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MCR’s Tyler Morse Wants to Ban AI Bots From Booking His Hotels

MCR Hotels CEO and Chairman Tyler Morse dislikes AI personal assistants because they "make more rational decisions." He prefers human customers, who can more easily be persuaded to make impulse purchases.

What Changed: MCR’s CEO wants to block AI booking agents for sales reasons; United banned bots over regulatory and consumer safety concerns.

Who it Impacts: Hotel owner-operators, brand distribution and commercial leaders, and online travel agencies.

What to Watch: Whether paid AI placement becomes the new sponsored link, and who captures $75B in indirect spend.

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Skift Global Forum East · Abu Dhabi · Dec 9

The commercial ground under travel is moving, and in the Gulf it is moving fastest. Skift Global Forum East puts the CEOs of Etihad, Accor South Asia, and Rotana in one room in Abu Dhabi to decide where capital, demand, and AI go next.

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Citi Says AI Companies Should Pay When Their Agents Book the Wrong Travel

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Scandic’s Dalata Deal Just Got Its First Report Card

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Playing Catch-Up: Can American Close the Gap With Delta and United?

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Delhi’s Smog Collides With India’s Peak Tourism Season

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Air quality in northern India has plummeted as the so-called pollution season gets underway. It is now a regular feature of traveling to the region in winter. Masks have emerged as a solution — a Band-Aid to a structural problem fueled by emissions.

Visit Oslo Follows Its Viral Anti-Ad With a Horror Christmas Musical

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Visit Oslo needed a unique twist to its "Is It Even a City?" sequel to help fill hotels in the winter. Its project manager says the final result is almost as popular as the original.

Where Airlines Allow Automation to Act

SPONSORED · SALESFORCE

Airline leaders explain where automation can act on its own and where humans decide. Turkish Airlines’ AI assistant resolves nearly 90% of inquiries.

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From Skift Research

The Loyalty Bar Is Rising: Guests Are Becoming Harder to Impress

Source: Skift Research’s State of Travel 2026

Travelers still value perks above everything else in hotel loyalty programs, even as that share slipped to 54% from 60%, a GHA Discovery survey found.

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Skift Podcast

Bedbugs Are Now the Number One Hotel Booking Concern

The number one concern for hotel guests when booking isn’t cleanliness, value, or staff. It’s bedbugs.

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