GOOD DAY, READERS.
Hilton is cutting some of the fees its hotel owners pay — a concession CEO Chris Nassetta said would help franchisee profit margins during another year of high costs. Insurance, energy, and labor expenses have stayed stubbornly high even as U.S. room rates have been weak. The CEO pointed to cuts in loyalty program fees and other discounts, though royalty fees remain the same.
Nassetta argued the macroeconomic cycle is turning in owners' favor, citing broadening non-luxury recovery, strong small- and medium-business demand, and rising business investment.
Join us on LinkedIn Live today at 2pm for a Skift Playbook session about how senior women in travel build, activate, and protect their network — and use AI to accelerate it without losing their voice. Your network is not a nice-to-have. At the VP and C-suite level, it is the asset.
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Google Is Leaning on Travel to Sell Its AI Ad Story
by Adriana Lee
Retail and finance drove Google's search ad revenue this quarter. But Google chose travel — IHG for its newest ad format, Booking Holdings for cloud and AI-powered transactions — to show investors where its AI business lines are converging.
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT FUND + SKIFT
The next five years in Saudi Arabia tourism will determine the global order of the travel industry for the next 50 years. Based on a new survey of over 400 travel executives, this new research explores five paths to sustainable success in travel and tourism investments across the Kingdom.
Skift Global Forum
Every travel company started 2026 with a plan, and most have already rewritten it.
On September 22-24 in New York City, the CEOs of Uber, Hilton, Booking Holdings, and Expedia take the main stage to pressure-test what changed and decide what travel does next.
Standard pricing ends tomorrow.
MORNING HEADLINES
SKIFT PODCAST NETWORK
It has been a blockbuster week for airline earnings, with some of global aviation's biggest names revealing the true impact of the fuel price shock. We have the essential insight and analysis.
Blockbuster was not quite the word for the firm order numbers at the Farnborough International Airshow, but there were still plenty of notable developments. The Airline Weekly team was on the ground and delivers its debrief.
And this week's feature turns to American Airlines, where we look at what is going right and what is going wrong. The carrier remains stubbornly stuck in third place among the U.S. majors, and we find out what and where it needs to improve.
Read the full edition — subscribe to Airline Weekly at airlineweekly.skift.com
SKIFT TRAVEL 200
How are public travel companies performing around the world? The Skift Travel 200 pulls the data you need to understand global market movements. Paid subscribers get full access here.
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