Philoxenia: The Ancient Roots of Greek Hospitality
The Greek word Philoxenia, literally translated as a “friend to a stranger,” is widely perceived to be synonymous to hospitality.
External Articles
Why Europe needs a travel dispersal strategy to manage overtourism
Europe is at a crossroads in its relationship with tourism. Summer is on the horizon, international travel is back, and people are returning to their favorite destinations. As post-pandemic travel confidence booms, so are concerns about the negative impacts of overtourism.
‘Everybody loves Americans’: Why US tourists are a hot commodity
Justin Albertynas, a travel industry expert based in Vilnius, Lithuania, has some good news for US travelers who might be a bit self-conscious about the “ugly American” stereotype.
Here's How Travel Will Look In The Internet Of The Future
The future internet will provide us the opportunity to travel in a whole new way, whether that's through fully-immersive virtual travel experiences or by supplementing our real-world travel experiences with cutting-edge technologies.
Booking’s Very Expensive Marketing Piece of the Pie
Online travel is a weird industry when it comes to its outsized marketing spend as compared with other types of businesses.
How hotels are tapping into the potential of the metaverse to improve guest experiences
Increased digitalisation and ever-evolving technology are shaking up the global hospitality industry. Now, French hotel giant Accor is dipping its toe in the metaverse to create new customer experiences.
In 2024, You Can Have a Michelin-Starred Meal in Space
The United States has Cape Canaveral, Canada has Montreal, and France has the Occitanie region. It’s in this French region that one finds Aerospace Valley, a business cluster of hundreds of aviation research and engineering companies and the center of Europe’s aerospace industry. So it makes sense that it’s here that Vincent Farret d’Astiès would choose to found Zephalto, a luxury space travel company. “My initial dream was to offer serenity and a very personal relationship between space and the passengers on board,” Farret d’Astiès tells AD. He hoped to bring space travel to the public—infused with a flare of French art de vivre—in a way that worked in harmony with nature, not against it. Less than a decade later, that fantasy will soon be a reality: Zephalto plans to embark on its first passengered, low-carbon voyage by the end of 2024.
Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Index (CHSB) 2023
For the ninth consecutive year, the annual Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking research reveals a general decrease in energy and water usage among the participating hotels. The decrease is largely associated with the pandemic which shook the world and granted no exception to the hospitality industry. For this reason, low occupancy rates and hotel closures are major contributors to the decreased energy and water consumption reported, as compared to the 2019 calendar year data set. A total of 25,576 hotels from 31 international hotel groups took part by providing data on their water and energy use for the calendar year of 2021.
By Eric Ricaurte, Founder, Greenview
The Branded Residences Boom: Are hotels going out of fashion?
If money talks, investors are saying they aren’t that interested in hotels as much anymore. Can you blame them?
Expedia poised to take flight with generative AI
Artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt the travel industry, and Expedia CTO Rathi Murthy, who oversees a massive online travel network with 168 million loyalty members and more than 50,000 business partners, believes her company is well positioned to capitalize.
Hotel Expert: Stop Blindly Chasing Demand and Focus on Profit
Since 2016, I’ve considered Cindy Estis Green to be one of the brightest minds in the hotel sector. Her key insight is that hotel commercial strategy directors have to become more sophisticated about which customers will be the most profitable after accounting for all costs.
The end of ‘revenge travel’ has arrived for hotels
The U.S. hotel sector has been on a roller-coaster ride for the past three years. After fears of Armageddon became paramount for much of 2020, COVID-19 vaccines and pent-up demand quickly brought the phrase “revenge travel” into our lexicon as people sought experiences they missed during the early stages of the pandemic.
Highest-Paid Hotel CEOs
Rob Goldstein, CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., was last year’s best-compensated public hotel company CEO, collecting $40 million. The second-most was Patrick Pacious, president and CEO of Choice Hotels International, who earned $27 million in total compensation.
Unleashing AI: The Potential for Hospitality Brands
We’ve seen the flood of LinkedIn posts and professionals making confident proclamations about the future of AI. Truth is, this is a stage of learning, observing, and asking a lot of questions. There is not a lot of certainty, which means it is a fruitful time for travel brands to experiment and see what sticks.
Boutique Group CEO interview: How Mark DeCocinis is transforming Saudi palaces into world-class hotels
Despite the name, there is nothing small about the scope or scale of Saudi Arabia’s Boutique Group. A home-grown firm turning palaces and historical buildings into ultra-luxury hotels, Boutique Group has ambitions to become one of the world’s most important hospitality majors. Green-lit by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, and Chairman of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Boutique Group is more than a hotel company, it is a vessel to take Saudi culture to the world.
Sheikh Mohammed announces new Palm Jebel Ali project, twice the area of Dubai's iconic Palm Jumeirah island
The Dubai Ruler on Wednesday announced a new incredible project: Palm Jebel Ali, a development that will be twice the size of Palm Jumeirah.
Wyndham soon to be acquired by Choice Hotels?
At least that is the rumour that has been swelling in recent days across the Atlantic. Indeed, Choice Hotels International would like to buy Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as part of an operation that would create an American budget hotel giant.
Tourism Triumphs: Skift Travel Health Index Reaches Record High
April 2023 marked an important milestone: The full recovery of travel since the pandemic – as measured by the Skift Travel Health Index. And it’s a record, with our index passing the level last reached in 2019.
Travel Executives Expect 'Breakout Year' for International Demand
Executives in the travel business anticipate that international travel is finally back in 2023, especially with China travelers emerging from lockdown to traverse the world once more.
Is Choice Hotels aiming to buy Wyndham?
Choice Hotels International (CHH.N) is seeking to buy Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH.N) in a deal that would create a U.S. budget hotel giant, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.