Brand USA CEO Fred Dixon is in advanced talks to return to NYC Tourism + Conventions as its next chief, with the finance committee's compensation package already board-ratified. His exit would leave Brand USA's top job open as the DMO fights an 80% federal funding cut and an unreplaced board bloc.

Time Horizon: Near-term

Whether NYC Tourism finalizes Dixon's appointment before Julie Coker's August 31 departure, or enters the fall travel season without a permanent chief.

Brand USA's board loses its chief • NYC Tourism's finance committee locks in Dixon's package • NYC hotel and Broadway operators await inbound recovery • Congressional appropriators hold Brand USA's funding fate

Dixon's likely return follows a familiar pattern in destination marketing, where DMO leaders cycle between agencies as budget politics squeeze one job and stabilize another.

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Brand USA's CEO vacancy: How fast the board names a replacement, and whether it happens before Congress votes on the Visit USA Act's proposed $100 million restoration.

NYC's Canadian rebound: Whether the "Northern Neighbour Deal" and Hochul's hotel promotions lift visitation before winter.

Coker's Visit California transition: How her West Coast playbook compares to Dixon's once both coasts face their own funding tests.

Travel's center of gravity is shifting, with Europe and North America's combined share of global flights falling from 68% in 2004 to 49% in 2025, Skift Research found. Asia, the Middle East, and South America have all gained ground over the same period, signaling where the next wave of aviation growth is concentrated.

Aviation's growth map is being redrawn, and the airlines that move first set the terms.

At Skift Aviation Forum, the CEOs of IAG and Breeze Airways and the head of LA World Airports take the stage on where capacity, demand, and profit shift next. November 12, TWA Hotel, JFK. Early bird pricing holds through August 31.

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Travelers are using AI to research trips, but that does not mean they are ready to book through it.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko unpack why AI planning is growing fast while AI-driven bookings remain tiny and why trust may be the next major battleground in travel distribution.

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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