Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko unpack two forces reshaping travel: the creator economy’s impact on hotel brands and Skift Research’s State of Travel 2026 report.

They discuss the Aman creator controversy, why hotels need a new playbook for independent reviewers, and the new Travel Stack framework showing how consumers, commerce, operations, and experiences are changing across the industry.

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00:00 State of Travel Teaser

01:04 Inside the Report

02:22 Chart Nerd Talk

03:03 Ironing Board Hack

06:44 Aman Drama Goes Viral

08:48 Creator vs Media Explained

10:49 What Happened at Aman

14:08 Aman Responds to WSJ

16:53 Crisis Comms Lessons

21:05 Creators and Headlines

24:43 Back to State of Travel

25:05 Whimsy Meets Data

25:54 New Travel Stack Framework

28:18 Breaking Down Consumers

31:11 Favorite Charts and Trends

33:08 Booking Channels Trust Gap

35:25 Green Talkers Sustainability Gap

36:34 Psychographics Explained

43:40 Finding the Report Link

44:29 Black Toilet Seat Update

45:18 Winners Losers Eclipse Tourism

47:43 Final Goodbye and Feedback

Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt are all offering new relief to hotel owners. Climate is creating new operational challenges for hotels around the world. And Japan has transformed a former prison into one of its most unique luxury hotels.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore what these stories reveal about the future of hotel ownership, climate adaptation, and heritage tourism.

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00:00 Franchise Relief Moment

03:31 Marriott Rebate Program

06:11 Performance Linked Bonuses

09:16 Never Cut Core Fees

11:37 Unbundling Franchise Services

14:33 Europe Air Conditioning Crunch

20:24 Sargassum Seaweed Crisis

24:13 Travel Squeeze Reality

25:35 Heritage Hotels Explained

26:56 Ghosts And Horror Debate

28:07 Prison Hotel Luxury

31:04 Raffles OWO Spy Bar

34:14 Preserving Stories For Profit

38:20 Winners And Losers

39:15 Space Conferences Boom

41:18 Conference Season Wrap

41:41 Episode Farewell

Fora became travel's newest unicorn, Amazon is pushing deeper into AI travel booking, and earnings season is revealing where the industry is gaining momentum.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss how AI is changing travel distribution and what the latest results from Hilton, JetBlue, and Royal Caribbean say about the second half of the year.

Connect with Skift

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00:00 Fora Hits Unicorn
00:56 Beach Vacation Banter
02:40 Why Fora Matters
03:31 AI Revives Travel Agents
05:26 Alexa Books Travel
07:53 Does Voice Really Work
10:40 Amazon Travel Déjà Vu
12:40 Old Ideas Return
14:39 2018 Report Flashback
16:06 IHG Conversational Search
19:26 No Single Front Door
21:32 Google Still In Play
22:41 AI vs Travel Giants
24:06 Hilton Fee Cut
27:50 Incentives and RevPAR
28:42 JetBlue Turnaround Plan
30:40 Low Cost Carrier Squeeze
33:00 LaGuardia Marine Terminal
35:25 Winners and Losers
35:45 Royal Caribbean Fuel Hit
36:47 Space Licensing and Tourism
39:29 Long Term Outlook Farewell

The U.S. passport is no longer among the world's most powerful. Skift revisits its biggest travel megatrends of 2026, and The Odyssey is already driving tourism in Norway.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss what shifting passport rankings reveal about global influence, which travel megatrends have held up through the first half of the year, and why movie tourism continues to be a powerful force for destinations.

Connect with Skift

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00:00 Passport Power Rankings

02:35 Dressing Up to Travel

03:32 Ironing Boards Crusade

05:03 Henley Index Deep Dive

07:52 Megatrends Midyear Game

10:34 Tourists Skip the US

13:13 Marketing for AI Search

14:44 Sustainability Reality Check

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20:07 Luxury Boom Debate

21:58 Self Driving Trend Watch

23:37 Train Renaissance Tease

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25:18 Flying taxis progress

25:56 Music tourism boom

27:50 K-beauty travel trends

29:46 OTA oligopoly cracks

31:30 Vibe coding tsunami

37:39 World Cup matrix reveal

44:30 Winners of the week

48:32 Wrap and sign-off

The World Cup didn't deliver the inbound tourism boost many expected. Delta still posted strong earnings despite soaring fuel costs. And new Skift Research points to Latin America as one of travel's biggest growth opportunities.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore why the travel industry is shifting toward higher-value travelers, premium experiences, and a new definition of growth.

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00:00 Tourism Drop Shock

01:48 Why World Cup Didn’t Boost

03:47 Value Over Volume Travel

08:14 Group Stage Travel Surge

10:35 Live Tourism Everywhere

11:30 Spain Eclipse And Overtourism

13:28 Delta Premium Revenue Milestone

18:40 K Shaped Travel Economy

23:55 Skift Premium Trend Report

26:31 Winners And Losers Segment

29:02 Brand USA Takes The L

30:33 Ennismore IPO Buzz Wrap

33:42 Closing Thanks And Goodbye

Visa is becoming a travel company. Mews is restructuring around AI. And Gen Z is already reshaping business travel.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore how new competitors, artificial intelligence, and changing traveler behavior are rewriting the rules for travel companies—and why these seemingly separate stories all point to the same shift happening across the industry.

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00:00 AI Layoff Banter

00:48 Delta One Unbundled

02:37 Basic Business Breakdown

03:12 Seat Selection Stories

04:27 Booking Friction Risks

06:43 Muse Cuts Explained

11:00 AI Jobs And Economy

14:55 Visa Travel Portal

17:27 Can Visa Compete

19:16 Ground Game Logistics

19:35 Lotus Hotel Points Find

21:13 Credit Card Hotel Portals

21:36 Visa Luxury Collection

22:49 Gen Z Business Travel Habits

24:17 Corporate Tools Limit Choice

25:01 Gen Z Trip Growth Stats

27:19 Business Trip Anxiety

30:02 Gen Z Workforce Shifts

31:55 World Cup Winners Losers

35:07 Signing Off Next Week

More than 1,200 hotel franchise agreements are set to expire by 2030, and some owners are deciding it's time to leave the big brands behind.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore why independent hotels are becoming a more realistic option, how technology is changing the franchise equation, and why new Skift Research suggests consumers—and AI—may no longer see meaningful differences between many hotel brands.

00:00 1200 Expiring Flags

02:16 Why Go Independent

02:34 Series Origins Minnesota

04:46 Meet Pritesh Patel

06:36 Do Brands Drive Demand

09:40 Gary Patel and Airbnb

13:32 Territories and Soft Brands

16:54 Perfect Storm Renewals

19:42 Financing Without a Flag

22:25 Bankers See It Coming

22:54 Reporting Heartland Hoteliers

24:24 Financing Surprise and Data

25:47 Franchise Model Under Strain

28:57 Fees Soft Brands and Flex

30:48 Skift Decision Brief Launch

33:00 Too Many Brands Problem

35:46 Decision Pathways for Brands

38:08 Winners and Losers Segment

40:19 Freddy Quits X Finale

The World Cup brought international visitors to America, expecting one thing and finding something completely different.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss the Knicks' championship, sports tourism, viral European road trips across America, and why the World Cup may be reshaping global perceptions of the United States in real time.

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Travel startups raised $3.4 billion last year, but AI may be reshaping where the next generation of travel companies emerges.

Seth Borko and venture capitalist Gilad Berenstein discuss travel startup funding, hotel robotics, the future of travel distribution, and the race to own the AI agent that could eventually plan and book your trips.

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00:00 Travel VC Snapshot

03:23 Deal Sizes Rising

05:49 What Makes VC Backable

07:59 Travel as Luxury

09:25 Founder Problem Fit

12:51 Hotels Get Smart

18:20 Robots in Hotels

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31:35 AI Swarms And Ecosystems

33:19 Work And Company Brain

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36:36 AI As Tool Or Agent

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41:19 Travel Investment Categories

45:44 Pitch Killers And Moats

46:42 Best Bets By Sector

48:30 Travel IPO Watchlist

50:24 Wrap Up And Plugs

Seth Borko and Sean O'Neill discuss the biggest lessons from Skift's Data + AI Summit and revisit a decade of hotel direct-booking strategy.

They examine why hotels improved profitability without significantly reducing OTA share, how loyalty programs reshaped distribution economics, and why AI could become the next major disruption in travel booking.

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