The Skift Travel Podcast

While the vacation rental industry is becoming more popular among consumers, particularly in urban areas, behind the scenes three waves of consolidation are hitting the sector. In this Skift Research Analyst Session we discuss the global vacation rentals landscape and look at how the industry is quickly evolving when it comes to vacation rental managers and the digital tools and platforms they use to fill their properties. We talk about what's happening with Airbnb in the context of the professionally managed segment of the business. We outline the landscape in terms of competition and the companies that are setting themselves up for success in this increasingly competitive market. We also highlight topline data from our 2017 U.S. High-Income Traveler Survey including attitudinal data on what high-income travelers think about Airbnb and rentals as an alternative to traditional hotels. What You'll Learn From This Podcast The State of the Vacation Rental Industry Airbnb's positioning in Vacation Rentals Vacation Rental Inventory Supply of Inventory Distribution Marketplaces Management Tech Vacation Rental Funding Profiling the Vacation Rental User Get more travel insights with Skift Research. Subscription information at research.skift.com

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we're talking about the legal and technological changes that have made travel more accessible to people with disabilities, the opportunities that the travel industry has been missing, and what lies ahead for the disability travel market. Our guests are Peter Slatin, founder and president of Slatin Group, which provides education and training to help businesses improve interactions with clients who have disabilities, and Brett Heising, CEO of brettapproved.com, a travel and entertainment review site for users with physical disabilities or mobility impairment.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we explore the biggest trends that will define travel in 2017, with audio from our annual Megatrends event. Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali and co-founder and editor-in-chief Jason Clampet delve into topics including how low-cost airlines are changing the transatlantic game, the festivalization of meetings and events, the return of humanity to travel, and the evolving desires of Baby Boomer travelers.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we’re talking about a very specific form of travel advice — the where-to-go-in-the-coming-year list — and what goes into making them. Our guests are Dan Saltzstein, a travel editor at The New York Times who organized the 52 Places to Go in 2017 project, and Nikki Ekstein, travel editor at Bloomberg Pursuits. She oversaw Bloomberg’s Where to Go in 2017 list.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we're hearing from supertravelers about what they like, dislike, and merely tolerate on the road. The conversation took place at the Skift Global Forum last year. Panelists are Alexandra Wood, chief operating officer at Wearable Experiments; Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of FuturePerfect Ventures; Colin Nagy, head of communications strategy at creative agency Fred & Farid, and Leonard Brody, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. The discussion was moderated by Skift research director Luke Bujarski We recorded the introduction to this episode in late 2016, so when you hear a reference to "this year," that's the year we mean.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, we welcome Mike Shea, chief logistics officer and partner at South by Southwest, and Rich Goodstone, co-founder of Superfly, the production company behind Bonnaroo. Mike and Rich joined us in the Skift Take Studio backstage at the Skift Global Forum to talk about bringing fun to events that could be boring, the way attendee behavior is changing, and why selfies are getting in the way of experiences. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, we welcome Oliver Heckmann, Google's vice president of engineering who heads the search engine's travel product. We spoke backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. He spoke to us about how user behavior is changing with the shift to mobile, Google’s efforts to move toward an assistant-driven environment, and the future of virtual and augmented reality. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans discusses last-minute behavior, direct bookings, advertising, new search methods, and more. We interviewed Gillian backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, Lola Travel CEO Paul English discuses the inspiration for his new travel agency messaging app, how he is trying to improve the tools that travel agents use, and why chatting via message is more popular than talking. We interviewed English, who also co-founded Kayak, backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, TripAdvisor CEO Stephen Kaufer speaks to us about the threat of competition, challenges for instant booking, the changing ways consumers are using the site, and what is still left to review. We interviewed Stephen backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.