Skift Daily Briefing
Everything you need to know about the business of travel today. Each episode covers new travel stories from Skift's editorial team. Listen to the latest developments at hotels, airlines, destinations, online booking sites, and more. Published Tuesday through Friday by 5am ET. For ongoing coverage, please visit Skift.com/news.
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Sonder's Founder Just Came Back...With an AI Travel Startup
<p>The Iran war has dramatically reshuffled global tourism demand, the founder of collapsed startup Sonder is already back with a lean AI-powered travel agent, and Priceline just gave its AI assistant the biggest overhaul in two years.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the Middle East's tourism collapse isn't killing global demand so much as redirecting it, how Francis Davidson is betting that asset-light AI software is the antidote to everything that killed Sonder, and why Priceline's Penny upgrade is a preview of where the entire travel industry is heading.</p> <p><br><...
One Guy Used AI to Pull 881,000 Fares and Broke the Travel Industry's Brain
<p>A single AI-powered flight search just exposed a massive economic blind spot for the entire travel industry, new research reveals that treating women as one travel segment is quietly costing brands serious revenue, and Expedia's new chief AI officer just laid out the company's boldest bet yet.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why AI-powered travel search is breaking a system built on the assumption that humans eventually give up, how brands still running generic women's campaigns are leaving their highest-value customers completely unreached, and why Expedia's answer to AI disruption is to become...
Two Billionaires Just Quietly Took Over Las Vegas
<p>Two blockbuster deals in one week put Barry Diller and Tilman Fertitta on track to control a massive chunk of Las Vegas hospitality, Southwest Airlines confirms it's going international and eyeing lounges, and Hilton just launched a brand new hotel concept targeting a market most chains have ignored.</p> <p><br></p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the MGM and Caesars deals signal a new era of ownership concentration on the Strip, how Southwest's latest reinvention is starting to look a lot like the airlines it swore it would never become, and whether...
United's CEO Just Buried JetBlue in Public — and He's Not Done
<p>United's CEO slams merger speculation and delivers a brutal public assessment of JetBlue's finances, the U.S. government spent eight years producing a one-page PDF about passenger rights, and Expedia just bet big on one of YouTube's biggest streamers to win over Gen Z.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Scott Kirby is done buying growth and betting that weaker airlines will simply hand United market share for free, why America's new passenger rights rule is a masterclass in doing the bare minimum while Europe has been paying travelers cash for delays since 2004...
Hotels Spent 10 Years Fighting OTAs — Then AI Showed Up and Changed Everything
<p>Hotels and OTAs have been battling over direct bookings for a decade — here's who's actually winning, Marriott just struck a deal that signals hotels are serious about selling more than just rooms, and two major hotel tech companies are joining forces to fix the data problem standing in the way of AI.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why hotels won the economics of the OTA war but may be about to lose their front doors to AI entirely, how Marriott's ResortPass deal reflects a growing push to turn empty pool chairs and spa sl...
Ryanair Just Made Every Other Airline Look Bad
<p>The U.S. scales back a social media vetting proposal that was scaring off international visitors, Dubai's $400 million in hotel relief is welcome but isn't solving the real problem, and Ryanair just paid off every last dollar of its debt at exactly the right moment.</p> <p><br></p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the U.S. walking back its ESTA social media requirements helps but may not undo the damage already done to America's image as a welcoming destination, why Dubai's hotel operators say fee exemptions don't fix a crisis caused by...
Gulf Travelers Are Searching but Not Booking, and Brand USA Wants Canadians Back
<p>Gulf travelers are flooding search engines but holding off on bookings as the Iran war reshapes travel demand, Brand USA launches a charm offensive to win back Canadian visitors, and Expedia reveals the next big piece of its AI roadmap for B2B partners.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why the Gulf's search-to-booking gap signals a demand delay rather than a demand collapse, how Brand USA is rebuilding its Canadian strategy from scratch on a dramatically reduced budget, and why Expedia's new MCP server is the unglamorous infrastructure play that could quietly reshape...
Expedia Is Rethinking AI, and Google Is Coming for Hotel Bookings
<p>Expedia makes its second acquisition of 2026 and does a reset on its AI strategy, Google officially names hotel booking as the next frontier for agentic shopping, and private equity has discovered the events industry — and the people inside it aren't sure how to feel about it.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why Expedia's CarTrawler deal and AI pivot reveal a company quietly becoming a B2B infrastructure powerhouse, why Google's latest announcements could disrupt the entire hotel discovery and booking funnel overnight, and what a room full of events industry CEOs is making of...
NYC Hotel Workers Land a Historic Deal, and It's Going to Cost You
<p>New York City hotel workers secure a landmark eight-year labor deal, Ryanair's CEO ties his fuel outlook directly to Trump's midterm ambitions, and Cathay Pacific removes the most photographed amenity in airport lounges — and the reason why says a lot about where luxury travel is heading.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why NYC's groundbreaking housekeeper pay deal is about to become the new benchmark for hotel labor negotiations nationwide, how Ryanair's Michael O'Leary is betting Trump will resolve the Iran conflict before elevated fuel prices cost him the midterms, and why Cathay Pacific's de...
Americans Are Desperate to Travel, but Not Everyone Can Afford To
<p>Americans are hungry for summer travel despite rising costs, Brand USA launches a fact-checking platform to win back international visitors, and new Skift Research says most travel brands don't just have one Gen Z problem... they have two.</p> <p>On today's Skift Daily Briefing, Sarah Dandashy breaks down why this summer's travel demand is strong but deeply uneven across income levels, how Brand USA's new "Get Facts. Get Going." platform is tackling misinformation keeping international travelers away from the U.S., and why the travel brands focused only on reaching Gen Z are missing the harder and more...
