Traveling Blog: Airbnb's Startup Engine + U.S. Arrivals Forecast Spikes + Vegan Tourism Sprouts

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November 20, 2018

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Editor's Note

Here's a fact to ponder: Travel startups are on track to raise more than $5 billion in venture capital worldwide this year, up from $1.6 billion in 2013. That's a lot of new entrants into the industry. What does it mean for your existing business in terms of competition? Or what kinds of new opportunities do all these new venture-backed startups create? The answers are in an e-book from Skift Senior Research Analyst Seth Borko. For $50, the e-book will give you a curated entry point into what Skift Research delivers on a regular basis. Read Borko's book excerpt below on how Airbnb is creating niches in vacation rentals for a host of new startups. We're sure you're going to want to read the entire book digital cover to digital cover.

— Tom Lowry, Managing Editor

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CEO Interview: How AccorHotels Is Rethinking Its Food and Beverage Strategy

Airbnb has built itself into the third most richly valued startup in the world over the last decade. But business never stands still, and as Airbnb harvests its gains, the latest generation of alternative accommodation startups are collecting all of the new venture capital in the space.

International Visitors to U.S. This Year Expected to Break Record After Data Glitch Fix

After some confusion on visitor counts over a data glitch at airport kiosks across the country, international arrivals in the United States are on track to a break record in 2018. We'll see if long-term growth ends up being as robust as the federal government is touting.

Airbnb Reports $1 Billion-Plus in Third Quarter Revenue as IPO Talk Heats Up

Timing is everything as the homesharing giant touts big numbers while momentum builds for a likely public market debut in 2019.

Vegans Find New Options as Part of Next Wave of Food Tourism

Tour operators only launch tours that they see demand for, and in Intrepid Travel's case, there's no question that vegan travelers appreciate the attention and effort to design food tours that are just as delicious as any other.

Corporate Hotel and Air Business Remains Strong, But for How Long?

Corporate business remains strong for both hotels and airlines despite ongoing trade wars around the world. This seems unlikely to hold up in 2019.

Game On: Lyft and Uber Launch Loyalty Programs

Ridesharing and homesharing services have been long overdue for loyalty program launches. Now, both Lyft and Uber are offering at least limited options.

Most Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest members enjoyed a seamless integration earlier this year when the two programs merged. For some, however, latent issues are still hampering the experience. We asked five Starwood members about their journeys.

TripAdvisor Launches Redesign to Hook the Non-Bookers

If travelers aren't ready to book, feed them some inspiration and hope they'll hang around until they are. That is essentially what TripAdvisor's new travel feed is all about. Will the grand experiment work? We'll have to wait and see how the feature evolves.

This Startup Is Selling Fly-by-the-Hour Airline Gift Cards

This startup has the JetBlue Tech Ventures seal of approval, which means something in the travel space. But we're not sure why consumers would rather receive a gift card for airplane hours, than a gift card worth cash.

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