Is travel’s affordability crisis reaching a boiling point?

Rafat Ali thinks it may be. A veteran business journalist turned travel media entrepreneur, he is the founder of Skift, one of the world’s leading travel business websites. And he has been one of the industry’s most outspoken voices on the trouble brewing with travel’s high prices.

Rafat joins this episode of the podcast to discuss the affordability issues dogging travel in 2026 — and how they may be driving customers away. He shares why profit maximization may be working against travel companies and how group travel may be one of the keys to making travel more affordable to the middle class. Plus, we have news about Delta’s growing premium sector and a Hot Minute about why you must clarify your core values in 2026.

Rafat had lots of insight about why travel got so expensive in the past few years — and why that trend is probably unsustainable. Here’s what she had to say about how the post-pandemic travel surge is changing:

“The conventional wisdom became after COVID that people have reprioritized travel over other things. We have said that 100 times. But the numbers now are showing that travel’s wallet share has decreased in the last two years by four points, from 12% to 8%. And that means in the hierarchy of needs wants, travel has fallen back down to where it was before.”

Plus, he had great perspectives on:

Learn more about Skift and subscribe to the daily newsletter at skift.com.

Follow Rafat Ali on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/rafatali.

Learn more about the Skift Global Forum at live.skift.com/skift-global-forum.

Apply to attend our OnSite FAM tour in Myrtle Beach at grouptravelleader.com/mb-fam.

1:18 — Travel News: Delta doubles down on high-end customers

2:49 — News From Us: Join us for a student travel FAM to Myrtle Beach

7:06 — How Rafat Ali became a travel media mogul

10:12 — What is driving travel’s affordability crisis?

16:05 — How profit maximization might be damaging your brand

21:31 — Do your travel vendors have any flexibility on pricing?

23:33 — Is automation the answer to high travel prices?

26:06 — Identifying more affordable destinations

30:32 — Potential solutions to travel’s affordability crisis

42:55 — Hot Minute: Why does your travel organization exist in 2026?

See the full interview with Rafat on our YouTube channel.

Gather and Go with Brian Jewell is a tourism industry podcast that helps group travel leaders plan, promote and lead better trips. There are also tips and insights for destination marketers and others who support the tourism trade. Each episode reaches thousands of professional tour operators, travel agents and the volunteer group leaders they serve. The audience also includes destination museum leaders, church travel leaders and other tourism enthusiasts around the world. Each show includes an interview with a smart travel pro or an insightful person from outside tourism who’s expertise can help make travel businesses better. You’ll also hear travel news, road tips and more. New episodes are released about twice monthly.

You can find Gather and Go wherever your listen to podcasts or subscribe by email.