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Digital marketing and advertising tools, if utilized effectively can help hotels increase direct bookings, draw in new customers, and improve the overall content strategy. This tech category has the potential to generate $3 billion in annual revenues and is embedded in the industry's future.

Marriott and Hilton are the two largest and most well known asset-light hotel chains in the U.S. Both companies' stock prices and valuations soared in 2020/21, with Hilton outperforming Marriott. However as any SEC rule book will tell you - past performance isn't indicative of future results. This handy 20 chart factbook provides investors the key comparisons on the two companies in order to make investment decisions into 2023.

The Skift Travel Health Index continues to indicate global travel recovery in May 2023. With 14 out of 22 countries having fully recovered and some overtaking pre-pandemic travel performance, we anticipate the index to soon significantly surpass 2019 levels if the present travel trends continue.

Chinese travelers are eagerly embracing new travel opportunities as restrictions ease, with a strong desire to explore their dream destinations and engage in unique cultural experiences.

Vacasa, like the short-term rental sector writ large, is coming off of a pandemic-fueled growth spree and faces the question of what comes next. Can Vacasa tap into first-party growth while scaling back cash-intensive investments? With investor patience running thin, the clock is ticking.

Hopper is the new kid on the block. Except it's not. Founded in 2007, it spent a decade building a huge database of flight information before selling its first flight booking in 2016. The time it spent on its cutting edge price prediction capabilities have paid dividends, leading to the launch of a suite of fintech products which have been fundamental in Hopper's disruption of the legacy OTAs.

For the first time since January 2020, the Skift Travel Health Index has seen its global score move beyond 100, indicating how global tourism is now performing better than it did before the pandemic. Every region included in our index showcased growth over the last month.

The U.S. airline industry is roaring again and gunning for record profitability in the coming summers on the back of strong results delivered in 2022. However, dynamic passenger demand and macroeconomic conditions could dampen this growth.

Despite rising prices and economic uncertainty, many U.S. travelers seem to be ring-fencing their travel budgets from spending cuts.

The abundance of hotel booking channels calls for a tech-enabled distribution strategy. Central Reservation Systems help manage rates and availability across multiple booking channels and have the potential to become a $1.3 billion tech category.

India has all the cards to become the next mega source market for international travel, although major barriers still need to be overcome. The country has been performing extremely well in our Skift Travel Health Index.

Generative AI is poised to transform the travel industry. True, there’s plenty of hype out there with little substance to back it up. But even after Skift Research separates the chaff from the wheat, we find that a multi-billion dollar opportunity still remains.