25 Jul
Travel

AccorHotels Sets Up $1 Billion Fund With Qatar Partner to Focus on Africa

The view from the Fairmont Mount Kenya, which is currently part of AccorHotels’ portfolio in Africa. AccorHotels, along with Qatar’s Katara Hospitality, are investing $1 billion in hotels throughout sub-Saharan Africa over the next five to seven years.

Skift Take: So much for being asset light. However, this strategy does align with previous comments AccorHotels’ CEO has made about wanting to lead in emerging markets, Africa included.

— Deanna Ting

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25 Jul
Travel

U.S. Airlines Cave In to Chinese Demands About Taiwan

LiPo Ching

Passengers enjoy the lounge at the Taipei Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, on September 11, 2012. Several U.S. airlines have decided under pressure to refer to Taiwan as part of China. LiPo Ching

Skift Take: U.S. airlines are choosing their pocketbooks over their principles as they bow to Chinese pressure to designate Taiwan as part of China. U.S.-based tech companies have gone along with Chinese censorship in the past so it’s not a big surprise that airlines caved in. It is, however, regrettable.

— Dennis Schaal

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25 Jul
Travel

Can JetBlue Cut Costs and Maintain Margins While Fuel Prices Keep Rising?

Kevin Boydston

JetBlue’s Embraer E190s, including the one pictured above, will be gone from the fleet by 2025. JetBlue is taking an impairment charge of more than $300 million as a result. Kevin Boydston

Skift Take: JetBlue is doing its best to ensure its cost-cutting approach won’t affect passengers. But on the periphery, the airline’s customers might notice some differences as JetBlue tries to remove $300 million in non-fuel cost by 2020.

— Brian Sumers

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25 Jul
Travel

Uganda to Borrow From Overseas to Revive National Airline

Uganda will borrow from Canadian and European credit agencies to fund jet acquisitions from Bombardier Inc. and Airbus SE to revive its national airline that’s been defunct for more than two decades.

Skift Take: Maintaining a national carrier has already proven too difficult in some parts of Africa. Hopefully Ugandan Airlines can learn from the success of competitors like Ethiopian Airlines.

— Sarah Enelow-Snyder

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25 Jul
Travel

American Airlines Legend Bob Crandall on How Mergers Led to Increased Inequality

Brandon Wade

Bob Crandall at the Robert W. Baker Integrated Operations Center IOC in Fort Worth, Texas on October 25, 2017. Crandall is a longtime critic of airline consolidation. Brandon Wade

Skift Take: Bob Crandall called it in the late 1970s, saying airline deregulation would be the ruination of U.S. aviation. You can credit the retired American Airlines chairman and CEO with consistency as he argues that airline mergers — and mergers in general — have contributed to capital accumulation at the expense of workers, and the demise of small cities.

— Dennis Schaal

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25 Jul
Travel

Investors Question Whether Ryanair Has Lost the Magic

Ryanair’s quarterly profit is off, year-over-year, which might be making investors uneasy. Pictured is the airline’s Dublin headquarters.

Skift Take: Ryanair’s profit is down, but let’s not get carried away. The airline reported roughly $400 million U.S. in pre-tax profit for the most recent quarter, despite several challenges, including labor unrest and rising fuel prices. Europe’s leading discounter will be just fine.

— Brian Sumers

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25 Jul
Travel

State Tourism Budget Growth Slows Ahead of Governors’ Races in Midterms

David Fulmer

Oregon saw the largest increase in its state tourism marketing this year. Pictured are tourists at Ecola Point Overlook in Oregon’s Ecola State Park. David Fulmer

Skift Take: The future of tourism marketing in the United States will be on the ballot in more than three dozen states in one way or another this November. While most voters probably won’t realize that, tourism is one of the most important economic drivers they’ll be voting for.

— Dan Peltier

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25 Jul
Travel

The Philippines Aspires to Shift Visitors From Beaches to Culinary Tourism

Some of the cuisine of the Philippines. Tourism officials want visitors to focus on the destination’s food.

Skift Take: The Philippines’ new tourism chief is hoping that millennials will be inspired by social media sites like WeChat and Instagram to visit its culinary destinations as the government considers imposing quotas on beachgoers. Tourism officials worldwide will be watching to see how it turns out.

— Sean O’Neill

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25 Jul
Travel

Air Pollution Could Be Keeping Visitors Away From Some U.S. National Parks

Ross D. Franklin

A new study concludes visitors may be steering clear of some U.S. national parks or cutting their visits short because of pollution. Pictured is a Sept. 4, 2011 file photo of the main plant facility at the Navajo Generating Station northeast of Grand Canyon National Park as seen from Lake Powell in Page, Ariz. Ross D. Franklin

Skift Take: U.S. national parks are supposed to showcase America’s natural wonders, so it’s no surprise that visitors would stay away on days when the air might be full of pollution. Given the current administration’s eagerness to roll back environmental regulations, we don’t see this problem being fixed anytime soon.

— Dan Peltier

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25 Jul
Travel

Tourism Boards Fund Event Security and 6 Other Tourism Trends This Week

dconvertini

Nashville is shown in this photo from September 2016. The Nashville tourism board became the latest organization to offer grants to its city police department to ensure the safety of tourists. dconvertini

Skift Take: This week in tourism, event security gets financial support from local tourism boards, and we question whether some luxury experiences are guilty of cultural appropriation.

— Sarah Enelow-Snyder

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