Lark Gould

Lark Gould writes for MultiBriefs, and is a news journalist who has been writing about travel and the travel industry for more than four decades. She started as a news correspondent breaking stories on the Horn of Africa and the Middle East in the 1980s. She is currently senior editor at Business Traveler USA, and also publishes Travel-Intel, which goes out to the travel trade. In addition, she writes for TravelPulse, TravAlliance Media, and other publications and serves as a content consultant for travel companies.

Articles by Lark Gould

• The new normal in travel: What will luxury look like?

  Tuesday, June 22, 2021

  The pandemic has produced a lot of new normals: masking, distancing, soloing, Zooming. And it has also borne a growing new normal in travel, especially in the luxury market. This segment of the travel industry is not new but it is growing at rocket speed, according to a report by Allied Market Research. The report cites the rising inclination toward unique and exotic holiday experiences, increased disposable incomes and related expenditures in the middle- and upper-class economic tiers, and a growth in the need and interest of people to spend more time with family.

• Global tourism recovery gets boost from industry leaders at WTTC 2021

  Tuesday, May 04, 2021

  The world's tourism leaders gathered for the 2021 World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit on April 26 to get a shared perspective on how to handle the ongoing crisis in world tourism numbers — a global condition of the 2020 pandemic that has seen the disappearance of more than 60 million jobs. "The impact of Covid in the travel and tourism sector had an impact 18 times stronger than the impact of the global financial crisis that occurred in 2008. This is why the event is so important, because it is the global platform for recovery," said Gloria Guevara Manzo, CEO and president of the WTTC.

• The importance of having a great office chair

  Wednesday, March 03, 2021

  Last year, COVID-19 brought the world to its knees — or more appropriately, its backside. Hence, the chair. Choosing the right office chair can be a life or death matter, literally. While the meme "sitting is the new smoking” may be a phrase turned lightly in social gatherings, studies show a direct correlation between sitting and chronic disease and premature death. The cure? Short of surgery, there is much that can be done to prevent injury, promote wellness and live a long, happy and productive office life. And it all begins with… the chair.

• CES 2021: The year of staying home with gadgets

  Friday, January 22, 2021

  As CES 2021 rolled out, it was not in Las Vegas. In fact, it was not anywhere in particular this year after more than a half-century of taking over the neon gaming mecca for four days of immersion in a veritable ocean of newfangled stuff and portentous technology. It was online-only and navigated through a tornado of tech talks and virtual kiosks. Still, there was news, analysis and plenty to talk about this year as the coronavirus continues to rage and a new administration takes over and changes some key commerce and trade policies.

• Boost from beyond: Business advice from a corporate intuitive

  Wednesday, January 20, 2021

  Chicago-based corporate thought-leader and intuitive Dr. Therese Rowley has spent time at the top of the corporate ladder as management consultant and strategic planner for some of the biggest companies in the U.S., including Kearney Inc. and AT&T. Armed with an MBA and Ph.D. among other degrees and certifications from prestigious institutions, she now uses her learned skills and inborn talents to coach business leaders, CEOs and entrepreneurs as they seem to break through barriers seen and unseen toward remarkable success. I sat down with Dr. Rowley on the eve of this new year to find out what 2021 may have in store as well as what we can learn from the troubling times we are currently experiencing.

• CES 2021 highlights the federal force behind a new era in technology

  Tuesday, January 19, 2021

  Managing an upward trajectory and positive environment that fosters the strength of U.S. technology companies is a topic that played large at CES this year. The world’s largest consumer technology exchange ended last week after it successfully executed the entire event online for the first time in its history. To offer an incoming U.S. government perspective on the current state of tech was CES CEO Gary Shapiro, who sat down with Brian Deese, President-elect Biden's pick to direct the National Economic Council (NEC), for a discussion of what may be ahead in leadership.

• Private jet travel: 2021 to be the year private flying takes off

  Wednesday, January 13, 2021

  2020 was a banner year for private jet travel. And given the unabating proliferation of new virus outbreaks and mutations, it is likely that 2021 will not see those statistics moving backwards. While airlines see passenger counts off by more than half, private flights are running at 90% of normal — or what they were in what is now tabbed as "pre-pandemic times." Corporates are increasingly flying entire teams to multiple locations around the world to ensure business continuity, according to industry research from Private Jet Card Comparisons showing that 31% of U.S. companies are expanding their use of private aviation for business trips.

• Esalen evolution: A retreat for the next age

  Thursday, November 19, 2020

  In troubling times, an oasis of calm can may be the missing piece that bridges the chaos of the present to the fortunes of the future. Enter Esalen. The renowned wellness and retreat center has completely transformed its operations and purpose to create a safe environment for people to unplug, explore, contemplate and forge deeper connections with the self, one another and nature — and to bring that wisdom back to their community. Its new program to help battle the isolation, loneliness and social justice issues, dubbed “Creating Connection through the Rituals of Esalen,” is a unique five-day opportunity to create rituals around important life transitions.

• New DC hotel targets powerful women

  Thursday, November 12, 2020

  #MeToo is not dead, it is sleeping — at a new hotel that hopes to attract the bold and the beautiful, if not the most powerful women on the emerging political landscape. Viceroy Hotels & Resorts is changing the conversation in Washington, D.C., and beyond, with the opening of Hotel Zena, a brash new cultural magnet giving special attention to the accomplishments of women and their enduring struggle for gender equality. It's an interactive venue where every architectural line, material and art installation have been thoughtfully designed and curated to send a message of female empowerment.

• Missed diagnosis: Travel amnesia

  Friday, November 06, 2020

  Is travel becoming a distant memory? After seven-plus months of lockdown by a global pandemic, an overlooked side effect may not be so obvious as a persistent cough or intermittent fatigue, but it is making its mark none the less: Travel amnesia. Americans are not only missing travel right now, they are struggling to remember what it felt like. But for all that forgetting, Americans say travel is their most frequently recalled happy memory, more than special occasions or personal achievements. In fact, the majority cite creating lasting memories as a primary motive for trips, according to a recent study conducted on behalf of Hilton.

• Hawaii inches toward opening for tourism

  Wednesday, November 04, 2020

  Traveling to Hawaii has never been tougher. The Aloha State, which saw visitor numbers nearing 10.5 million in 2019, has seen visitation decrease by some 50% this year so far. In May alone, that was down 98.9%. That number came to 9,116 visitors, and they traveled to Hawaii by air. That figure compared to 841,376 total visitors that entered by air and cruise ships during the same month a year ago. On the upside, a new pre-travel testing program recently began in October that will allow visitors in Hawaii who test negative for COVID-19 to avoid the two weeks of mandatory quarantine Hawaii has had in place since the pandemic began.

• Costa Rica slowly opens to US travelers

  Wednesday, October 28, 2020

  Costa Rica intends to allow all U.S. residents to visit the country as of Nov. 1. This move marks a radical departure from its policy of partial openings that started in the beginning of September. That allowed visitors from limited U.S. states to enter the country. The list later grew to 20 states and territories in recent weeks as conditions changed. Although waves of spikes continue to ripple through various U.S. states, Costa Rica still remains on target to uphold the November date. But there are still hurdles for those who want to head to the pristine rainforests and soft white beaches of this Central American tourism mecca.

• Villa stays spike as solution for safe, sumptuous vacation choices

  Wednesday, August 12, 2020

  As travel circles and sputters amid plans made, plans changed and plans canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, one travel formula is seeing great success as a fun and safe alternative to staying in crowded hotels. Thoughts have turned to private villas and chalets in scenic, if not breathtaking, destinations for vacations long and short and with all the pampering one can handle.

• Survey: Road trips tied to happiness during COVID-19

  Monday, August 10, 2020

  Summer travel is looking quite different this year. For North Americans, the search has been on for safe and affordable travel ways to get away and find an escape for the mind. To that end, new research shows hitting the road in an RV may be the way to go — especially for families on a quest for a packaging of sanity and safe travels.

• Flying scared? You’re not alone

  Wednesday, August 05, 2020

  The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted how comfortable Americans are traveling these days, especially if that trip involves a flight. In fact, a new survey from The Manifest shows that more than two-thirds of Americans these days are afraid to fly the friendly skies. Older Americans are particularly concerned when it comes to regions experiencing surges in cases.

• A startup is designing bed seats for budget flyers

  Friday, July 17, 2020

  Lie-flat seating is well known to business and first-class travelers — an indulgence coveted and purchased for its myriad perks. Now, a fresh innovation could bring the same concept to economy plus, and it couldn't have come at a more important time. Travelers in the economy cabin may soon be able to sit, lie flat, and sleep in the same seat while maintaining social distancing rules.

• Travel insurance gets the COVID-19 test

  Monday, July 13, 2020

  As travel looks to ramp up somehow in this precarious time, travel insurance concerns and interest have skyrocketed, and coverage is not always clear. This scene, for instance, is a familiar one of late and could happen to you. Say, you booked a trip — an expensive trip — It involved a cruise around Asia, a private tour in Japan and some upper-class seats on international flights. That was in January. Then February and March happened, and everything changed.

• Flying the friendly skies with a little help from HEPA filters

  Thursday, July 09, 2020

  Some might say that flying has never been cleaner. Airlines, airports and aircraft manufacturers are going to extraordinary lengths to get passengers flying again and that means upping the confidence factor in taking to the skies while the coronavirus continues to rage on the ground. Research this month from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that just 45% of travelers are willing to return to airports at this time. The air on a plane remains one of the top concerns for flyers.

• Some airlines issuing refunds to passengers failing temperature checks at airports

  Thursday, July 09, 2020

  While airports are busy creating new methods for screening passengers for cases of COVID-19 before they board their planes, some airlines are essentially thanking those passengers for not getting on by refunding their tickets. To that end, new thermal screens are being tested at airports to help stem spread of the virus by grounding passengers over any signs of fever.

• Airlines, governments, agencies take a stand on masks

  Tuesday, June 23, 2020

  As cities open up and daily life begins to look like pre-coronavirus normal, COVID-19 cases are spiking and hospital beds filling in some regions due to a growing movement to eschew simple social protections. Most noticeable among these protections? The polite and practical donning of face masks. The practice is encouraged for outside and inside activities, but especially indoors, where one infected person can expose many with concentrated vigor.

• Survey: Is summer vacation canceled?

  Thursday, May 21, 2020

  A new survey by personal finance site ValuePenguin.com shows that, as summer quickly approaches, the uncertainty around travel these days is taking a toll on potential travelers and their pockets. The blowback damage from the coronavirus pandemic has caused nearly half (48%) of Americans to cancel their summer travel plans for this year, leading to more distress for the travel industry. In fact, 1 in 6 Americans say they would wait a full year before traveling again.

• As occupancies reached all-time lows, hotel construction hit an all-time high in March

  Wednesday, May 13, 2020

  The U.S. hotel industry recorded 214,704 rooms under construction in March 2020, the highest end-of-month total ever reported by lodging research firm STR. The industry's previous construction peak happened in December 2007 with 211,694 hotel rooms in construction. That level was then slightly surpassed in February 2020 at 211,859 rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline. The news comes in the midst of hotel industry's ongoing COVID-19 nightmare.

• Travel destination offices forced to wait out the waves of COVID-19

  Wednesday, May 06, 2020

  Destination marketing offices, often at the core of profitable tourism endeavors in the U.S., are moving slowly, stunned deer in the headlights against a powerful pandemic. To that end, MMGY Travel Intelligence teamed up with the Destinations International Foundation to create a benchmark series of biweekly surveys of North American destination professionals for a nuts and bolts way of taking the pulse of the travel industry through the COVID-19 crisis.

• IATA: Airline companies could turn into ghosts

  Wednesday, April 29, 2020

  New forecasts from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are painting a bleak picture for airline recovery. According to the IATA's recent updated analysis, which profiled damage wrought by the COVID-19 crisis on the global airline industry, airline passenger revenues are projected to drop by $314 billion in 2020, a 55% drop over 2019. Previously, in March, IATA estimated $252 billion in lost revenues (-44% vs. 2019) in a scenario with severe travel restrictions lasting three months.

• Travel industry steps up with generosity

  Friday, April 10, 2020

  Not-so-random acts of kindness are in play in the travel industry as the coronavirus has decimated the jobs and stability Americans expect. As Americans try to make sense of it all, major travel industry brands are coming forward with measures of kindness that go a long way. These may be donations to food banks, hospitals or simple ways to relieve burdens or extend benefits.

• Survey: Travelers satisfied with industry management of the pandemic so far

  Tuesday, April 07, 2020

  It’s a very tough time to be a hotel or an airline. However, as travelers and travel suppliers wrangle with the impact the coronavirus crisis is having on their personal and professional lives, a survey conducted by J.D. Power finds that the travel industry is getting positive feedback from consumers who seem to approve of the way these different factions of the travel industry are handling the daily crises at hand. The survey of 1,633 past-year business and/or leisure travelers reveals that 60% believe hoteliers, cruise lines and airlines have shown concern for the health and safety of the traveling public. In general, the more often consumers traveled, the better they felt about the industry’s response to the crisis.

• 3 possible economic outcomes for the coronavirus pandemic

  Wednesday, April 01, 2020

  Surviving the coronavirus is currently top of mind for the American public. There are many likely scenarios possible within the possible epidemiological trajectories of COVID-19 and the economic response to this crisis will also develop over the next few months, bringing a new set of struggles to consider. The Conference Board, a New York-based think tank on the economy and public policy, has developed three scenarios for the development of the U.S. economy through the remainder of the year.

• What will travel be like in 2040?

  Tuesday, March 31, 2020

  By the year 2040, international travel will be a faster, easier and more ecologically sustainable activity than ever before, according to a report commissioned by Allianz Partners to help prepare for the travel-related needs of their customers in the future. Authored by internationally renowned futurologist Ray Hammond, "The World in 2040" futurology series presents likely future developments and trends that will impact international travel and the traveler experience over the next 20 years. The report identifies key trends that will, collectively, revolutionize the travel landscape by 2040.

• Afraid of bedbugs? Avoid these cities, says Orkin

  Tuesday, March 24, 2020

  Got bugs? Many cities do, if it is bedbugs that are the target. Washington, D.C., is the No. 1 city on Orkin's Top 50 Bed Bug Cities list, topping nearby Baltimore, which fell to the second spot after three years as the front-runner. Indianapolis joined the top 10 of the list this year. The list is based on treatment data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bedbug treatments from Dec. 1, 2018 to Nov. 30, 2019. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

• Aviation outlook brings ‘fearless forecasts’ for 2020

  Wednesday, March 18, 2020

  While the world copes with the coronavirus, one company keeps a sobering forecast of the airline industry afloat with a vision that things will return to their more workable state in the near future. Based on pre-COVID-19 concerns, Avolon, an international aircraft leasing company headquartered in Ireland with offices in the United States, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, recently issued a 2020 outlook paper on the aviation industry with some clear insights.

• Decoding the American traveler

  Thursday, March 12, 2020

  The 2020 Portrait of the American International Traveler Survey — a partnership this year between the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) and integrated marketing agency MMGY Global — sees a healthy appetite for travel among Americans and notes the hunger is not showing signs of dissipating anytime soon. The Portrait of American International Travelers Survey profiled 2,026 affluent American travelers with an annual household income of over $100,000.

• Airlines get serious about jet lag relief

  Wednesday, February 05, 2020

  While some airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic and JetBlue, are bringing out the music and mediation amenities to help passengers get the sleep they need as they fly across time zones, United Airlines is offering its loyalty fliers a free app that empowers passengers to get ahead of their jet lag. The app recommends sleep times, caffeine intake and times for light exposure for the quickest ways to adjust to new time zones.

• Quirky festivals provide compelling backdrops for Tokyo Summer Olympics

  Thursday, January 30, 2020

  Fifty-six years after the Tokyo Olympic Games of 1964, the Japanese capital will be hosting the games for the second time, from July 24 to Aug. 9. While the action will be thrilling enough, Japanese matsuri, or festivals, offer travelers an opportunity to escape the crowds and experience Japan's rich cultural heritage alongside locals. A number of the country's top matsuri will take place over the summer, allowing travelers heading to Japan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games an opportunity to experience Japanese traditions while traveling outside of Tokyo.

• Real ID set to affect who can and cannot fly

  Tuesday, January 28, 2020

  Identity cards are more consistent with what's portrayed in films about travelers trying to wend their way through World War II Europe than something we would see making its way to America. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to remind travelers that the upcoming Real ID requirement and enforcement will start Oct. 1, 2020. At that time, every air traveler must present a Real ID-compliant driver’s license, state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or other acceptable form of identification to fly within the United States.

• Expedia, Virtuoso weigh in on travel in 2020

  Tuesday, January 21, 2020

  When it comes to analyzing travel trends, Expedia has uncovered a variety of themes across flights, hotel stays, searches, bookings, and experiences. Based on robust analyses of U.S. traveler data, Expedia's 2020 Travel Trends show a hunger for roads less traveled this year. Meanwhile, Virtuoso, the global luxury travel specialist network, unveiled its "Wanderlist" for 2020 after surveying some 20,000 travel consultants about what they are seeing as popular and in-demand.

• CES 2020: Explorers in the era of 5G

  Thursday, January 16, 2020

  This year at CES 2020, the placards, posters, headlines and lowlines all, somehow, kept coming back to some reference for 5G. Phones were given 5G signal bars. Exhibitors were hyping their products as 5G-ready. But for all the pomp and circumstance around this number/letter combo, few among the 200,000-strong tsunami of attendees could say exactly how 5G was working for them right now. For starters, what, exactly, is 5G? The term stands for fifth-generation cellular wireless and refers to standards set at the end of 2017. And from there it is a bit like wandering down the rabbit hole.

• CES 2020: The future of flying, according to Delta

  Monday, January 13, 2020

  Delta Air Lines became the first travel company to deliver a keynote at CES 2020 as CEO Ed Bastian took the stage and offered a message that did not disappoint the forward-looking innovators and marketers in the audience. Laying out a compelling vision for the future of travel, Bastian showed how technology with purpose-driven, consumer-focused application can redefine the flying experience. "We see technology as a tool to further our mission of connecting people and creating opportunities," he said.

• Surveys: Travel industry apps, sites lag behind speed of new possibilities

  Thursday, January 09, 2020

  As the sophistication of technology available to us through our personal devices continues to develop and morph at lightning speed, it is not surprising that, according to recently released surveys by J.D. Power, many of the legacy travel apps we use are simply lagging behind their more agile, upstart counterparts. The 2019 J.D. Power U.S. Travel App Satisfaction Study and the 2019 U.S. Travel Website Satisfaction Study show that all travel industry websites — even those operated by digital natives — score substantially lower in customer satisfaction compared to high-scoring websites in other industries.

• Are business travelers traveling too much?

  Thursday, January 02, 2020

  While it is not news that frequent travel can be bad for your health, studies by global corporate travel management company CWT find that the psychological effects can be just as disconcerting as the physical erosion. Independent research commissioned by CWT has revealed that the concerns most frequent travelers have about their lives and lifestyles should be addressed. The two biggest worries that affect frequent business travelers around the world are home life deterioration and putting pressure on colleagues.

• The big bump: The airlines likely to oversell and what passengers should know

  Wednesday, December 11, 2019

  Bumps happen. In this case, we're addressing the airline kind that often leave passengers scratching their heads over voluntary rebooking — which may bring points, money or free flights in exchange for surrendering a seat. But we are also looking at involuntary bumps — such as the forced removal of a passenger in 2017 from a United Airlines Express flight out of Chicago. These cases are more common than one would think — and are on the uptick. And while getting bumped from a flight is always a risk for flyers, some airlines are better at managing their passenger loads than others.

• Travel2020: Traveling for the holidays? Here are the best and worst airports to use

  Wednesday, December 04, 2019

  For those who may want to avoid spending their holiday dinner at the boarding gate, munching on a tuna sandwich and waiting for news about their delayed, if not cancelled, flight, researchers at CompareCards and InsureMyTrip studied the data and came up with lists of the best and worst airports to pass through this season. It is important to note that a record number of passengers plan to travel by plane during the upcoming holidays.

• Travel2020: The rise of green cruising

  Tuesday, November 19, 2019

  Carnival Corporation, which holds the tag as the world's largest leisure travel company, is partnering with leaders from the maritime and engineering industries to pilot the world's first fuel cell system designed to power large passenger vessels. As early as 2021, Germany-based AIDA Cruises, which is owned by Carnival, will trial this innovative fuel technology on AIDAnova, becoming the cruise industry's first brand to trial fuel cells on a large cruise ship.

• Travel2020: Luxury travel study looks at the fire of desire in booking decisions

  Tuesday, November 12, 2019

  Travelers in 2020 are seizing the day and prioritizing trips now, fired up by the belief that customized experiences are the best investment of their money and time, according to the latest Virtuoso Luxe Report. The luxury travel network annually surveys its top travel agency members and their advisor salesforce across 50 countries to predict what lies ahead in the coming year. The Luxe Report unearthed six trends highlighting how upscale globetrotters continue to assert their influence in the travel sphere for 2020.

• Travel2020: Sustainable meetings resonate with socially conscious attendees

  Wednesday, November 06, 2019

  CWT Meetings & Events says that sustainability will continue to be an even more important business consideration for the $840 billion industry in 2020. The company’s research is outlined in a feature included in a report, "The Future of Sustainable Events." As activists protest in some of the world’s best-known destinations demand action on climate change, companies are increasingly taking notice. "The sustainability of the meetings and events industry, in fact of the entire travel industry, is at the forefront of companies’ and planners’ minds in 2020," said CWT Senior Vice President and Managing Director Derek Sharp.

• Travel2020: Priciest US cities to spend the night

  Wednesday, October 30, 2019

  Not all cities are created equal — especially when it comes to average daily rates at premier hotels. To that end, Nashville may just be the most expensive city in the United States to stay overnight, according to a survey released by Cheaphotels.org. The booking site compared hotel rates across 50 urban destinations. Looking at rates for October, the month in which hotel rates in U.S. cities tend to be at their highest, the booking site saw a price of $223 in Nashville for the most affordable room. Only centrally located hotels rated with three stars or more were considered for the survey.

• Travel2020: Qantas vies for operation of world’s longest nonstop flight

  Thursday, October 24, 2019

  After Qantas completed a recent test trip in advance of the launch of the world's longest nonstop flight linking New York and Sydney, new attention was given to the development of aircraft that can manage long distances comfortably and the management of passengers and crew to get through these lengthy flights without health concerns. The flight, which took off from New York JFK, ran 19 hours and 16 minutes but carried only 50 passengers and no cargo. It used a Boeing 787-9 aircraft, but the carrier, with the full weight of passengers, cargo and fuel, was not designed for the job.

• Travel2020: As global travel booms, inbound US travel bombs

  Tuesday, October 15, 2019

  While people around the globe may be traveling more than ever, tourism to the U.S. is taking a dive, according to reports from the World Tourism Organization and the U.S. Travel Association. The number of international tourist arrivals around the world reached 1.4 billion last year — a 6% increase and a bar reached two years ahead of forecasts. The organizations predicted that number would grow by an additional 3 or 4% this year. The U.S., however, is not seeing a similar rosy picture on the tourism horizon.

• Travel2020: Construction causes pain at the airport, per new survey

  Tuesday, October 08, 2019

  We have all seen the scaffolding and cranes, walled-off waiting areas and slowed traffic around our favorite gateway airports lately. That might have something to do with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s airport infrastructure grants. These infrastructure improvements are happening as record passenger volumes force major expansion efforts. However, the road closures, confusing signage and delays that come with these projects are making it hard on passengers.

• Travel2020: Anticipated cooling finally hits hot hotel development market

  Friday, October 04, 2019

  After forecasting a certain strength in demand for 2019, STR, a data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights source for the global hospitality sector, is seeing a softening following its August report. In a year-over-year comparison with August 2018, the industry saw a flattened occupancy rate at 71.4%, with the average daily rate (ADR) up 0.9% at $132.47 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) up 0.9% to $94.55. The hotel industry’s current expansion cycle has reached 114 months (March 2010-present), with year-over-year increases in RevPAR in 112 of those months.

• Travel2020: Saudi Arabia tourism visa represents a final frontier for travelers

  Tuesday, October 01, 2019

  Much as a woman in a niqab may show her face for a flash before veiling under the dark of her robes, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been exposing slivers of tourism possibilities to the west and then masking them again in a play of calculated flirtation — until now. Travelers have long held the Kingdom as a bucket list destination. But, until now, Saudi Arabia remained off-limits for all but the most hardened travelers. All that changed in September.

• Travel2020: Solo explorations are the next frontier of travel

  Wednesday, September 04, 2019

  Expedia reports traveling alone is not only a one-of-a-kind experience but also represents one of the fastest-growing travel categories. When you're traveling alone you are the master of your time, exploring the world on your own terms. Data from Expedia's first Solo Travel Report reveals 60% of travelers plan to take a solo trip within the next two years, proving people want more flexibility, convenience, and autonomy from their vacations. What's even more interesting is how the desire for a digital connection is starting to rival the need of human connection on trips.

• Travel2020: Hilton’s study looks at the lives of millennial business travelers

  Tuesday, August 20, 2019

  Hilton Hotels & Resorts has given a good look at today's up-and-coming professional to determine the likes and dislikes of meetings attendees in the 23- to 35-year-old age range. The recent survey revealed that, while young business travelers prefer a buzzing social environment and in-person interactions during regular work hours, they would rather spend their evenings on their own. The findings focused on what truly influences and shapes young professionals’ experience on the road, including their preferences in dining, workspaces and how they blend personal interests with professional requirements.

• Travel2020: Flight delays now measured in thousands — of years

  Wednesday, August 14, 2019

  That innocuous two-hour aircraft maintenance interruption may seem like a minor inconvenience, but if added together with all the other interruptions per passenger at an airport in a given year, the delays can add up to thousands of years. A new study by FinanceBuzz examined the top 25 airports in the U.S. where passengers are most delayed. Not surprisingly, Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), hometown hub of United Airlines and where the legacy carrier runs more flights than any competitor, the topped the list.

• Travel2020: Annoying hotel fees are finally getting their day in court

  Wednesday, July 31, 2019

  If you have been to a hotel or a resort lately, you likely saw some unexpected hotel fees tacked on to the bottom of your bill. Hotel and resort fees are nothing new. We have been seeing "fee creep" for years and find ourselves either accepting these unwanted pests as part of the price of traveling or finding ways to delete them during front desk dealings upon checkout. Until this month. July was an interesting month for Marriott and Hilton, as both are under siege by angry hotel room consumers who are questioning just what those fees are for and whether they are legal.

• Travel2020: Overtourism, safety, climate change now top concerns for travelers

  Thursday, July 25, 2019

  The results of a recently released annual survey paint a picture of rapidly changing priorities among travelers, driven by growing concerns over safety, more conscious travel values, and the quick adoption of new platforms in the sharing economy. The research hails from the 29th annual MMGY Travel Intelligence report: The 2019 Portrait of American Travelers survey. Here are some highlights from the latest edition of the travel survey.

• Travel2020: Facial biometrics put travelers, criminals under the microscope

  Tuesday, July 16, 2019

  While facial recognition technology gets tested at U.S. airports, controversy over its legality is brewing on the public front and in hearings on Capitol Hill. Officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) testified last week before a House panel regarding the government’s use of facial recognition. Congress is moving toward legislation that would curtail the use of the controversial technology or at least offer some acceptable parameters. Surveys show air passengers love the new technology, which measures facial characteristics against a database of targets with lightning speed.

• Travel2020: Where meetings and magic meet

  Wednesday, July 10, 2019

  Anyone who has planned a conference or attended one knows the "where" is as important as the "what." Whether it’s a meeting of healthcare professionals or Midwestern meat distributors, the time and money spent to attend a meeting become serious investments for both planners and their targets. It has to be worth it for all involved, and that involves a small, but critical factor: the wow. Recent trends in meetings show these gatherings need to be purposeful, pliable and push the envelope.

• Travel2020: Global Entry program heads south, leaving travelers in a lurch

  Monday, July 01, 2019

  For me, it started with a simple email. I was given a courtesy warning by the Department of Homeland Security that my Global Entry privileges were expiring. I had been a member of Global Entry since it launched in 2008, so I was not about to let my certification slip away. I clicked on the link to start the "re-application" process — apparently "renewals" would no longer serve — and that is when my nightmares began. The nonintuitive, if not purposely stonewalling, website kept taking me to the same place: the wall. I would land on the spot, say three or so pages deep, where my ask "Trusted Traveler" ID would be requested. It would then populate fields with my passport information. If something was not right, this was the page on which to fix it.

• Travel2020: Making the most of Maui

  Thursday, June 20, 2019

  Getting "Maui'd" goes way beyond vows over the surf. Maui is a compact island and, if a full vacation is not in the offing, a few days of “Valley Isle” bliss can add up to some impacting Maui memories. For starters, Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727 square miles, but getting from place to place in Maui can be handled, at most, in about four hours. "Maui is particularly well-positioned for business travelers who may be trying to fit some vacation time in Maui into a packed schedule," said Leanne Pletcher, marketing director for the Maui Convention and Visitors Bureau.

• Travel2020: Virtuoso’s top trends in summer travel

  Wednesday, June 12, 2019

  As Americans plan their summer getaways in the midst of this country’s strange and unstable approach to foreign relations, some vacationers are opting to stay closer to home and explore their own country, according to reports by global luxury travel network Virtuoso. The scenery and diversity of national parks appeal to families and adventurers alike when the temperatures warm up. Europe is always desirable for its history, culture, cuisine and abundant luxury offerings. In particular, Spain has become quite popular as it offers better value compared to other spots in Western Europe.

• Travel2020: Summer travel at airports may be heading for slowdowns, showdowns

  Tuesday, June 04, 2019

  It may be the summer of love in some parts of the country, but it could also be the summer of slowdowns as well, especially for passengers flying on American Airlines or anyone trying to snake through U.S. airport security lines. American is in a standoff with its mechanics union, waging accusations of staging slowdowns in the midst of contract talks happening between the two entities. Meanwhile, as the Trump administration moves manpower to the southern border, U.S. flyers stand to see slowdowns at TSA checkpoints as they try to catch their flights.

• Travel2020: Puerto Rico welcomes rising wave of tourism 2 years after Hurricane Maria

  Tuesday, May 21, 2019

  Puerto Rico is on the rebound. Discover Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico's first-ever Destination Marketing Organization (DMO), recently announced that 2019 Q1 lodging demand is now on par with 2017 Q1 levels just 14 months after Hurricane Maria, signaling an unprecedented pace of recovery for a destination. Discover Puerto Rico set a short-term goal to drive a record pace for recovery and reach pre-Maria levels by the hurricane's two-year anniversary. Based on the 2019 Q1 results, Discover Puerto Rico has achieved this goal much sooner than anticipated, proving itself as one of the Island's first successes of privatization.

• Travel2020: Finding your inner Buddha at 30,000 feet

  Wednesday, May 15, 2019

  A 2013 survey by Carlson Wagonlit Travel said it all when it comes to measuring the toll that travel takes on today’s road warriors. CWT found that travelers can experience stress for as much as "6.9 hours per trip." Sadly, the intervening years have not been kind to business travelers, either. A global study released in March by IHG reported that business travelers lose some 58 minutes of sleep per night while away. While many of the factors that contribute to this particularly insidious strain of stress cannot be helped, there are a few tricks and tips one can apply to one’s travels and daily navigations that can make anyone’s journey through life a little more bearable.

• Travel2020: 100% solar hotel marks milestone in green-build practices

  Tuesday, April 30, 2019

  A small, unassuming hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is making big news these days. It's the first and only U.S. hotel at present to be fully powered by the sun. The Courtyard by Marriott hotel recently completed a 135,200-square-foot solar installation that will be able to serve all the power needs of this 133-room hotel with efficiency and cost-containment. Such planning may mark the beginning of a trend in hospitality in an era that has hotel developers asking about the impact climate change will have on their businesses and fielding concerns from a more planet-conscious traveling population.

• Travel2020: 9 travel gadgets you never knew you needed

  Wednesday, April 17, 2019

  This year’s Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas brought forth plenty of new luggage, carry-on solutions, and novel ways to rest on a plane. But the show, which brings together buyers and manufacturers in this $31.1 billion market, also highlighted solutions for things not always identified as problems. Some useful, if not quirky, innovations surfaced that deserve their moment in the spotlight, even if that light is a dim beam streaming from a ceiling panel on a plane.

• Travel2020: Reimagining the airline seat of the future

  Wednesday, April 10, 2019

  Small may not be so beautiful for airline passengers; that is, if current concepts in economy seat design get a foothold in the airline industry. The airline seat of the future may not be a seat at all. In fact, if Italian seat designer Aviointerior has its way, it may be more of a, well, perch. While it may not be the first time such concepts have been proposed, perhaps the scary part is that this concept of stand-up airline seating keeps coming back to live another day.

• Travel2020: Stressed sleepers gain no peace on the road

  Thursday, April 04, 2019

  A global study commissioned by IHG Hotels & Resorts has confirmed that lack of sleep is a primary concern for travelers, with 80% stating they have trouble sleeping when traveling away from home. Indeed, the National Sleep Foundation’s annual Sleep in America poll found that only 10% of American adults prioritize their sleep over other aspects of daily living such as fitness/nutrition, work, social life, and hobbies/personal interests. The findings from the IHG survey revealed that the average business traveler loses around 58 minutes of sleep each night when staying away from home.

• Travel2020: Take the horse, leave the pig at home

  Wednesday, March 20, 2019

  The phrase "when pigs fly" could become a reality in the near future, but for now, flying livestock will be restricted to miniature horses, according to one airline's new service animal policies that will go live on April 1. American Airlines announced the new policies in light of an increasing trend of passengers who prefer to fly with their support pets. To that end, fully trained service animals and emotional support/psychiatric service animals may fly in the cabin at no charge if they meet the requirements.

• Travel2020: Travel trends downward as worldwide visits decline, per new surveys

  Tuesday, March 12, 2019

  Annual international visitation to the U.S. began to decline in 2015 — and has yet to stop that trajectory. Concurrently, Americans are traveling less frequently and are returning to attractions less and less, possibly often in search of something new and welcoming. The results of PGAV Destinations' fourth annual "Voice of the Visitor: Outlook on the Attractions Industry," which tracks Americans' travel behavior and forecasts future plans, revealed a dramatic shift in the demographics of attraction visitors, and a deep desire to visit places that make them feel welcome and relaxed.

• Travel2020: What’s luxury got to do with it? Behind star ratings in hospitality

  Wednesday, March 06, 2019

  Forbes Travel Guide can tell you something about luxury in hospitality. CEO Filip Boyen, who came aboard last year as the leading face of Forbes Travel, has worked in hospitality for some 30 years, starting out as a junior chef, working his way up through the ranks with Orient Express Hotels and Belmond, and later with Small Luxury Hotels of the World as CEO. After joining Forbes Travel Guide in July 2018, he became a go-to person who, when asked to define what luxury means, just might have some answers.

• Travel2020: Ski season 2019 sees peak snow, peak prices

  Wednesday, February 20, 2019

  U.S. ski resorts are having a very good year. Snowpack in California's Sierra Nevada is now at 100 percent of where it should be and ski areas from the Pacific to the Atlantic are reporting a good season so far. So where should skiers go to catch dream-quality powder in 2019? It depends on their pocketbooks. A recent survey of average day rates at popular ski resorts around the country shows that Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, takes the summit for top prices.

• Travel2020: Love Las Vegas-style with daring I do’s

  Tuesday, February 12, 2019

  Las Vegas and weddings go together like neon signage and beehive hairdos. That may be because Las Vegas pronounces more marriages per capita than any other city in the world. In 2017 alone, 78,187 marriage licenses were issued in Las Vegas — which makes for roughly 214 per day or nine marriage licenses an hour on a 24/7 clock. And 2017 was a down year for Las Vegas, which has seen as many as 128,000 weddings in a year, as happened in 2004. Based on the most current data available from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), 4 percent of Las Vegas visitors, or 1.7 million people a year, come to Las Vegas to celebrate their own wedding or someone else's.

• Travel2020: Bucket list travel for 2019

  Tuesday, February 05, 2019

  For those who keep a bucket list, there is no time like the new year to check off the progress. For experienced wanderers or experienced dreamers, there are plenty of special places yet to be crossed off on life's to-do list. According to a recent survey conducted by AARP, travel is the top aspiration for Americans of all ages, not just baby boomers. Research shows that boomers are expected to take four to five leisure trips in 2019 and spend more than $6,600. Gen Xers are forecast to spend $5,400, and millennials $4,440. For those in need of some inspiration or timely recommendations, here’s a starter list to spark the imagination.

• Travel2020: Uber’s futuristic air taxi lands at CES

  Monday, January 28, 2019

  While Las Vegas is currently one of two cities in the U.S. allowing for consumer testing of driverless cars, the city got another driverless boost recently from CES2019: the driverless heli-taxi. Even though the annual Consumer Electronics Show brought a life-size prototype of the new aerial hybrid vehicle currently in development, it also brought a lot of debate about the future of urban transportation — the good, the bad and the seemingly impossible. The vision is this: sometime in the not too distant future, a traveler, a commuter, or a person in a hurry may be able to choose on a whim to hail an air taxi from a nearby rooftop and take that taxi to another rooftop stop, the airport or even some port on a high-rise rooftop of another nearby city.

• Travel2020 at CES2019 — Technology for a better trip: Part 2

  Tuesday, January 22, 2019

  There is no place like CES, the Consumer Electronics Show that happens in Las Vegas every year, to find the latest skills that Alexa can perform or new ways to conquer your world one robot, one pair of smart glasses, or one new 8K television at a time. Travel2020 cut through the clutter (and that’s a lot of cutting with 4,500 products to peruse!) to come up with the latest in newfangled travel gear for travelers looking to make their trips more comfortable. This is part two of a quick glance at technology that is changing the way we travel.

• Travel2020 at CES2019 — Where the robots hit the road: Part 1 of 2

  Wednesday, January 16, 2019

  What do you get when 180,000 verified geeks and 4,500 newfangled gadgets descend upon a few long blocks in Las Vegas? A lot of enhanced plastic, paper, wires and a possibly scary vision of the future at what is now fondly called CES. The Consumer Electronics Show that has been happening yearly since 1967 has come a long way from the portable Motorola televisions and next-gen eight-tracks that were once the siren song of a budding battalion of obsessed electronics fans. Today, it is more like an ocean of FOMO enthusiasts looking at the latest in any field of technology you could imagine.

• Travel2020: What’s luxury got to do with it? Just ask Ted Teng

  Monday, December 17, 2018

  Ted Teng, president and CEO of Leading Hotels of the World, has been at the helm of the luxury hotel branding organization since 2008 and oversees the management of this branding through its more than 430 hotels. The properties all bring unique histories and their own styles of architecture. Some 88 percent are family-owned and nearly all are independently managed. We talked with Teng in a roundtable discussion last month held at the annual Signature Travel Network conference in Las Vegas.

• Travel2020: Airbnb bets on bedding the business traveler

  Tuesday, December 11, 2018

  As more and more road warriors turn to Airbnb for their overnight lodging needs, the company is gaining insights into how business travelers travel: where they go, where they prefer to stay, and what they do when visiting a new city — and how those factors are changing in interesting ways. Traditional business travel hubs like London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney are giving way to new corridors of surging growth, especially in Latin America, Asia and Africa, according to the upstart lodging technology company.

• Travel2020: Struck by the travel curse

  Monday, December 03, 2018

  Sweaty palms at the airport? Has the light, now heavy, snow shower grounded your flight … again? If so, you may be one of the 1 in 7 Americans that feel they’ve been struck by the "travel curse." A new study looking at the travel experiences of some 2,000 Americans determined that 14 percent seem to experience so much bad luck when they travel that they believe themselves to be truly cursed. And it seems once it strikes, the curse just keeps on cursing, at least according to nearly three-quarters of those who feel they caught the travel hex.

• Travel2020: Following the money — Simplifying payment systems in travel

  Monday, November 26, 2018

  As technology and banking become better bedfellows, new methods of thinking about the banking process have allowed such companies as ConnexPay to create newer, simpler and often less expensive ways of processing transactions. This is especially true in the areas of travel and e-commerce. We sat down with Bob Kaufman, founder and CEO of ConnexPay, after the company picked up the top award for Travel Innovation in the Start-up Category at the recent Phocuswright 2018 conference in Los Angeles, to get a sense of how banking and payment reconciliation may be changing in the travel industry — and what this might mean for other industries as well.

• Travel2020: New app finds the money when air woes arrive

  Monday, November 19, 2018

  My story is not unusual. I was heading home from the island of Mallorca last October. There was nothing brewing in the weather and, indeed, the waves of tourists that summer brings were long gone. I headed to the low-cost carrier I was taking back to Los Angeles, checked in, snaked through security, made it to the gate in plenty of time … and waited. And waited. Some 10 minutes before the flight was supposed to depart, the crowd stirred. No announcement, just clumps of individuals leaving their seats and heading elsewhere.

• Travel2020: Can you take it on a plane? Surprising things TSA will allow

  Monday, November 12, 2018

  Snakes on a plane? Probably not on your plane but you might be surprised about what is traveling with you as you surmise the surfeit of sleeping passengers, kids focused on video games, couples looking out the window and others loading up to watch a downloaded film or two. Lobsters, lizards, soups, spices, maybe a car engine, camp stove, coffee maker or waffle iron … there are a lot of things that can travel on a plane these days, according to TSA.

• Travel2020: Airlines wrangle with increasing obesity in the air

  Monday, November 05, 2018

  Greater than 1 in 3 Americans are obese, according to the CDC. That means nearly 100 million U.S. adults are officially overweight and may be flying soon in a seat near you. Or you may be one of the many flyers these days who has to fit into a shrinking airline seat and manage yoga maneuvers to use the airline lavatory on a five-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles. Being that passenger, or the passenger next to that passenger, can become an uncomfortable predicament, yet there are few solutions in the offing that offer even the perception of management for this ongoing conundrum.

• Travel2020: The long, strange road to cannabis comforts

  Monday, October 29, 2018

  CBD, a hemp derivative emerging from recent restrictions in marijuana laws in the U.S. and Canada, is now showing up in spas, on health shop shelves, in foods, teas, and even lipsticks. A recent invitation to Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona, California, came with a chance to experience a CBD massage as an elixir added to a traditional Swedish massage and touted to take away any pains … and more. California, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in January, has been struggling to regulate an industry that has for years managed quite well on its own but is now getting scrutiny from agencies requiring studies, data and transparency.

• Travel2020: 7 hacks for healthy travel

  Monday, October 22, 2018

  Unless you are living under a rock, you are likely traveling a lot, possibly more than you would like. And chances are the traveling you are doing may be boosting your productivity and stimulating your happiness buttons, but it may also be kicking your immune system to the curb. Recent research, however, shows the happiness ratio still out paces the harm factor and, in fact, it is possible to have your happiness and your health too as you burn up miles on the road.

• Travel2020: America’s most haunted places gear up for Halloween

  Wednesday, October 17, 2018

  If there is anything America loves on Halloween it’s a good ghost story — and better yet, a good ghost and a big fright. While ghost sightings are not always guaranteed, Halloween 2018 offers a universe of scary places where ghosts may or may not show up, but should certainly be active on this night of all nights. What these places do guarantee are thrills, chills and explorations of dark rooms that will undoubtedly draw some screams. And some cheers as well — Halloween is big business, after all.

• Travel2020: Of bots or brawn — The changing booking trends in travel

  Monday, October 08, 2018

  At the recent Digital Travel Summit in Las Vegas, the word of the hour was "chat bot." Those are the pesky pop-up boxes that interrupt site research with an "assistant" who is ready to help with nifty, on-the-spot answers to anything that ails. For most of us, these are an annoying inconvenience, as we know, despite friendly jargon and seemingly responsive wording, the only thing human behind the name is the programmer that created it. Yet, at the Summit, where big brands met quant companies, the challenge to replace the human was the next great space race.

• Travel2020: When tourism turns into the walking hordes

  Monday, October 01, 2018

  Travel and tourism are things of inestimable value to most people. We dream of new places and save up diligently for these aspirational moments. But when does a walking tour turn into a nightmarish episode from "The Walking Dead"? As the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) met in Seoul recently for the 7th Global Summit on Urban Tourism, some 900 delegates from treasured cities around the world came together to hash out agreements on ways to manage what is now known as "overtourism" in the years to come.

• Travel2020: Voluntourism — Travel as the new philanthropy

  Monday, September 24, 2018

  During their travels in the past few years, 81 percent of millennials volunteered in the destinations they visited, 78 percent donated cash, and 83 percent gave in-kind to help with local development, according to those polled in a study from Tourism Cares. In fact, a benchmark study on happiness released by the Stanford Business School in 2010 indicated that having a higher purpose always boosts the happiness quotient.

• Travel2020: Top airport amenities fly beyond duty-free

  Monday, September 17, 2018

  Think your airport is just a place to board planes? Think again. Airports, where the average traveler spends 137 minutes per trip lining up, sitting down, pacing, waiting … and waiting for their plane to start boarding, are now becoming destinations in their own right — hubs of shopping, stylish dining, entertainment, exercise, even pampering. According to Dolby & Holder consulting group, passengers are wasting 47 percent of this “dwell time,” resulting in some $6 billion in lost revenues for airports. Some airports are getting wise to ways of entertaining this captive audience.

• Travel2020: Dark tourism now a magnet for families

  Monday, September 10, 2018

  Dark tourism, a term more recently associated with quirky destinations associated with death and dying thanks to a trendy Netflix series, is now becoming popular with an unlikely fan base: families. That’s because the term is taken for its more literal locution as a place where light is at its slightest and dark skies full of stars are at their brightest. Also known as "astrotourism," the concept is taking over in some spots, according to John Barentine, director of public policy for the International Dark-Sky Association.

• Caribbean comeback: Tourism returns to the islands a year after the storms

  Wednesday, August 22, 2018

  Barring any more hurricanes this season, the Caribbean is back. That was the word at this year’s Virtuoso Week, where Karolin Troubetzkoy, immediate past president of the Caribbean Hotel Association, addressed travel industry advisors and media about the state of tourism in the Caribbean one year after hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria wreaked havoc on the region in nearly consecutive high-intensity storms. "The region lost three percent of arrivals, but it’s coming back even better," she said. "There is a certain spirit of enthusiasm in the Caribbean. It's been really tough, but we are going to come back really strong from the experience."

• Surprising travel trends from Virtuoso Week 2018

  Tuesday, August 21, 2018

  Fueled by a strong U.S. economy and an ever-increasing passion for noteworthy travel experiences, leisure travel is on track to become more sustainable and personal, according to the latest news from Virtuoso Travel Week 2018. Some 6,071 travel professionals from 100 countries met in mid-August in Las Vegas for the conference’s 30th annual gathering. Numbers were up in just about every category, and professionals also saw their chances to influence travel through a changing landscape of politics, environmental factors and economic circumstances.

• Pets on a plane? Take care before sending fur and feathers to the air

  Tuesday, April 03, 2018

  ​Airline travel with a pet has been a topic of serious conversation for years, even before recent headlines broadcast ​an avoidable tragedy involving a pet death aboard a recent United Airlines flight. In that misfortune, a flight attendant ordered the passenger to put her pet carrier in the overhead bin aboard a Houston-to-New York flight. She claimed she didn't know there was a dog inside.

• What’s the future of long-haul flights? Ask Lufthansa

  Thursday, January 18, 2018

  Nearly a century ago, flying as a premium passenger meant sitting in a wicker chair nailed to the cabin floor. The luxury of reclining had to wait for the Fokker F-32, which took commercial aviation into the 1930s with soft textiles, arm rests and slight flexible pitch.

• Hotel room of the future spotted at CES 2018

  Friday, January 12, 2018

  What's in store for the hotel room of the future? According to the pulse of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, the word is plenty. CES 2018 was mostly about the Internet of Things — the connectivity between things that can be managed not as much by one cool app or one responsive control module, but by the user, whose preferences, wants, dislikes and habits can be known well before ever stepping into the room.