Tour Operator Tech Revolution and Other Top Stories This Week

The Tech Revolution Poised to Power Tour Operators: The technological advances tour operators are making now are long overdue. Propelling this sector of the travel industry into the future is certainly timely, considering operators needed to find ways to speed up bookings coming out a crisis that left their in-person businesses decimated.

Reopened Asian Destinations Dangle New Incentives to Win Back Tourists: Destinations are looking to fill the China void by luring international tourists with incentives. And while we’d have to wait to see how effective these schemes turn out to be, travelers surely should make the most of it.

JetBlue Warns of Possible Air Traffic Control Flight Disruptions This Winter: JetBlue may have its own operational house in order this holiday season, but the carrier is out there first saying it could be U.S. air traffic control issues that send things awry.

Selina Finally Takes Its Millennial Hotel Brand Public in a Stunning Debut: Shaky financial markets didn’t deter Selina from debuting as a publicly traded company, taking advantage of a post-pandemic surge in youth travel. Critics pointed to its lack of profits. But fans praised the hotel brand’s relentless experimentation in a sector that’s often too cautious.

Accor Aims to Combat Inflation With Pricing Power: Europe’s biggest hotel group believes it will be able to overcome inflation through strong pricing power as guests are still showing they are willing travel at any cost. So far, so plausible, at least in the short term.

Room2 Chain Carves Out ‘Hometels’ With Quirky, Design-Led Spaces: The rise of Airbnb has revealed consumer preferences to be more flexible than previously assumed. Independent hotel company Room2 is responding in the UK by innovating in brand standards. It has signed $110 million in new net-zero hotels.

Hilton Optimistic Hotel Boom Will Roll On Into Next Year: Don’t underestimate people’s urge to travel after years of pandemic restrictions. Hilton sees strength in leisure, business, and group travel, yes, business and group, through the year-end and beyond.

Hotel Group Faith in Asset Light Model Opens Gap for Upstarts: Most large lodging companies avoid owning real estate. This groupthink is dumb. One of the smartest strategic thinkers in hospitality, Inès Blal, is right to call for a more critical appraisal of the asset-light model.

The Arctic Emerges as a Serious Destination for Post-Pandemic Times: As demand has increased, the Arctic has expanded its visitor infrastructure. It just needs to ensure that it has the personnel to preserve the experiential part of it.

If Southwest Had All the Pilots It Needed, Here’s How Business Would Change: Filling Southwest’s pilot shortage can’t come soon enough for CEO Bob Jordan, who sees the staffing challenges as the biggest barrier preventing the carrier from further taking advantage of massive travel demand.