Traveling Blog: Accor's Air France Rationale + American Skittish on Gulf Airlines + Kayak's Fare Focus

June 5, 2018

Editor's Note

A day after it confirmed it had an interest in buying a minority stake in Air France, AccorHotels on Monday received a crushing review of that idea. Investors punished its stock, as shares closed down 7 percent. That's more than $800 million in market cap in a day.

This can't come as a shock to CEO Sebastien Bazin and his executive team. Even with all the creative thinking behind earlier deals to extend beyond traditional hotel operations at Accor, owning even a small piece of Air France seems like pushing the envelope too far. History is full of bad deals when companies decided to veer out of their lanes, even if this investment falls under the broader umbrella of travel. And Air France, with systemic labor problems and anemic profits, is the last airline any hotel chain should think about investing in.

Accor is about to come into lots of cash after selling its property assets. Share buybacks and paying down debt are not sexy and won't win you any favors with French President Emmanuel Macron, who must certainly be pushing for a white knight investor for Air France. Senior Hospitality Editor Deanna Ting analyzes Accor's motivations in our story today, but Bazin should just take a pass on this one.

— Tom Lowry. Managing Editor

Delivering Personalization at Scale in Hospitality

This time next week, our team will be in Silicon Valley for the inaugural Skift Tech Forum. We're excited to welcome you and hundreds of attendees from nearly 200 leading companies. Want to be a part of the action? Act quickly to save a seat!

What Accor's Interest in Air France-KLM Means for the Travel Industry

AccorHotels, Airbnb, and everyone else in travel is clearly thinking about what it'll take to be the "super brand of travel" before other mega brands like Amazon and Google deepen their own investments in the travel space.

American Not Ready to Resume Commercial Ties With Etihad and Qatar Airways

Journalists grilled American Airlines CEO Doug Parker on Sunday about world affairs. It was unusual, considering he usually answers questions about capacity, or the passenger experience. But airlines are global businesses that rely on free trade agreements and deals negotiated by diplomats. Recent protectionist moves by some governments may not bode well for airlines.

Skift Tech Forum Preview: Kayak's Chief Scientist Confident on Fare Predictions

Today's data scientists know what they don't know. In other words, they have an appreciation for the complexity of what they are trying to accomplish. Separating the hype from the reality is one of the topics data executives from Kayak and HotelTonight will discuss at the Skift Tech Forum.

Hyatt Place Launches New Features Catering to Business Travelers

Hyatt doesn't want its Hyatt Place hotel brand to become the next Sheraton.

Hawaiian Airlines CEO on Staying Small While Withstanding Competition

In the airline industry, bigger is almost always better. But Hawaiian Airlines is betting its unique niche will help it as more competitors add capacity in its markets. Still, the airline could someday be a takeover target for another airline that wants to grow.

Behind the Hype of Qantas' Grand Plans to Fly Nonstop to London and New York

You have to give Qantas some credit for its public relations strategy. It will be at least four years before the airline launches "hub-busting" flights to New York or London from Sydney but the airline already has almost everyone in the airline industry talking about its plans.

Kayak Takes Control of OpenTable

If OpenTable's corporate leadership wants to position it as a force in the restaurant world, dropping key marketing, product, and communications executives is a step in the wrong direction.

United's New Loyalty Boss Confirms Focus on Demand, Not Miles, Is Here to Stay

United's new vice president of loyalty is putting his weight behind a new credit card and a handful of other initiatives at the airline. It will be interesting to see how those goals mesh with a weary base of MileagePlus members and a management team eager to turn profit and save cash.

In the hospitality business, the big are getting bigger — and, we hope, getting smarter about how they communicate that to consumers, and how they keep their hotel owners and franchisees happy. This points transfer and status match between Wyndham and La Quinta is a good start.

Lisbon's Overtourism Lesson: Living Like a Local Is Not Enough

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.

The Highest Paid Travel CEOs in Europe in 2017

European travel CEOs are paid well by most standards — but not compared with their peers across the pond.

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