The Skift Travel Podcast

Presented by Brand USAIn this episode of the Skift Travel podcast our hosts are joined by Jamie Lane, Chief Economist at AirDNA, to discuss the short-term rental industry’s outlook for Independence Day weekend. Lane notes that this year’s long weekend has boosted travel compared to last year, with bookings up 15% year-over-year due to last-minute planning.The discussion reveals that popular destinations include coastal and lake areas such as Orlando, Myrtle Beach, and the Outer Banks, with a notable absence of urban locations. Lane explains that traditional vacation spots are performing well, while cities like New York have seen declines due to regulatory changes and reduced international travel, particularly from Asia. He also highlights the rise of mid-sized cities like Chattanooga and Lubbock as emerging markets for short-term rentals.They also look at the impact of interest rates and hotel development in these growing areas, with Lane suggesting that high interest rates and cautious lenders have shifted demand towards short-term rentals. The hosts discuss the growth and professionalization of the short-term rental market, noting that large management companies are expanding, though individual hosts still dominate in guest satisfaction.Follow all Skift coverage of short-term rentals at https://skift.com/vacation-rentals/Follow all Skift coverage of tourism at https://skift.com/tourism/Presented by Brand USA

Marketing strategist Colin Nagy joins the conversation on ultra high net worth travel trends. Topics include extreme luxury experiences sought by the wealthy, ethical dilemmas in big game hunting, and the shift towards exclusive and adventurous travel over traditional luxury.

Presented by Brand USAA growing number of women have led major corporations in recent years — even in historically male-dominated industries. However, the aviation industry has struggled to close its gender gap in leadership roles.Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi recently examined the issue in depth, and she discussed her findings and more in this episode of the Skift Travel Podcast with Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and Head of Research Seth Borko. Submit your questions for Seth and Sarah to podcasts@skift.com.Read more travel news at https://skift.com

Seth and Sarah are joined by Skift Research Analyst Robin Gilbert-Jones to discuss what regenerative tourism is and how it differs from sustainable tourism, if at all.Read Skift Research's report on regenerative tourism at https://research.skift.com/report/regenerative-tourism-fact-from-fiction/Read more travel news at https://skift.comPresented by Brand USA

Can property managers successfully build national brands? Have short-term rental businesses tilted too heavily toward travelers instead of homeowners? What has been the impact of New York’s Local Law 18, which amounted to a defacto ban of most Airbnbs, on individual homeowners?Skift recently hosted its Short-Term Rental Summit, which featured several executives addressing several these topics and more. Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and Head of Research Seth Borko discuss their main takeaways from the Short-Term Rental Summit in this episode of the Skift Travel Podcast.Read more travel news at https://skift.comPresented by Brand USA

Discover how weight loss medications like Ozempic and GLP-1s are reshaping travel experiences, potential winners and losers in the industry, impact on consumer behavior, and the evolving trends of experiential travel. Dive into the effects on financial reports, health benefits of drugs, government policies, and changing business models in the travel industry.

Pranavi Agarwal, Skift Senior Research Analyst, delves into Google Hotels' dominance, revealing which OTAs bid for bookings. Highlighting Google's role as a meta search engine, the podcast discusses its impact on online travel agencies and direct sites, its introduction of organic auction for travel listings, and its influence on the industry globally.

The recent earnings seasons provided a glimpse into how the largest publicly traded travel companies are faring in one of the more "normal" quarters in a number of years.So what are the main takeaways from earnings season? And which companies emerged as big winners? Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill and Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi joined Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit and Head of Research Seth Borko to discuss the results of earnings in this week’s Skift Travel Podcast.Read more about earnings this season at Skift.

In this special bonus episode, Skift Meetings Executive Editor Andrea Doyle speaks with Skift CEO Rafat Ali and Skift Head of Events Programming Brian Quinn about the "State of Conferences".

Last week Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced the company's renewed focus on Experiences with its “Icons” product launch. Skift Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit was in Los Angeles for the event and got to speak one-on-one with Chesky on a host of topics (including that pay question we promised you). In this episode we also dig into why Airbnb backed off of experiences after the pandemic, a potential Airbnb loyalty program and how Icons fits into Airbnb’s broader marketing strategy.