Traveling Blog: Marriott Homesharing Plans + Cuba Cruise in Overdrive + Sabre CEO on Leading With Tech

June 1, 2018

Editor's Note

In any given week, Skift offers you so much in terms of original stories, research and insights, it's easy to lose track of it all. But every Friday morning like clockwork, Skift's Travel Tech Editor Sean O'Neill delivers a roundup of funding for travel startups. A few million dollars sprinkled here, a few million invested there. It may not sound like much but the roundup is an important barometer for the travel industry. Knowing where the smart money is being spent, and the not-so-smart money, tells us a lot about the travel sectors. And sometimes it just leaves us scratching our heads over the ideas that are getting funded.

This week, for example, O'Neill highlights a company receiving funds for luggage that follows you around like an obedient Labrador. Another is a company with an app that allows you to hire beautiful people for your events. In the 18 months that O'Neill has been writing the column, he said one of his favorite, quirkier subjects was Life House, a hostel where they'll match you with guests using shared preferences, a bit like a dating app. O'Neill recently added a cheat sheet to help you understand the different levels of funding, yet another telling metric on the life cycle of these companies. The column is an important part of our robust Skift mix. We hope you make it a regular part of your Friday morning routine.

— Tom Lowry, Managing Editor

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Marriott's Plans for Homesharing, Malls, and All-Inclusive Resorts

Marriott is already dabbling in tours and activities, homesharing, and cruising and soon, potentially, all-inclusive resorts. So, what's next? Aviation?

Havana's Big Cruise Ambitions Could Be Too Much Too Fast

No one doubts that Cuba will continue to grow as a cruise destination. The question is how that growth will be managed — and whether the island can cope with the influx of additional daily visitors.

Skift Tech Forum Preview: Sabre's CEO on Going Technology-First

Sabre has slimmed down over the last year and is investing in its airline and hospitality technology products. Find out more from CEO Sean Menke at Skift Tech Forum on June 12 in Santa Clara, California.

ForwardX Raises $10 Million for Self-Pushing Luggage: Travel Startup Funding This Week

Robotic luggage that follows you like a golden retriever. An app for ordering beautiful people to attend your event. A tool for making corporate travel as pleasant as leisure travel. These are the fantastical ideas that got funded this week.

Hyatt Enters Business Travel Management Battleground

In a somewhat bizarre twist, even hotel chains are beginning to provide travel management tools to small businesses. This further underscores how much some growing businesses don't really want to deal with a travel management company at all.

Lisbon's post-crisis evolution and corresponding tourism boom show the dramatic impact and lasting ramifications of overtourism. Efforts have centered on sustainable tourism and limiting tourism's potential negative impacts, but, in our view, the focus has been all wrong. Sustainable tourism should be about sustainable cultures, and we all have a role to play.

Delta CEO Dismisses Threat From Low-Cost Transatlantic Airlines

European and U.S. airlines years ago underestimated the threat posed by short-haul discount airlines. Since then legacy carriers have treated transatlantic low-cost airlines as serious competitors. But there's reason to believe the low-cost model may not be as appropriate for longer routes. Legacy carriers might be OK this time.

The Most Highly Compensated Online Travel CEOs of 2018

TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer is ordinarily far from being the most-compensated CEO in online travel. This year represented an unusual payout for him. But Skift's annual survey reveals that most online travel CEOs are often more handsomely compensated than what the top bosses in other industries receive, on average.

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