For decades, flying a big hotel brand's flag was simply what hotel owners did. The brand controlled distribution, technology, and financing, and promised to keep a competitor from opening down the road. But that bargain is starting to come undone — and a generation of owners is about to find out just how much.

In part 3 of Skift's series Disenfranchised, Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit follows the ones who read the fine print, did the audit, and decided the flag wasn't worth the price. Read the full investigation.

The flag is no longer the only proof your work is good. Skift's IDEA Awards recognize the operators, properties, and teams defining the industry on the strength of what they built, not whose name is over the door.

Judged by leaders from Hilton, IHG, Accor, Carnival, and Google, across 30+ categories including Short-Term Rentals. Entries close Wednesday.

MILESTONE INC. + SKIFT

At Skift's Data + AI Summit, Milestone Inc. CEO Anil Aggarwal shared why most hotels are losing AI search visibility before their content is ever evaluated.

For $7 a week, Skift gives you something the industry is missing – the full picture. Subscribe today for 25% off.

One week into the World Cup, and the hotel data is telling a complicated story. RevPAR in host markets is up anywhere from 24% to 133% on match days, but nine out of sixteen US host markets saw occupancy actually decline.

In this clip from Good Morning Hospitality Hotels Edition, Sarah Dandashy and Steve Turk break down why hotels are making more money by charging more rather than filling more rooms, what the booking window actually looks like for fans, and what a $1,300 CitizenM room in San Francisco says about how wild the pricing swings have been.

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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