Latest news with #Skift
Skift
a day ago
- Business
- Skift
Simplicity in Loyalty: The Way Out For Indie Hotels
Global Hotel Alliance is betting that simplicity, not scale, will win the next phase of hotel loyalty. With a transparent rewards currency and a sharp focus on leisure travelers, it's carving out a middle path for independents looking to compete without giving up control. Skift Podcast Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Compelling discussions with travel industry leaders and creatives who are helping to shape the future of travel. Learn More In the latest episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, Skift Founder Rafat Ali sat down with Global Hotel Alliance CEO Chris Hartley for a deep dive into the Alliance's unique approach to distribution, direct bookings, and consumer loyalty. What began in 2004 as a Star Alliance-inspired coalition of four independent hotel brands has grown into a global loyalty ecosystem – with leisure travelers at its core. With more than 45 independent hotel brands and 900 properties under its umbrella, GHA is proving that collaboration, not consolidation, might be the best path forward for independent operators. Listen to This Podcast Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS The Value of Simplicity At the heart of GHA's appeal is its loyalty program, GHA Discovery, and its transparent currency, Discovery Dollars. Unlike opaque, often-devalued points systems common among legacy programs, Discovery Dollars offer a simple, intuitive value: 1 dollar equals 1 U.S. dollar. It's a strategy that consumers understand immediately – and respond to. According to Hartley, members with Discovery Dollars in their wallet are 10 to 15 times more likely to book again through a GHA hotel. 'Simplicity and transparency are what travelers want most,' Hartley said. 'They're tired of guessing what their points are worth.' A Loyalty Program Built for Leisure GHA's portfolio skews heavily toward leisure travel, reflecting a broader industry trend that Hartley believes is redefining the very premise of loyalty. While traditional programs were designed for high-frequency business travelers, today's landscape is marked by blended travel and increasing leisure trip frequency, and it is shifting the economics. 'Leisure travelers are staying longer, paying more, and traveling more often,' Hartley said. 'That changes the whole loyalty equation.' GHA Discovery's focus on resort destinations, upscale experiences, and a high proportion of owner-operated properties has created a direct channel for engagement that often bypasses the commission fees of online travel agencies (OTAs). 'If you get loyalty right, people will do irrational things to stay with you. You just have to earn their trust,' Hartley said. Competing Without Consolidating Unlike major chains that subsume smaller brands into massive loyalty systems, GHA offers independent hotels a way to retain their identity while gaining the benefits of scale. 'Most of our brands want to remain independent,' Hartley said. 'But at a certain point, the economics make that hard. We're offering them a middle path.' GHA's model enables smaller hotel groups to negotiate global corporate deals, access preferred partnerships, and reduce their reliance on OTAs without giving up their branding or operational autonomy. 'We don't own hotels. We don't even run them,' Hartley emphasized. 'But we do give them access to a loyal, global audience and the tools to compete.'
Skift
a day ago
- Business
- Skift
Hilton's Sustainability Chief: Clean Energy Push, Hotel Upgrades Behind Emissions Drop
When clean energy starts to make business sense – not just climate sense – that's where real traction begins. Hilton's experience shows that in markets where renewables are cost-neutral, owners buy in. Hilton says it's unfazed by recent rollbacks in U.S. clean energy tax breaks, despite cuts to government programs designed to make renewables cheaper and more accessible to businesses. Renewable energy is seen as a key solution in reducing the amount of fossil fuels used by hotels. Hilton says its strategy, built on partnerships with private utility companies, has insulated it from some of those risks. 'Utilities mostly work independently in the U.S. They're private entities,' Jean Garris Hand, Hilton's global head of sustainability, told Skift. 'Most of the renewable power that we are purchasing is through those utilities, so even if programs are being scaled back in some areas, our procurement still goes through.' The company says its demand signals help shape those markets. 'Where the rubber meets the road is where financial transactions are made,' Garris Hand said. 'By requesting renewable power in markets, we're sending the pull signals to utilities that we're interested in this.' In the U.S., Hilton's renewable power purchasing program, launched in 2021, saw 100% adoption among its owned hotels and prop
Skift
2 days ago
- Business
- Skift
We Asked 5 Online Travel Agencies in India How They're Really Using AI
AI is here to stay in the travel industry, but for now it's as an assistant, not a replacement. Travel has too many moving parts, so when things go wrong, or a big trip is on the line, travelers still tend to trust a specialist. Ixigo Group Co-CEO Rajnish Kumar spent a significant part of his company's earnings call last week talking about AI – and he's not alone. In the past few weeks, nearly every major Indian online travel agency has made announcements tying their growth or product updates to some form of AI: be it new chatbots, language tools, personalized trip planning, or automation in expense management. Is AI really changing how these companies operate? Skift spoke to executives across several Indian OTAs to find out how they are actually using AI. The answers suggest this isn't just about future potential, it's already reshaping how bookings are made, support is handled, and teams are scaled more efficiently. MakeMyTrip: From Reviews to Regional Languages Initially using off-the-shelf models, MakeMyTrip now runs domain-specific GenAI systems to enable more natural, intuitive, and personalized customer interactions. 'Data is our real IP… we have the largest corpus of travel-intent data for all of India. This forms the fundamental base for building and implementing AI capabilities,' Sanjay Mohan, MakeMyTrip's group chief technology officer, told Skift. The OTA is now harnessing Generative AI across three major functions – analysis, synthesis, and translation - as part of a broader strategy to
Skift
2 days ago
- Business
- Skift
5 Tech Tool Making Planners' Lives Easier
There might be an initial learning curve, but planners say once they are up to speed, these technologies are not only improving their meetings but lightening their load. For planners who never have enough time in a day, the initial learning curve of a new technology can be daunting. Will they catch on? And most important: Will the effort be worth their time? Only rarely is it not, as in the case of these five new technologies recently featured in the Skift Meetings Toolkit, our new how-to hub with hundreds of information-packed articles about meeting planning. 1. Agentic AI A new wave of AI may transform the way planners manage everything from incentive trips to large conferences. For an incentive trip, for example, generative AI might suggest a list of popular destinations, but an agentic AI can go a step further by analyzing weather conditions, venue availability, flight options, and car rentals, crafting an itinerary, and even booking everything. Among the new agentic AI tools are NotebookLM for note-taking, and DALL·E, Midjourney for image and 3-D content creation. Learn more here. 2. Apple Invites Apple Invites combines invitation creation with practical event management tools. It integrates with Apple Maps for directions and Weather for forecasts, while offering collaborative features like shared photo albums and Apple Music playlists. The platform allows hosts to manage RSVPs, control event visibility, and share invitations through a web link. Guests can view and respond to invitations even if they don't have an Apple account. Learn more here. 3. Nowadays A new venue sourcing platform, Nowadays, features more than 30,000 venues and an AI virtual assistant, known as Ina. Planners submit their requirements and receive a list of suggested hotels, event spaces, private dining spaces, and even unconventional venues. It is also trained to warn users of potential challenges in terms of destinations, such as weather issues or a large event causing the prices to spike. Ina then sends the requests for proposals, and collects and collates responses. Learn more here. 4. Generative AI Planners have come a long way in their use of generative AI, with ChatGPT leading the way. The Skift Meetings Toolkit has several articles where they share their favorite applications and prompts. Still, some planners say they don't have the time to learn AI. We asked Elyse Dawson, senior events manager at Homrich Berg about that in an article where she shares her AI journey. 'This is one of the lowest-risk, highest-reward things that you could put your time into,' she said. 'It's actually a time-saver. And if you put in the time and what you tried doesn't work, you will be more comfortable the next time.' Also learn about the favorite AI prompts of Ginger Taylor, assistant director-leadership at Leadership Network for Women at Arc here and find more AI prompt suggestions from Julia Tripp, who created a coaching guide, The Events Industry Survival Guide, packed with prompts. 5. Event Tech Almanac For more on tech tools, Skift Meetings has just released the Event Tech Almanac 2025, for event planners, producers, and strategists. It's packed with information, and designed to cut through the noise in the constantly evolving event tech sector. Download it for free here.
Skift
3 days ago
- Business
- Skift
Uber's New Way to Reach Chinese Travelers Runs Through WeChat
Uber has found its way back to users in China, just not on Chinese roads. It's targeting Chinese outbound travelers by partnering with the app nearly everyone in China uses: WeChat. Uber on Monday announced the launch of a Mini Program inside Chinese social media superapp WeChat (called Weixin in China). The program allows users to book and pay for rides in other countries without downloading the Uber app or entering foreign payment information. Uber said travelers can simply log in with their WeChat account, search for a ride and pay through WeChat Pay or WeChat Pay HK, depending on their region. The feature is already live in Hong Kong and Japan and will expand to nine more markets, including the U.S., U.K. and France. 'By embedding Uber into Weixin, we're making overseas travel easier for Chinese users at every step,' Pradeep Parameswaran, head of mobility for Uber, said in a release. 'We want to meet riders wherever they are, and for Chinese international travellers, that means Weixin.' While it's convenient, this move also helps Uber stay relevant to a large and growing group of outbound travelers from China. More than 130 million went abroad last year, a number expected to rise in 2025. 'This is not a re-entry into the domestic market,' Uber spokesperson Chris Brummitt told Skift. 'It's a strategic initiative focused exclusively on outbound Chinese travelers. It aligns with Uber's global growth strategy of embedding its services into the platforms people already use.' Brummitt didn't comment on whether the WeChat integration will expand to other Uber services, like Eats and Courier. He said, 'Uber Eats is not part of the initial launch.' How the Uber Mini Program works within the WeChat app. Source: Uber Uber's China history Uber formally launched in China in February 2014, but struggled to stay afloat with the then Uber CEO Travis Kalanick saying that it was losing about $1 billion a year. Uber faced tough competition from Chinese ride hailing app Didi Chuxing, more popularly known as Didi. Then on August 1, 2016, Didi announced it would acquire Uber China, valuing the business at $35 billion. As part of the deal, Uber received 5.89% of the combined company, equal to a 17.7% economic stake in Didi. In April 2019, Uber's S‑1 filing ahead of its IPO revealed that its Didi stake had fallen to 15.4% after new investments diluted its share. Instead of taking on Didi again, Uber is now playing to its strengths. It already operates in many top destinations for Chinese tourists and is making it easier for them to use Uber abroad. 'Uber expects material growth in gross bookings and active users starting from Day One of the rollout,' Brummitt said. Why WeChat Matters For many Chinese users, WeChat is more than a messaging app. It's where they pay bills, shop and book services through built‑in Mini Programs. According to Uber, Weixin Mini Programs has 1.1 billion monthly users. That massive audience is exactly who Uber wants to reach. Talking about the Uber Mini Program, Freedom Li, president of Weixin Pay International Business, said, 'We are dedicated to providing a 'local‑like' digital convenience globally, and Uber's integration strengthens Weixin's cross-border digital ecosystem.' Brummitt further said the Uber Mini Program is fully localized for Chinese users, with simplified Chinese support, familiar navigation and WeChat Pay integration. 'This ensures a seamless and intuitive experience for travelers. Travellers use their Weixin login and Weixin Pay to search, book, and pay for rides,' he said. Explaining the choice of launch markets, Brummitt said: 'We chose Hong Kong and Japan for the initial rollout because they have strong tourism appeal for Chinese travelers.'
