Unpacking TUI’s New Hotel Strategy

TUI Group

A TUI Blue property. TUI Group intends to open up its new online ecosystem to independent hotels. TUI Group

Skift Take: Not only is TUI making a big bet on its own branded hotels, it wants to try and get independent hotels onto its new digital platform. How many are really going to want to get involved, and might it be better to try to fix its underperforming tour operator division?

— Patrick Whyte

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The Most Important Story in Hotels in 2019

Marriott International

Shown here is Villa Pura, a seaside property in Costa Brava, Spain, offered by Homes & Villas by Marriott International. Marriott International

Skift Take: The tug-of-war between hotels and short-term rentals intensified in 2019, with both sides making strategic moves to display their strength. There were wins and losses for everyone, and the result so far has been a deeper blurring of the lines between the two sectors.

— Nancy Trejos

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New Report: Leveraging Hotel Loyalty to Design Successful Business Travel Programs

Skift Take: Out-of-policy booking is a significant challenge in the business travel sector. Managers want employees to use approved tools and partners. But their business travelers frequently ignore those demands, choosing to purchase whatever is most convenient, cheap, or easy to use. Could hotel loyalty programs offer a solution to the impasse?

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What Have Hotels Done on Cybersecurity Since the Marriott Hack?

rh2010 / Adobe

The hotel industry is struggling to protect their guests from data breaches on their mobile devices. rh2010 / Adobe

Skift Take: Hotels are ripe for data breaches, with all the information guests provide them. The Marriott hack sounded a wake-up call when revealed last year. But hotels have been slow to come up with ways to protect their guests.

— Nancy Trejos

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Delta Air Lines Employees File Lawsuit Over Uniforms

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines unveiled new uniforms in 2018. Some workers say they make them sick. Delta Air Lines

Skift Take: This is an odd one. All kinds of people in all industries wear uniforms. Most of them without problems. Yet flight attendants at three different U.S. airlines have claimed in recent years that their uniforms have made them sick. What’s going on?

— Brian Sumers

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New Santa Fe Museum Struggles With Displacing a Historic Chicano Mural

Morgan Lee / Associated Press

A piece of the “Multi-Cultural” mural whose creation was headed by artist Gilberto Guzman is seen in Santa Fe, N.M., on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. The iconic Chicano mural painted by Mexican-American artists is scheduled for destruction in 2020 to make way for a new contemporary museum, generating a debate about gentrification and whose culture state and city officials are seeking to preserve. Morgan Lee / Associated Press

Skift Take: If this Chicano mural is going away, the new contemporary art museum had better not just preserve its memory but instead fill its halls with today’s Chicano artists, Native artists, and other underrepresented voices.

— Sarah Enelow-Snyder

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