Airline CEO Pay Ranked + Africa's Missed Opportunity + The Luxury Inspectors

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

May 29, 2018 View in browser

Editor's Note You're back from a long holiday weekend, you're hopefully refreshed, and Skift is ready to help you kick off your week with a few surprises. Who would have guessed that the airlines, which seem to make money hand over fist, would have CEOs with compensations that are relatively modest compared to other industries? Check out our CEO pay ranking from Aviation Business Editor Brian Sumers, who looks at who was up, and who was down in 2017. Let's keep going. Who would have imagined that in 2018 African countries would not have tourism campaigns targeting African Americans? Our freelancer, Dana Givens, stumbled upon this fact earlier this month in South Africa at Indaba, one of Africa's largest trade shows. Some tourism officials told us they are researching the potential. We have that research right in our story: Black Americans spend $48 billion each year traveling and 68 percent want to learn more about their history through travel. No brainer. Finally, who knew that a secret cadre of white glove inspectors is perusing your favorite luxury hotels to ensure they meet the highest standards? Colin Nagy in his On Experience column offers a fun glimpse into the clandestine world of these luxe inspectors. — Tom Lowry, Managing Editor New Skift Report: E-Commerce Fraud Protection for Travel Brands Sponsored by Riskified We're taking a closer look at the hidden costs of travel e-commerce fraud, and providing a strategy for how to address them, in our latest report. Download now to learn more. Download Now Top Stories Skift Tech Forum's Mobile App is Live Featuring all the logistics you'll need to navigate, mingle, and meet fellow attendees at the conference on June 12, our newly launched attendee-only mobile app is your answer to all Skift Tech Forum questions. These U.S. Airline CEOs Made the Most Money Last Year Does the average traveler care whether a U.S. airline CEO made $7 million or $13 million last year? It's highly doubtful. Passengers want to fly a well-run, on-time airline with friendly customer service. How much money the CEO makes is probably immaterial to most customers. African Tourism Boards Often See the American Traveler as White While there's interest among African tourism boards in marketing actively to black Americans, these boards are missing opportunities by not diversifying their strategies. Meet the Stealth Inspectors Who Ensure Luxe Stays in Luxury Hotels We don't see it, but there is a complicated ecosystem to secretly assess and uphold standards at the world's best hotels. And some of the details reveal a lot about how important the human factor and emotional intelligence are to the future of luxury hospitality. Skift Tech Forum Preview: United's Chief Digital Exec on Fixing In-Flight Wi-Fi You probably can't blame airlines for delivering a poor in-flight Wi-Fi experience. As United's Chief Digital Officer Linda Jojo says, it's likely impossible for any provider to give passengers a consistent ground-like experience. People forget sometimes they're traveling more than 500 miles an hour, at more than 30,000 feet. These 10 U.S. Zip Codes Buy the Most Travel Online Don't be jealous of the residents of these U.S. zip codes who book the most hotels and flights. Travel is the rare thing you buy that makes you richer no matter where you're from. Popular Now The Palms New Ad Campaign Aims for High Art, But Does It Miss the Mark? There's a fine line between what some might deem edgy and what some might find insensitive. U.S. Issues New Requirements for Russian Planes in Airspace Spat The State Department just closed the books on the last long-running airline-related diplomatic saga in Washington — Open Skies agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Now, apparently, the government is turning its attention to a feud with Russia about so-called overflight rights. Americans Won't Ditch Phones on Vacation Despite Travel Industry's Digital Detox Push Travel is more accessible today than ever before because of mobile devices and the travel industry knows this. We don't see anything wrong with nudging travelers to look up from their devices every now and then, but promoting a device-free vacation reads a little tone-deaf in 2018. For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab. You received this email because you are subscribed to Skift Daily Newsletter from Skift.

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