Episode Notes

Recent data suggests Americans are traveling in large numbers for Labor Day, and short-term rentals are seeing a surge in bookings for the holiday weekend, writes Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam. 

More than 2.4 million nights have been booked on short-term rental platforms for the four-day period ending on September 1. That’s a 13% jump from last year, according to data analytics firm AirDNA. Short-term rental daily room rates are up 13% from last year. However, short-term rentals at urban destinations increased by only 1%, which AirDNA attributes to New York City’s crackdown on the sector. 

Domestic travel for the Labor Day weekend is projected to be up 9% from last year, according to AAA

Next, American Express Global Business Travel is increasingly using AI to handle trip requests via e-mail, which can help free up agents to take care of more critical tasks, reports Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.

Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Evan Konwiser said agents manually reading, routing and responding to every message creates bottlenecks and inconsistent service. Natural language processing enables Amex GBT agents to categorize incoming messages accurately, such as urgent flight changes and routine invoice requests. 

Amex GBT is also benefiting as large corporate clients grapple with net-zero commitments – it is developing tools to help corporations make travel choices that cut their carbon impacts.

Finally, the Middle East is seeing a tourism surge, largely driven by an increase in Saudi Arabia, writes Middle East Reporter Josh Corder.

Saudi Arabia saw a combined 60 million international and domestic tourists in the first half of this year. Those travelers injected roughly $38.1 billion into the economy. Saudi officials didn’t disclose the split between international and domestic tourists. The kingdom also has the most hotels under construction among Middle Eastern countries.  

Meanwhile, Dubai saw a 9% increase in international overnight visitors in the first six months of 2024 from last year. And Qatar saw a 28% jump from the same period. 

Producer/Presenter: Jose Marmolejos

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