Same Lipstick, New Pigs (Players)
The travel industry is changing.
It looks the same getting from Point A to Point B, but most things about the process are changing.
Here’s how.
M&A, SPACs, New Travel Industry600 words.Five words or less sentences.Mostly.
Delta spreads
Spirit collapses
Americans United
Hyatt buys Apple Leisure Group
Short Term Rentals enter mainstream
Sonder did a SPAC
Vacasa did a SPAC
Inspirato did a SPAC
Virgin did a SPAC
Hotel Planners did a SPAC
American buys electric air taxis
Virgin buys electric air taxis
Azul buys electric air taxis
United buys electric
United buys supersonic
A380’s scrapped
747s, 777s, 767s parked
Alaska joins OneWorld
Jet Blue and American join
Airline route maps are redrawn
Branson flies into space
Bezos flies into space
Elon is boring. Holes, under Las Vegas
Travel Leaders [renames] and consolidates
EagleTree Capital invests in Frosch
Frosch buys Valerie Wilson
Subscriptions are the new rage
Memberships are the new rage
Subscriptions & memberships require expertise
TripAdvisor does a membership
Mr & Mrs Smith membership
AFAR has a book club
Delta boarding subscription
Flat fee, monthly fee, annual
Consulting firms cutting corporate travel
Amex GBT acquires Ovation
Amex GBT acquires Egencia
Face to face still meaningful
Hopper, holy cow!
Journera, streamlines
Traxo stops the leaks
Uber eats
CLEAR has my COVID card
COVID still reshaping travel
Cruise is back
One knot at a time
TravelPort unbecomes Yum
(Commentary break)
There is no doubt the travel world changed differently. Again.
In the tech world, “Putting lipstick on a pig” is to make a ‘cosmetic’ change to an old technology. My article is the other way around. The act of travel looks the same (lipstick), but everything behind the lipstick has changed. With deference to pigs.
Orwell on pigs… their brilliance, craftiness, ingeniousness, their ascent. Pigs boarded planes as emotional support animals. Pigs are super intelligent. Babe is a pig. Long live pigs.
(Commentary end)
Same TSA, different traveler looks.
Same travelers, pent-up frustrations.
Same people, pent-up hostilities.
Same seats, erupted mask hatred.
Same flight attendants, more targeted.
Same Uber, different protocol.
Same restaurant, different cleanliness.
Same restaurant, new QR menus.
Uber eats.
…same lipstick, new players.
Short Term Rentals are booming
Who grades them?
Who cleans them?
How consistent are they?
How do I book them?
Will someone meet me?
…are there cameras?
Marriott bought Starwood
Marriott has Short Term Rentals
…changes still happening
Hyatt buys Apple Leisure Group
Cash, US$2.7B
100 properties
Packaged holidays
Activities & tour operations
Luxury
All-Inclusive
IHG launching luxury brand
Parked old planes
Flying new planes
Greater efficiency
Smarter route planning
Smaller lavatories (ugh)
Electric planes testing
Electric planes ordered
eVTOL replacing helicopters
São Paulo smiling
More cities getting air service
…less time on the road
Avelo West, next East
Breeze
Alaska, American, JetBlue triangulation
Sorry, Norwegian
Passengers, keep calm and carry on
Certares: HUGE damn deal
Amawaterways
AMEX GBT
ARC Hotel
Azul
G Adventures
Getaway
Gohagen
Hertz
Internova
Nexion
Vacation.com
LATAM
TripAdvisor
New Travel Weekly Power List
Love Valerie, Jennifer, Kimberly
Love Priscilla
Love Tzell
Love Paul
Sustainability goes mainstream
From net zero to net negative
Global Sustainability Tourism Council complete
TravelPort unbecomes Yum.
Yum: KFC, TacoBell, Pizza Hut
New TravelPort
Innovation
Marketing
Technology
Emerging
Kudos Greg, Kyle, & team
Not just temporary changes.
Not new lipstick.
New players.
God Speed.
What do you think?
See you on the road…
Jim
Inspirers:
Ken Brown, first pax
Albert Taras, go big
Marie Forleo, YouTube maven
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic
Andres Fabris, Extrapreneur
John Halcomb, Wise guy
