10 Things We Learned at the Skift Global Forum

Skift Take

Executives speaking at this year’s Skift Global Forum offered no shortage of opinions about the current state and future of the travel industry, and here are some of the most noteworthy comments.

Lex Haris, Sean O’Neill, Meghna Maharishi, Rashaad Jorden, Dawit Habtemariam, Justin Dawes, Skift

20 CEOs. 35 sessions in all. The Skift Global Forum ran from September 17 – 19 with loads of insights into the future of travel. We heard from the biggest hotel operators, OTAs, tourism boards and other leaders of the industry. 

Here are the highlights. 

1. Brian Chesky wants Airbnb to be about more than travel: “Why would Airbnb just offer homes? Why couldn’t we offer significantly more things? And that’s the future of this company, Airbnb Brian Chesky said. “We’re going to take the Airbnb model, and we’re going to bring it to a lot of different categories.”

Chesky has had to backtrack on initiatives before – Airbnb’s implementation of AI and experiences, to name two. But for now, he’s pledging two to three initiatives a year, with a goal of turning them into billion-dollar businesses. 

2. Marriott has seen a slight pullback in spending by high-end guests

“Certainly in the U.S. and in many other markets around the world, you have this bifurcation of the consumer today. The lower-end consumer is feeling some real stress. But the high-income consumer continues to prioritize travel and experiences,” said Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano. 

“But even the high-end consumer, they’re absolutely traveling, they’re playing premium rates, they’re booking luxury hotels. But in Q2 we saw just a little bit of a pullback in ancillary spending on food and beverage and spa. It was still ahead year over year, but not as much as we would’ve anticipated.” 

All the major hotels have been rushing to serve high-income, premium guests – their spending has held up even as the low-end has slowed. 

3. Booking Holdings is all-in on growing its short-term rental business: “We are still tiny in the U.S.,” said Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel. “That is an incredible opportunity for this company.” 

Booking Holdings is now selling two-thirds of the room nights for short-term rentals as Airbnb, and the company says it has grown the business faster than Airbnb in 12 of the past 13 quarters. 

4. JetBlue is done with mergers for now: “I think the challenge with the current environment that we’re in — notwithstanding the recent approval of Alaska and Hawaiian — is it’s difficult to see how the merger can happen with this administration,” said JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty.

JetBlue has plenty else to focus on: JetBlue announced this week that it would open its first-ever lounges in a push to attract more premium travelers. And issues with Pratt & Whitney engines are forcing JetBlue to ground several of its aircraft this year.

5. Las Vegas is doubling down on mega events: “Our top sports goal is to have a marquee event in the first or second quarter of the year, in addition to the Formula 1 race every year,”  said Steve Hill, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.  “If you don’t do something like that every year, it’ll just become a bad comp from last year’s quarter.”

We heard about the power of mega events from several CEOs. MGM Resorts Bill Hornbuckle said half of guests are coming for an event like a football game or concert. United Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said Taylor Swift concerts have driven a 25% jump in demand for flights. 

6. MGM Resorts is working on a ‘Dubai Sphere’: “[In Dubai] there will be three properties sitting on a large podium and in the middle of it is a Sphere. Not as big as The Sphere in Las Vegas by any stretch, but equally compelling. It has 300 seats with a mini showroom and the visual things you’d obviously do inside a sphere,” MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle said.

Hornbuckle clarified that the Dubai Sphere is not a part of Sphere Entertainment, the company behind the Las Vegas Sphere. Right now, MGM is doing the venue itself but would be open to finding a partner later down the line.

7. There’s money to be made in health, wellness and living longer: “We expect to make a nine-figure bet in this space,” said Greg O’Hara, founder of private equity firm Certares with nearly $11 billion in assets. “This is a multi-billion opportunity for travel.”

O’Hara believes there is huge untapped potential in getting Americans to travel to Europe or the Middle East for lower prices on high-tech wellness services focused on living longer.

8. Boeing strikes haven’t impacted United — yet: “We have plenty of aircraft available for flight schedules as planned for the time being, and hopefully Boeing and its people can resolve their issues as quickly as possible,” said United Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella. 

The industry has been counting on the delivery of Boeing planes, which have been hampered by certification delays, increased federal scrutiny on the plane maker and now a machinist strike. Low-cost Irish carrier Ryanair expects to receive fewer Boeing planes next summer due to the ongoing strike.  

9. Dubai is trying to broaden its traveler base: “People used to say Dubai was beautiful but lacked a soul … Over the past few years, we’ve leveraged celebrities and influencers to bring attention to what’s happening in Dubai. Now we’re shifting from that and using real people and real families to talk about why Dubai is home for them,” said Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Tourism. 

It’s an interesting – and challenging – shift for the city known for the world’s tallest building, the world’s largest mall, and the only “unofficial” seven-star hotel.

10. The travel experiences and activities sector has a lot of growth ahead of it: “There is so much headroom in this category. It is just getting started,” said Tripadvisor CEO Matt Goldberg.

In fact, everyone seemed to be talking about experiences. We heard from leaders in the industry: Viator, GetYourGuide, TUI Musement, Klook, and Peek.