Seth Borko

Head of Skift Research

Covers Global Travel

Seth Borko leads Skift Research, the premier source of market research and business intelligence on the travel industry. He oversees the team's 45+ annual reports covering hotels, airlines, online travel, short-term rentals, travel experiences, traveler behavior, and destinations.

Seth co-hosts the Skift Travel Podcast with Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit, where they discuss the latest news, research, and insights shaping the business of travel. He's also an accomplished public speaker, combining data-driven analysis with a passion for travel and an understanding of industry history to bring emerging trends to life. Before joining Skift in 2018, Seth worked in finance at J.P. Morgan. 

Areas of Research

Seth researches how consumer trends, economics, distribution, and technology intersect across the global travel industry. He has a focus on hotels, airlines, and online travel agencies. He leads the Skift research team in translating its findings into clear, compelling perspectives for industry leaders—bringing together data, analysis, and real-world context to deliver meaningful and actionable insights for readers, clients, and event audiences.



Airlines

The State of Airline Distribution 2018

The airline distribution ecosystem often gets unfairly labeled as being populated by dinosaurs. Our sense is that industry players are making genuine attempts to modernize, it’s just that it takes a long time to turn around such a titanic ship. We break down this complex and, at times, intimidating topic by reviewing the current landscape and inspecting four key fault lines in the space.
Seth Borko |
Destinations

The State of Tours and Activities 2018

Optimizing a fragmented and traditionally offline model is obviously going to take time. However, we expect key players in the tours and activities space to increasingly try new strategies not only to increase scale, access to distribution, and consumer reach, but also to enhance in-destination experiences for travelers and locals alike.
Margot Bigg, Rebecca Stone, and Seth Borko |