Travel's Reopening and Coronavirus Recovery

The November jobs report sent many mixed signals, but the hotel industry notched a win — even if it is mere optics.

This one-day negative test requirement for international visitation to the U.S., which reopened fully less than a month ago, will be watched closely by the U.S. travel sector, wary that the restart of its recovery will now stall.

The winner of the Chilean presidential election needs to make the process of visiting the country much easier for prospective tourists. The fifth largest economy in South America is taking a big hit from the absence of travelers from lucrative source markets like neighboring Argentina.

Tour operators have realized they can't get complacent about guest safety as any possible large-scale Covid outbreak will threaten their bottom line. So expect them to devote more resources to keep their clients safe amidst the rise of the Omicron variant.

Accor is staying busy with brand rollouts and expansion into newer sectors like all-inclusive resorts, but make no mistake: This is all about elbowing out the competition to win over luxury customers.

From consumer confidence to tourism board revenues potentially taking another big hit, the tourism industry continues to be at risk, especially with a new set of unknowns surrounding Covid's newest variant. It's not too late for travel leaders to demand urgent global vaccine distributions.

Expect for more confusing rules to emerge from European countries, where the Omicron variant has already been detected. Of course, their leaders could have avoided all of this by allowing for a more equal global Covid vaccine distribution.

It's a week of good news for major U.S. cities while Asia Pacific sends mixed signals on reopening, much to the economic detriment of countries without much of a domestic traveler base.

Yes, it’s easy to scoff at Accor launching yet another brand. But inking deals with independent luxury hotel owners requires a collection the Paris-based hotel company didn’t readily have in its line-up of more than 40 brands.

Hilton is a winner in the Trump D.C. hotel sale while China's hotel development pipeline isn't suffering like the country's occupancy rates amid new coronavirus mitigation efforts.