We are officially one day away from our inaugural European conference and we couldn't be more excited! Near or far, follow along with the conversation by using #SkiftForum on Twitter and check out skift.com/sfe17 for live coverage of the event.
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Many Skift staff are in London this week for tomorrow's Skift Forum Europe, but that doesn't mean we're not busy with our usual day jobs. This morning we examine Marriott's Snapchat series (an industry first) as well as why the Brexit hasn't hurt UK tourism (at least not yet). We also take a closer look Changi Airport's attempts to get people transiting through its excellent terminals to return to visit Singapore itself. — Jason Clampet, Editor-in-Chief
Travel in and out of Europe is the big hope for the future of the world, and we'll be discussing all aspects of it and beyond at our first Skift Forum Europe. See you all soon!
But is the Snapchat audience willing to devote more than 3 seconds to watch it? This is something any travel brand attempting to experiment on this platform should ask themselves.
So far there has been a limited impact from last June's Brexit vote but that doesn't mean there won't be an economic price to pay, especially in the long term.
It's hard to consistently make money in the airline industry. But Indigo Partners, led by former America West Airlines CEO Bill Franke, has an excellent track record. Once again, he is poised to make a big profit after buying an airline cheaply and taking it public.
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (and many consumers, too) has no love lost for Expedia, other online travel agencies and their affiliates, and will likely welcome the squabbling and any additional exposure the affiliate issue gets from this lawsuit. Expedia has to move fast to protect its reputation among partners.
Design was just one ingredient, albeit an essential one, for creating a boutique hotel both then and now.
Large hub airports like Singapore's Changi have tens of millions of connecting travelers each year. While it makes passengers happy, it hasn't been able to turn them into tourists.
Hundredrooms plans to challenge Tripping.com and AllTheRooms in vacation rental metasearch. Meanwhile, OneTwoTrip gets more funding, while Coras and Ithaca debut.
Skift Forum Europe
The event begins tomorrow. Here are just three of the industry leaders you'll be hearing from.
Companies often chase and vie to sign on influencers for marketing purposes, but all can agree that Google is one of the most powerful forces in travel. Despite Facebook's inroads, Google travel products are ascending and Heckmann will shed light on their trajectory.
Hafner once called metasearch a lousy business with slim margins. What's clear is some of the same dynamics making life difficult for TripAdvisor, including Google Hotel Ads and Trivago's substantial marketing spend, are also proving challenging for Kayak.
As technology continues to evolve, hotels need to find more creative and effective ways to use it to improve the guest experience, without sacrificing the humanity of genuine hospitality.
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