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Economic worries might be catching up with the travel industry, but just in time China is starting to show signs of life.

Travel is back in full swing and Expedia Group and Booking Holdings are now fully recovered versus the pandemic. But under the hood, big changes are underway as these two booking sites revamp their strategies for the future.

The final push to full travel industry recovery seems more stubborn than initially thought. Continuing uncertainties and headwinds suppressed growth in October, with the Skift Travel Health Index sitting around the 85% mark since June with little movement.

Guest-facing tech has gained popularity over the last few years, especially due to its contactless capabilities. While there is a lot of investment in this landscape and growing interest from hoteliers and guests, it is still largely in its infancy with a lot of potential to grow.

High season... what high season? In September, 57% of Americans traveled, 10 percentage points higher than the same time last year. The normal decline in trip participation after the summer months did not occur, highlighting how the vacation season is being stretched as demand - and prices - remain high.

Newly released data is highlighting the shift away from Asia as the epicenter of travel, moving towards the Middle East and Europe. With China looking at its zero-Covid policy as the long-term solution to beating the pandemic, it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the pendulum to swing back.

So much has happened in the the travel industry in recent years. This new report by Skift Research puts perspective on those dizzying changes by providing definitive and data-driven insight into the current state of the travel industry, and the trends that will shape the future.

While not fully recovered, travel is taking on recognizable and predictable patterns in most regions. Asia Pacific is the exception, where there are still major fluctuations in travel performance with every new announcement of loosening and tightening of pandemic-related restrictions.

Higher prices and concerns about the economy haven't stopped Americans from traveling. Over half of Americans traveled in July. And nearly 60 percent of them said they might travel before the summer ends.

Asia Pacific still has the largest gap to pre-pandemic travel levels, but our back-of-the-envelope analysis shows that a return of Chinese travelers would pull many Asian countries back in the black. Now we just need to wait for the Chinese borders to reopen...

The global accommodation sector is witnessing a fast-paced recovery with 2022 revenue levels not far from reaching pre-pandemic levels. A closer look into the industry performance shows interesting variations in the pace of recovery as we review regions and sub-sectors.

China is finally starting to recover, after months of decline amid renewed lockdowns. The overall Index dropped for the first time in 2022 though, as the mess at airports and airlines is catching up with the industry.