aesthetic and affordable luxury ethos, but also tools such as in-room MoodPad tablets that control the temperature and blinds and lights that serve as TV remote controls.
But digitization will never re...
24 min
153
Skift Daily Briefing: Wyndham’s New Budget Exte...
Every weekday morning, New York City time, we publish the Skift Daily Briefing. Today we're sharing the latest Briefing on our Skift Podcast channel
Today’s edition of Skift’s daily podcast discusses Wyndham Hotel’s new brand, Asia’s tourism rebound, an...
3 min
154
What Happened When the World Stopped Traveling
Earlier this week we published The Oral History of March 2020: The Month Global Travel Shut Down, a feature that looked at March 2020 from the perspective of two dozen travel leaders. These people shared their personal stories of pain, shock, and of resi...
30 min
155
What’s Changed for Hotels With Hilton CEO Chris...
Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta spoke with Skift CEO Rafat Ali at Skift Global Forum 2021. The two discussed what’s changed about the way people travel, work, and relax.
“You’re going to be living in a world of greater mobility,” Nassetta said. “We’re go...
33 min
156
Measuring Airbnb and Booking’s Profit Momentum
Earnings season is wrapping up, which means it's time to compare and contrast the performance of competing travel brands. Since Airbnb went public in 2020, it has given close watchers the opportunity to put up against other online booking giants, in part...
18 min
157
Travel’s Fallout from Russia-Ukraine War: Conne...
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine rages on with the potential to drag out, the ripple effects in the travel industry are unfolding fast as well. In my role as the dots-connector-in-chief for Skift, I run through the impact on the travel industry as we ...
12 min
158
The Connected Trip Travelers Need With Booking ...
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel spoke with Skift Executive Editor Dennis Schaal at Skift Global Forum 2021. The two discussed Booking's connected trip strategy.
"I believe [in] this connected trip," Fogel said. "I don’t think it’s just a bunch of words....
24 min
159
The New Demand for Travel With Air France-KLM C...
There is still a long way to go to get to recovery, but even in midst of the rise of the Omicron variant, some travel leaders were looking forward to better times. "There is this huge pent-up demand for leisure travel and destinations where there was big...
23 min
160
Viator Spinoff Pros and Cons
Earlier this week Tripadvisor revealed that the company was planning to spin off its tours and activity brand Viator. For this bonus episode of the Skift Podcast, senior research analyst Seth Borko and executive editor Dennis Schaal debate the merits of ...
19 min
161
Hotels as Lifestyle Brands With Accor CEO Sebas...
Accor’s CEO is steering the brand towards more luxury and lifestyle properties. Fortunately, hotel owners are more than obliging.
“I’ve been at the helm of this company for the past eight years, and I’ve been trying to wake up a sleeping giant, which Acc...
18 min
162
Focus on the Travel Consumer With Expedia CEO P...
“We’re moving away from a competitive house of brands,” Kern said when speaking at Skift Global Forum on Wednesday in New York City. He said he wanted “a simplifying universe of brands” that are “working toward a common goal.”
Expedia Group Vice Chairman...
24 min
163
Travel’s Fascinating Future With Trivago CEO Ax...
Trivago Managing Director and CEO Axel Hefer spoke with Skift Senior Travel Tech Editor Sean O’Neill at Skift Global Forum 2021. The two discussed the future of metasearch and its ability to inspire travelers.
"Travel is absolutely fascinating right now,...
15 min
164
Travel Uncertainty in 2022 With KAKAK CEO Steve...
Each year, our Megatrends event brings together industry leaders -- the people creating and defining the future of travel -- to hear Skift’s deep reporting and research around the global travel industry. Through the thousands and thousands of hours spent...
31 min
165
Search and Sustainable Travel With Google Trave...
Google will put an eco-badge of sorts next to a listing if sustainability-minded firms like GreenKey or EarthCheck have highlighted a hotel for its positive impact with environmental practices. Potential guests can even find out property-specific sustain...
21 min
166
Bringing Everything to You With Uber CEO Dara K...
Uber's CEO doesn't want to offer a super app for everything, but he believes his company is in the best position to bring consumers anything they need, from rides, to food, to medicine, and more.
“Anything you want to be delivered to your home with a fre...
28 min
167
Bonus Episode: Skift Daily Briefing for Jan. 6,...
Thanks for listening to the Skift Podcast. We have another podcast you can listen to every weekday morning. The Skift Daily Briefing podcast delivers the day's top headlines in under four minutes. Search for "Skift Daily Briefing" in your favorite podcas...
3 min
168
The Travel Industry’s 6 Under-Appreciated Story...
Skift CEO Rafat Ali explains the underappreciated storylines from the last year that will continue to define the travel industry in 2022.
The United States, Latin America, and Dubai will remain open by prioritizing keeping their economies open over every...
17 min
169
Another Year of Recovery and Optimism With Sout...
New Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan said that he sees 2022 as another “transition” year in the recovery. He is optimistic that business travelers will return — his predecessor has said this may take 5-10 years — but does not expect this to occur ove...
22 min
170
Online Travel Agency Factboook: The Top 11 Glob...
Skift Research’s Online Travel Agency Factbook is your one-stop shop to understand the global universe of online booking sites.
We collected data on and built individual profiles for the 11 largest publicly traded online travel agencies. We analyzed the ...
26 min
171
Privacy and Frictionless Travel With CLEAR CEO
Clear's previous experience vetting travelers and moving them quickly through airport security put it in an excellent position to take on the challenges of identity, health, and vaccination in the (hopefully) coming post-Covid panic world.
"Cyber and pri...
22 min
172
What Happens To Travel Now? With Skift CEO Rafa...
Cancellations and closures are on the rise as countries react to the Omicron variant. What does this mean for a recently optimistic travel industry?
This special episode of the Skift Podcast features Skift founder and CEO, Rafat Ali, looking ahead to ear...
17 min
173
Creating a Google-Crushing Superapp With Hopper...
Hopper has big plans ahead in its ongoing mission to continue being the best at lowering the cost of travel for consumers — it’s betting on the future of superapps for travel, which are already popular in Asia.
“There will be a Western global superapp fo...
21 min
174
A New Age of Mobility with Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky acknowledged that enough affordable housing is a major challenge but argued that the new flexible nature of work wrought by the pandemic will see people migrating to city corridors and other less-dense locales where residences can...
29 min
175
Virtual Meetings And Business Travel With Ameri...
Like many airline chiefs, Doug Parker is “bullish” on the future, particularly after a surge in demand for transatlantic flights after the travel ban lifted on Nov. 8. But American Airlines is poised to begin 2022 as a larger airline — despite labor woes...
27 min