The Skift Travel Podcast

“We will win customers on quality,” Kirby said at the Skift Aviation Forum on November 17, 2021. And he had plenty of examples quality improvements to cite: The addition of premium-heavy “high-J” Boeing 767-300ERs that fly to Europe, the Bombardier CRJ-550 that met pilot contract rules while bringing a dual-class product to smaller cities, and a return of in-seat entertainment screens to its domestic mainline narrow-body fleet to name a few. And, while further out, United is investing in new spaces in Denver and Newark, and possibly in Washington, D.C. Listen now for the full interview with Skift contributor Brian Sumers.  Read more coverage of the airlines industry at skift.com/airlines

For this episode of the Skift Podcast, we're featuring a conversation between William J. Hornbuckle, Chief Executive Officer and President of MGM Resorts International and Skift Hospitality Reporter Cameron Sperance. The two discuss the return of big events and the changes and opportunities ahead for large hotels. The conversation took place online at the Skift Hospitality and Marketing Summit on June 16, 2021.  To take part in future events, find the one that suits you at live.skift.com.

The recent Skift Short-Term Rental and Outdoor Summit brought together leaders from online rental marketplaces, investors, startup founders, and outdoor recreation operators for interviews with Skift editors and research analysts. We uncovered what might happen next in both sectors as their growth outpaces the rest of travel and the big questions facing these sectors.  This session features a discussion with Allen Mask, Managing Partner of CōLab, and Laurence Tosi, Managing Partner & Founder of WestCap Group, along with Seth Borko, Skift Senior Research Analyst, on May 19, 2021. Read more coverage of this session in the story "Will It Be Airbnb, Sonder — and Then Everyone Else?" 

While Skift Podcast is on hiatus, we wanted to share the first episode of the Event Manager Podcast, a production of our partner site EventMB.  Julius Solaris founded Event Manager Blog in 2007, as a result of his passion for events and in the process discovered a whole industry. Throughout his professional journey he's become a master of how to build a brand on social media and is one of the industry's undisputed thought leaders. Editor-in-chief Miguel Neves and deputy editor Dylan Monorchio discuss the unique current market conditions and the strategies for surviving and even thriving in the event industry. Subscribe to the Event Manager Podcast here. 

Marriott Group President Stephanie Linnartz speaks with Skift Hospitality Reporter Cameron Sperance at Skift Forum Asia in October 2020. Learn more about our slate of online events in 2021 at live.skift.com.    

IAC/Expedia Group Chairman Barry Diller speaks with Skift Editor-in-Chief Tom Lowry at Skift Global Forum in September 2020. Learn more about our slate of online events in 2021 at live.skift.com.

Your daily insight into the business of travel from the industry’s most trusted authority.  We are excited to share another update from the Skift Daily Briefing. Our daily podcast tells listeners what they need to know about the top travel stories in just under four minutes. It’s available every weekday morning at 6:30 a.m. ET on podcast apps from Apple, Google Play, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Stitcher, and more, as well as smart speakers powered by Google and Amazon. Thank you for listening — and reading — and stay tuned as we continue to grow and deliver the news you need on more platforms. Subscribe through your favorite podcast app or at https://skift.com/skift-daily-briefing/.

What a difference a year makes — and perhaps a pandemic. During a discussion at this year's Skift Short-Term Rental & Outdoor Summit on December 9, held online, signs of more collaborative environment emerged between cities and short-term rental operators. The discussion was moderated by Amy Hinote, founder and editor-in-chief of VRM Intel. “The industry came in and we weren’t ready as municipalities and now we’re ready for those conversations and I’m excited about them,” said Clarence Anthony, CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities. Amanda Pedigo, Expedia vice president of government and corporate affairs, and Tim Burgess, former Seattle mayor and city council member, weighed in as well about the impact of the pandemic on short-term rental players and cities desperate to revive downtown economies. To learn more about short-term rental regulations and opportunities, read this story.

Since Skift's own launch it was the first media outlet to ask hard questions of Airbnb, and it has been amazing to document that journey of the company from start till its IPO day and beyond. Here are CEO Rafat Ali's thoughts in an audio essay. Read complete coverage of Airbnb at https://skift.com/tag/airbnb.

In early November Skift hosted its first Design the Future event, an afternoon of discussions with leaders in the design and creativity space. As part of this, we're posting extracts of these conversations.  Host: Robert Rosenthal, author, speaker, and journalist Guest: Aaron Walton, CEO of Walton Isaacson Diversity means harnessing the power of disruption. Differences are disruptive, and that’s the key to innovation — disrupting the status quo or predictable, said Walton Isaacson CEO Aaron Walton. The travel industry, like the entire world, has had a major wake-up call this year when it comes to diversity, but Walton said the industry needs to see diversity is more than just the look of a company: “The eye should be able to be see diversity, but what’s probably just as important is how it sounds,” he added. “The sound of diversity is the sound of the status quo smashing into a million pieces and someone rearranging those in ways nobody thought about before.”