Latest Research

Content has historically put airlines at the cutting edge of the travel sector, with carriers setting many content management precedents, well ahead of grounded brands. While the world's leading carriers and flagship brands have always been content producers, they have become more sophisticated introducing innovative approaches to content production and media utilization.

While Trivago, Kayak, TripAdvisor, and Momondo are spending millions of TV dollars to introduce consumers to their metasearch services, Google is moving in on them with zero TV spend. A look at the factors, including the rush toward direct bookings, that are shaping the entire metasearch sector in 2015.

A look at the present — and future — of e-mail marketing for travel brands. From responsive design and targeted sendings, to pushed content and pulling travelers into a fluid cross-channel narrative — e-mail marketers are steering the industry's course toward more reliable conversions, more of the time.

A major shift took place two years ago that caused travel brands to lament the dwindling access to consumers through Facebook. Paid reach beat out organic reach and brands realized that they don’t have much of a choice but to stay put. As consumers drift into other branches of this multi-pronged platform, smart brands are keeping one eye on the data that matters and the other, on greener pastures.

The winter travel market has been behind the curve compared to the broader travel market, but with recent investments in back-end technology and the embrace of a dynamic pricing marketplace, it is poised to leapfrog and nurture innovations that will enhance the quality of the experience.

Over the last decade, the world’s most innovative hotels and hotel brands have developed as portals into their destinations’ local communities. To communicate that experience to guests, hotels are developing sophisticated online content marketing that positions the hotel as a character in a traveler’s journey.

How do top executives and mobile gurus in travel view the dramatic shift toward mobile that’s under way and what does it mean for lookers, bookers and the bottom line? This Skift Trends Report traces some of the seminal shifts of 2014, from the dramatic rise in mobile bookings to same-day hotel-booking trends and marketing trends that impact mobile development.

The convention of the future is a co-created hybrid mechanism of live and virtual engagement, fluidly connecting more people through more channels over longer periods of time to leverage the collective knowledge of the community.

Business travel is showing post-recession resiliency, and opportunities to reach working travelers abound in the digital ecosystem. For brands, capturing a segment of what’s estimated to be some $71 billion in business-travel revenue, however, means a balancing act between travelers’ wants, corporate travel policies, and the emerging expectations of Millennials in the space.