Loyalty Goes Both Ways in a Pandemic When Airlines Exit Markets

Skift

After announcing its exit from long-haul flights due to the pandemic, Norwegian Air on Monday issued a pause to its frequent flyer loyalty reward program affecting millions of passengers worldwide. Skift

Skift Take: Many global airlines have reduced long-haul flights or exited markets altogether due to the pandemic, but more often than not their loyalty points have an expiration date. Now is a really good time for airlines to put customers first and adjust their valuable currency — or risk losing their loyalty.

— Ruthy Muñoz

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Hotels Hope Profits Are Cooking in the Ghost Kitchen Business

Graduate Hotels

The Graduate Berkeley (pictured) is the first to host a multi-branded ghost kitchen in a partnership between parent company Graduate Hotels and C3. Graduate Hotels

Skift Take: The pandemic has produced unlikely partnerships between the hotel and office sectors, but the longevity is up for debate. The ghost kitchen pairing between hotels and an outside food operator may actually stick for years to come, as it solves a pre-pandemic revenue loss problem.

— Cameron Sperance

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Collinson, Singapore Airlines, and Mandarin Oriental Consider Travel’s Safe, Long-Term Return in Asia-Pacific

Skift Take: The vaccine rollout is fueling optimism among Asia-Pacific’s travelers and the region’s travel industry. But until inoculations are widespread and the right systems for recognizing official health documents are in place globally, extra layers of protection — such as testing — remain key to traveler health and safety.

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The Asia City That Could Emerge Strongest From the Pandemic

www.mroosfotografie.nl  / Visual Hunt

Ho Chi Minh City: Asia’s next financial center in the making. www.mroosfotografie.nl / Visual Hunt

Skift Take: A new flare-up of Covid-19 cases in northern Vietnam does not change the fact the country has a lot going for it and that its commercial capital in the south, Ho Chi Minh City, is a rising star in Asia.

— Raini Hamdi

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Europe’s Complicated Path Out of the Pandemic: New Skift Research 🔒

Gerhard Bögner  / Pixabay

Gondolas on the waters around Venice Gerhard Bögner / Pixabay

Skift Take: We often talk about Europe as a single travel destination, but it exists of 44 sovereign countries with an immensely heterogeneous tourism offering. As a result, the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are also heterogeneous.

— Wouter Geerts

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