Future of Lodging

Affordable hotels and a focus on resilient, on-the-road business travel segments like infrastructure accounts throttled Wyndham back to pre-pandemic performance levels. Maintaining focus on its strengths sets it apart from direct competitor Choice Hotels.

Good morning from Skift. It's Wednesday, February 16, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

By the numbers alone — around 4 million hosts — Airbnb hasn't made much progress in host recruitment despite marketing campaigns, easing the onboarding process, and pairing hosts with super host mentors. But there is a pandemic still going on, and Asia-Pacific has largely not rebounded.

The U.S. recovery fueled Marriott's profitable fourth quarter and entire 2021. But weaker performance in China isn't deterring the company from wanting to have more hotels there and other international markets. Real estate is a long-term play.

Pendry has built an interesting boutique-feeling brand on top of actual luxury knowledge and operations. The result is something differentiated in the market and worth keeping an eye on.

Unlike Airbnb and Vrbo, which have struggled at times to attract ample numbers of hosts to meet demand, Inspirato and its subscription model play in a more focused space. Although there is plenty of competition, there are tons of potential home leases to lay siege for around the world where the monied set want to jet and play.

Under Chris Lehane, Airbnb has often irritated and outraged local government leaders and short-term rental peers. But as we know about negative campaigns and hardball tactics, they often get results.

Good morning from Skift. It's Wednesday, January 26, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Sonder doesn't need to put Hilton or Airbnb out of business to be a winner. But it has to has to cope with the market's displeasure with unprofitable companies, and to prove that its guest experience will deliver on its promises, starting with millennials and Gen Zers.

Short-term rental owners in locked-down countries undoubtably suffered or went out of business in 2021. But for many owners in the U.S., it was the best of times, and their revenue soared. One wakeup call — there may not be an adequate number of listings to meet demand.