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Skift sits down with creatives, executives, and entrepreneurs from across travel to discuss their insights and perspectives on the hows and whys of travelers’ habits, industry patterns, and the seismic changes happening across the industry.
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Growth Under Pressure: The Decisions Hotel Brands Are Making Now
Friday, October 2, 2026 • Duration 17:49
Recorded live at Skift Global Forum 2026, Jeremy Kressman talks with Heather Balsley, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer at IHG Hotels & Resorts, and Peter Manoogian, Partner at ZS, about hotel owner profitability, conversions and the changing economics of hotel growth.
They also discuss how AI is reshaping hotel search, loyalty and distribution, and why machine-readable, accurate and consistent hotel content is becoming a critical demand driver.
The conversation closes with a look at where hotel companies should focus their technology investments and why AI initiatives need to deliver more than marketing hype.
This episode is brought to you by ZS
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00:00 Intro
00:47 Owner Profitability
02:45 Conversions vs. New Builds
04:45 Demand Capture
06:30 Loyalty in the AI Era
08:45 Tech Investment Priorities
12:15 Final Takeaways
AI Is Here. Now Travel Has to Figure Out Who to Trust.
Saturday, September 26, 2026 • Duration 32:09
Recorded live at Skift Global Forum, Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko recap the biggest conversations from three days in New York, including AI agents, autonomous vehicles, Airbnb’s push into hotels, hotel owner economics and Prince Harry’s focus on destination sustainability.
They also explore the theme that came up repeatedly across the forum: trust. As AI moves from theory into products that can research, book and act on travelers’ behalf, Sarah and Seth discuss what it means to trust machines and who is accountable when things go wrong.
This episode is brought to you by ZS
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00:00 Live From Skift Global Forum
03:00 The Biggest Highlights From Global Forum
07:00 Prince Harry and the Future of Sustainable Travel
10:00 Uber, Autonomous Vehicles and the Future of Travel
13:00 Hotel Owners, Brands and the Franchise Debate
16:30 The Biggest Theme at Global Forum: Trust
19:00 AI Is No Longer Theoretical
22:00 Why the Travel Industry Is Chasing Scale
24:00 What Does Travel Look Like in 30 Years?
26:00 Winners, Losers and Space Business Travel
28:45 The AI Agent Coffee Bet
The $100 Billion Travel Market Everyone Underestimates
Friday, September 18, 2026 • Duration 39:01
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss Skift Research’s new Silver Tsunami report and the nearly $100 billion U.S. retirees are expected to spend on travel in 2026.
They also preview Skift Global Forum, including Airbnb’s push into hotels, the travel infrastructure companies building around AI, and the growing debate over AI risk. The episode closes with a discussion of rising borrowing costs and what higher interest rates could mean for travel development and supply.
This episode is brought to you by ZS
Connect with Skift
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
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00:00 Retirees Spend Big
01:14 Silver Tsunami Explained
02:32 Gen Z vs Older Travelers
05:47 Survey Insights on Spending
07:05 Urgency and Mortality
09:41 Cruises and Product Fit
10:09 Retiree Spend Forecasts
12:07 Hotels Meet Communities
14:01 Global Forum Preview
15:41 Airbnb Hotels and AI
18:48 AI Risk Goes Mainstream
26:45 Winner Power Rankings
31:46 Loser Fed Rate Hike
34:07 Rates Impact Travel Builds
36:16 Wrap Up and Tickets
Premium Is Becoming Table Stakes for Travel. Now What?
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 • Duration 17:44
Premium travel is booming, but the opportunity is becoming much bigger than luxury.
In this special episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, brought to you by ZS Associates, Jeremy Kressmann, Vice President, Skift Studio, sits down with Alex Trusca, Associate Principal, ZS Associates, to unpack why premiumization is emerging as a broader commercial strategy across travel.
They discuss why premium spending can extend well beyond high-income travelers, how brands can use services like late checkout, early check-in, priority access, and personalized offers to create incremental revenue, and why simply charging travelers for something they previously received for free isn’t a premium strategy. The conversation also explores how travel brands can use personalization to capture different willingness-to-pay across the same customer’s trips and occasions.
Jeremy and Alex also look at the next generation of premium travelers, what luxury brands need to do before younger consumers’ preferences lock in, and the question commercial leaders should be asking as they build their 2027 strategies.
Travel’s New Access Divide
Friday, September 11, 2026 • Duration 42:09
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko reflect on 25 years since 9/11 and how the attacks reshaped modern travel, from TSA and airport security to PreCheck, Clear, and the airport gate experience.
They also discuss why New York City hotels are so expensive in September, how peak-demand “compression nights” drive hotel pricing, and what Sarah’s experience using Instinct reveals about the next phase of AI-powered travel booking.
This episode is brought to you by ZS
Connect with Skift
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00:00 Remembering 9/11
01:04 Seth’s 9/11 Story
04:22 How Flying Changed
08:40 Travel Resilience Data
11:12 Airlines Consolidate
15:08 NYC Travel Now
17:48 Hotel Rates Explained
23:12 Instinct AI Agent
28:05 Reservation Wars
33:36 Winners and Losers
39:42 Wrap Up and Plug
Fake AI Hotel Videos Are Coming for Travel
Friday, September 4, 2026 • Duration 52:37
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko break down two travel distribution stories that are really about trust.
First, Skift found AI-generated TikTok Go videos promoting a Sedona luxury resort with fake amenities, fake-looking creators, and commission tags that did not match the booking reality. Then, they unpack Dennis Schaal’s reporting on a bombshell estimate that Booking may be larger than Expedia in B2B room nights — a finding that could reshape how the industry thinks about OTA competition.
This episode is brought to you by ZS
Connect with Skift
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
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Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
00:00 AI TikTok Resort Scam
02:33 Breaking Down TikTok Go
03:23 Fake Amenities and Synth Creators
04:58 Cylon Detour
06:11 Affiliate Incentives Explained
07:30 Broken Links and Bad Actors
08:36 Owners and Brand Protection
13:06 Economics of TikTok Go
18:51 Trust Crisis for Travel Brands
23:19 Real World Guest Fallout
24:22 OTAs Meet TikTok
25:40 B2B White Label Basics
27:06 Real World Examples
29:43 Expedia B2B Dominance
32:07 Booking Consolidates B2B
33:35 Jaw Dropping Analyst Note
35:51 Scale Explains Surprise
43:27 Product Quality vs Volume
46:32 Winners and Losers
48:24 Global Forum Wrap Up
United’s New Routes Reveal Travel’s Next Bet
Friday, August 28, 2026 • Duration 48:32
United is adding 10 new international routes, from Ibiza and Slovenia to Okinawa and Sardinia.
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss what the expansion says about premium leisure demand, how new long-range narrowbody aircraft are changing route economics, and why Generator’s premium-hostel strategy points to a new opportunity in the squeezed mid-market hotel space.
00:00 United Adds 10 Routes
00:54 Which Flights To Book
02:29 Leisure Travel Targeting
04:39 Premium Status Signaling
05:34 A321XLR Explained
07:19 Long And Skinny Economics
08:43 Charting Narrowbody Growth
10:25 Big Plane Nerding
12:43 More Oddball Nonstops
15:49 Hostel News And Freehand
18:46 Generator Goes Premium
21:55 Luxury Ladder Strategy
22:34 Generator Hostel Growth
23:24 Hostel Stigma and Selina
24:33 Pod Hotels vs Lifestyle
26:18 Airbnb and Segmentation
26:49 AI Op Ed Debate
30:40 Bad Writing and Care
35:10 AI Detectors and False Positives
40:17 Winners and Losers
43:31 NYC BQE Winner
45:49 Listener Questions and Wrap
Travel’s AI Reckoning Has Arrived
Friday, August 21, 2026 • Duration 44:21
Google paid $10 million for Spirit Airlines’ data. Airbnb is showing real AI-driven savings. Booking says AI still accounts for less than 1% of room nights.
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko break down travel’s AI reckoning: what is paying off, what is still experimental, and why data, trust, and ROI now matter more than AI hype.
Connect with Skift
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
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Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
00:00 Google Buys Spirit Data
01:35 AI’s Hunger for Training Data
03:13 LLM Language Quirks
05:39 From Jokes to Business Impact
05:45 Bankruptcy Data as New Brand
08:03 Why Travel Data Is Special
10:25 Seat Politics and Spotify Age
13:18 Google’s ITA Playbook
18:13 AI Usefulness in Travel Tech
20:09 Airbnb AI ROI Proof
22:17 Beyond Chatbots Debate
25:43 Revenue Upside Signals
29:23 Bookings Still Tiny
31:34 AI Trip Planning Stories
34:45 Trust Gap Chart
36:46 Who Owns Booking
38:37 GDS Plumbing Goes AI
39:43 Winners Listener Shoutouts
41:36 Closing Thanks
The State of Travel Is Getting Harder to Control
Friday, August 14, 2026 • Duration 50:34
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko unpack two forces reshaping travel: the creator economy’s impact on hotel brands and Skift Research’s State of Travel 2026 report.
They discuss the Aman creator controversy, why hotels need a new playbook for independent reviewers, and the new Travel Stack framework showing how consumers, commerce, operations, and experiences are changing across the industry.
Connect with Skift
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
Facebook: https://facebook.com/skiftnews
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Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social
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Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
00:00 State of Travel Teaser
01:04 Inside the Report
02:22 Chart Nerd Talk
03:03 Ironing Board Hack
06:44 Aman Drama Goes Viral
08:48 Creator vs Media Explained
10:49 What Happened at Aman
14:08 Aman Responds to WSJ
16:53 Crisis Comms Lessons
21:05 Creators and Headlines
24:43 Back to State of Travel
25:05 Whimsy Meets Data
25:54 New Travel Stack Framework
28:18 Breaking Down Consumers
31:11 Favorite Charts and Trends
33:08 Booking Channels Trust Gap
35:25 Green Talkers Sustainability Gap
36:34 Psychographics Explained
43:40 Finding the Report Link
44:29 Black Toilet Seat Update
45:18 Winners Losers Eclipse Tourism
47:43 Final Goodbye and Feedback
Why Every Major Hotel Brand Is Giving Money Back to Owners
Friday, August 7, 2026 • Duration 44:14
Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt are all offering new relief to hotel owners. Climate is creating new operational challenges for hotels around the world. And Japan has transformed a former prison into one of its most unique luxury hotels.
Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore what these stories reveal about the future of hotel ownership, climate adaptation, and heritage tourism.
Connect with Skift
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/
WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/
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Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social
X: https://twitter.com/skift
Subscribe to @SkiftNews and never miss an update from the travel industry.
00:00 Franchise Relief Moment
03:31 Marriott Rebate Program
06:11 Performance Linked Bonuses
09:16 Never Cut Core Fees
11:37 Unbundling Franchise Services
14:33 Europe Air Conditioning Crunch
20:24 Sargassum Seaweed Crisis
24:13 Travel Squeeze Reality
25:35 Heritage Hotels Explained
26:56 Ghosts And Horror Debate
28:07 Prison Hotel Luxury
31:04 Raffles OWO Spy Bar
34:14 Preserving Stories For Profit
38:20 Winners And Losers
39:15 Space Conferences Boom
41:18 Conference Season Wrap
41:41 Episode Farewell
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The Skift Travel Podcast, a podcast by Skift - Stats, Episodes and Rankings - My Podcast Data