Skift Take
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, July 5 in New York City. This is what you need to know about the travel business today.
Today’s edition of Skift’s daily podcast discusses Margaritaville’s particular focus on expansion, easyJet’s executive change, and the impact of the Ukrainian war on Eastern European tourism. Read also : Employees remain the biggest problem for the travel industry. .
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Episode Notes
Travel executives expressed concern earlier this year that the war in Ukraine would harm tourism in neighboring countries. This may interest you : Are you traveling over the weekend of July 4th? How to keep your devices and data safe.. But as travelers are less concerned about the conflict now than at its inception, global tourism reporter Dawit Habtemariam writes that Eastern Europe is making progress in recovering tourism.
Sam White, an executive at tour operator Explore Worldwide, was an uncertain industry leader about the impact of the war on Ukraine’s neighbors. White had good reason to worry: a March poll found that 62 percent of Americans were worried about the conflict spreading to other parts of Europe.
However, as travelers seem less afraid that the war is spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders, tourism executives in Poland and Romania are optimistic about a strong recovery. Polish officials in particular have said the number of individual visits has been strong recently. In addition, Yves Marceau, product vice president of G Adventures, said higher air fares affect travel to Eastern Europe more than war in Ukraine.
We approach one of the biggest brands in music, Jimmy Buffett. His hit song Margaritaville became a springboard to a multimillion-dollar empire, including profitable hotels. Senior hotel editor Sean O’Neill and Andrea Doyle, senior editor of Skift Meetings, explain how Margaritaville Holdings CEO John Cohlan helped turn the brand into a major player in the hotel industry.
Cohlan, who first met the singer in 1996 after being moved to Florida to work, said he realized Buffett could become an even bigger brand while watching him perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. . Since then, Cohlan has played a crucial role in Buffett’s business ventures, including organizing a deal for a Margaritaville restaurant at Universal Studios Orlando’s theme park that opened in 1999.
But Margaritaville Holdings has also been a pioneer in the hotel industry. The company adopted the asset light model, in which it franchises its brand to hotel owners rather than running hotels on its own, ahead of industry giants Marriott and Hilton. Cohlan has also expressed pride in helping popularize the concept of hotel lifestyle.
Finally, the repercussions remain the recent chaos of airlines and airports, as easyJet’s Peter Bellew resigned as chief operating officer of the low-cost Swiss-based company, after weeks of unrest in the airline.
He has now left “to look for other business opportunities,” the airline said in a statement on Monday, starting July 1, as other European airlines prepare for a difficult summer, including SAS, which is now s ‘will face widespread strikes after pilots voted in favor on Monday. undertake industrial actions.
Airport boundaries will also contribute to a period that is already difficult. For now, David Morgan, easyJet’s director of flight operations, will lead the operations function on an interim role, according to CEO John Lundgren, writes Asia editor Peden Doma Bhutia.
