Articles tagged “skift research”

The global airline sector is in a growth phase, with annual revenue on pace to reach $1 trillion, driven by strong leisure demand and the significant rebound of business travel.

The global airline sector is in a growth phase, projected to reach $949 billion by 2026, driven by strong leisure demand and the significant rebound of business travel.

In today’s pod we check out Hilton’s extended stay brand, connect with Virgin Atlantic’s onboard Wi-Fi, and keep our shoes on through airport security.

As growth slows, hotels are embracing experience, innovation, and agility to navigate a cautious, yet resilient, travel landscape in 2025

In May 2025, Skift Travel Health Index, at 102, indicates a period of balanced growth in the global travel industry. While the hotel sector faces challenges and revised forecasts, the strong performance of vacation rentals and steady growth in other segments paint an optimistic picture for global travel.

Asia’s travelers are mobile-first, OTA-driven, and value-conscious—yet increasingly open to premium, branded, and sustainable travel.

As major financial powerhouses and robust passenger engagement engines, airline loyalty programs are leveraging technology for hyper-personalisation, with a strong focus on engaging less frequent flyers.

Google Hotels is still strong, but weakened by the Digital Markets Act — and Google's own AI Overviews. Agentic AI may one day make the changes we've seen to date under the DMA a mere footnote in the evolution of travel search.

At Skift Research, we think travel leaders need to be a little Google-obsessed. It’s one of the most important drivers of bookings, and our data shows Google is undergoing a real-time AI transformation with massive implications for the industry.

While Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa showed growth and Europe remained stable, North America witnessed a 5% slowdown, mainly due to the “Trump Effect” bringing policy changes, travel bans, and tariffs, leading to shifts in travel sentiment.