The Skift Podcast

Our guest on today's mini-episode of the Skift Podcast is Richard Solomons, the soon-to-retire CEO of InterContinental Hotels Group. He spoke at Skift Forum Europe this year and joined us backstage in the Skift Take Studio to discuss how IHG is trying to cater to both millennials and baby boomers, the way the company is keeping well-known brands relevant but comfortably familiar, the reason he isn’t really worried about Airbnb, and plans to expand the boutique Kimpton brand.

On today's episode of the Skift Podcast, we're talking about the way consumers comparison shop for travel. Our guests are executives from some of the top metasearch companies in the world: Trivago managing director Johannes Thomas, Kayak CEO Steve Hafner, Momondo Group CEO Hugo Burge, and Skyscanner CEO and co-founder Gareth Willams. Each spoke at Skift Forum Europe in London this year and sat down individually with us backstage in the Skift Take Studio.

On today's mini-episode of the Skift Podcast, we're talking about disruption in the airline industry. Our guest is Bjorn Kjos, the CEO of Norwegian Air. He spoke about low-cost transatlantic flights, competition from legacy carriers, the airline’s growth opportunities around the world, and the risks facing global travel. Kjos joined us in the Skift Take Studio backstage at the first ever Skift Forum Europe in London.

On today's episode of the Skift Podcast, we're talking about volatility in the world, and how the travel industry deals with it. Our guests are Olivier Jager, CEO and co-founder of ForwardKeys, which compiles tourism data based on reservations transactions, and Gerald Lawless, chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council. They joined us in the Skift Take Studio backstage at the first ever Skift Forum Europe in London.

On today’s episode of the Skift podcast, we’re talking hotel loyalty: who’s doing it right, who’s still trying, and how it is continuing to evolve. Our guest is Gary Leff, founder of the View from the Wing blog. We also have insights from Best Western Hotels & Resorts CEO David Kong and Langham Hospitality Group CEO Robert Warman.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we’re talking about why bargain-priced airfare is all over the news, the true cost of cheap flights, the reason airlines are fighting to capture price-sensitive travelers, and what they’re charging for instead. Our guests are Brian Sumers, Skift’s airline business reporter, and editor in chief Jason Clampet. We've also got clips from interviews with British Airways CEO Alex Cruz, International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh, and Emirates Airline President Tim Clark.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we're hearing from leaders of the world’s two largest cruise lines on attracting newcomers to cruising, appealing to millennials, and considering the needs of Generation Z. The episode features portions of separate conversations we had with Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, and Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International.

On this episode of the Skift Podcast, we're talking about tourism growth in New York City, the role of gentrification, the new ways that visitors are experiencing the city, and what kind of growth is sustainable. Our guest is Skift reporter Andrew Sheivachman, who reported an in-depth piece on the city's tourism landscape, and we're also hearing from interviews he did with several industry leaders.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we're talking about the legal and technological changes that have made travel more accessible to people with disabilities, the opportunities that the travel industry has been missing, and what lies ahead for the disability travel market. Our guests are Peter Slatin, founder and president of Slatin Group, which provides education and training to help businesses improve interactions with clients who have disabilities, and Brett Heising, CEO of brettapproved.com, a travel and entertainment review site for users with physical disabilities or mobility impairment.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we explore the biggest trends that will define travel in 2017, with audio from our annual Megatrends event. Skift founder and CEO Rafat Ali and co-founder and editor-in-chief Jason Clampet delve into topics including how low-cost airlines are changing the transatlantic game, the festivalization of meetings and events, the return of humanity to travel, and the evolving desires of Baby Boomer travelers.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we’re talking about a very specific form of travel advice — the where-to-go-in-the-coming-year list — and what goes into making them. Our guests are Dan Saltzstein, a travel editor at The New York Times who organized the 52 Places to Go in 2017 project, and Nikki Ekstein, travel editor at Bloomberg Pursuits. She oversaw Bloomberg’s Where to Go in 2017 list.

On this episode of the Skift podcast, we're hearing from supertravelers about what they like, dislike, and merely tolerate on the road. The conversation took place at the Skift Global Forum last year. Panelists are Alexandra Wood, chief operating officer at Wearable Experiments; Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future\Perfect Ventures; Colin Nagy, head of communications strategy at creative agency Fred & Farid, and Leonard Brody, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. The discussion was moderated by Skift research director Luke Bujarski We recorded the introduction to this episode in late 2016, so when you hear a reference to "this year," that's the year we mean.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, we welcome Mike Shea, chief logistics officer and partner at South by Southwest, and Rich Goodstone, co-founder of Superfly, the production company behind Bonnaroo. Mike and Rich joined us in the Skift Take Studio backstage at the Skift Global Forum to talk about bringing fun to events that could be boring, the way attendee behavior is changing, and why selfies are getting in the way of experiences. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, we welcome Oliver Heckmann, Google's vice president of engineering who heads the search engine's travel product. We spoke backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. He spoke to us about how user behavior is changing with the shift to mobile, Google’s efforts to move toward an assistant-driven environment, and the future of virtual and augmented reality. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.

On this mini-episode of the Skift podcast, Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans discusses last-minute behavior, direct bookings, advertising, new search methods, and more. We interviewed Gillian backstage in the Skift Take Studio during the Skift Global Forum. The Skift Take Studio Series is presented by Mastercard, a payments technology company that is enabling loyalty, security and data solutions for the global travel industry.