Tom Lowry

Making the right choices has never been more crucial coming out of this pandemic. Not far from the core of every decision will be technology. Skift is now offering travel executives weekly the critical information needed to build, buy, or partner.

Given air travel's standstill in 2020, and the impact of new Delta variant scares, you might think this list would be longer. Still, seeing the airline casualties together like this is pretty staggering.

Less than two months after opening up to Americans for non-essential travel, the EU is reversing course with new expected travel restrictions. News of this latest ban will throw more chaos into the future of travel companies already bracing for a tough fall.

The value of announced acquisitions this year is already three times that for the deals in all of 2020. We pulled together the top hotel acquisitions for 2021 for you by dollar amount, some deals strategic, some less so. The pace is brisk but the impact from the Delta variant could very well reverse the momentum heading into fall.

Seventeen years is a long time to sit atop any organization. Roger Dow's retirement coincides with a larger reset for travel emerging from the pandemic. Who leads the USTA next will say a lot about a commitment to break from the past and redefine tourism for a new era.

Southern Vietnam has been afflicted worse than in northern regions, but Hanoi has been super-cautious throughout the pandemic so Sunday's decision to re-establish restrictions is not a surprise.

New York City's nightlife industry has always had a tough reputation filled with liabilities. Through the city's official Office of Nightlife, Ariel Palitz is helping navigate the department through a viral pandemic and building the sector's future by preserving its past.

The diversion of a Ryanair flight to Belarus a week ago to detain an outspoken critic and journalist shows us that air traffic control may be increasingly vulnerable to the politics of autocracies. That should send a chill through airline C-suites with the industry needing as few disruptions as possible to chart its recovery.

The challenges will be many in trying to help Saudi Arabia to establish a strong tourism foothold. With this new role, all eyes will certainly be focused on whether Manzo can leverage her global experience to assist the kingdom in a post-pandemic world.

In travel news this week, we looked at the potential impact of SPACs on the short-term rental sector, the big business of navigating travel risks and travel visas now, the long-awaited arrival of JetBlue London flights, and what the late Anthony Bourdain can teach us about travel's recovery.