The Skift Travel Podcast

Visa is becoming a travel company. Mews is restructuring around AI. And Gen Z is already reshaping business travel.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore how new competitors, artificial intelligence, and changing traveler behavior are rewriting the rules for travel companies—and why these seemingly separate stories all point to the same shift happening across the industry.

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00:00 AI Layoff Banter

00:48 Delta One Unbundled

02:37 Basic Business Breakdown

03:12 Seat Selection Stories

04:27 Booking Friction Risks

06:43 Muse Cuts Explained

11:00 AI Jobs And Economy

14:55 Visa Travel Portal

17:27 Can Visa Compete

19:16 Ground Game Logistics

19:35 Lotus Hotel Points Find

21:13 Credit Card Hotel Portals

21:36 Visa Luxury Collection

22:49 Gen Z Business Travel Habits

24:17 Corporate Tools Limit Choice

25:01 Gen Z Trip Growth Stats

27:19 Business Trip Anxiety

30:02 Gen Z Workforce Shifts

31:55 World Cup Winners Losers

35:07 Signing Off Next Week

More than 1,200 hotel franchise agreements are set to expire by 2030, and some owners are deciding it's time to leave the big brands behind.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko explore why independent hotels are becoming a more realistic option, how technology is changing the franchise equation, and why new Skift Research suggests consumers—and AI—may no longer see meaningful differences between many hotel brands.

00:00 1200 Expiring Flags

02:16 Why Go Independent

02:34 Series Origins Minnesota

04:46 Meet Pritesh Patel

06:36 Do Brands Drive Demand

09:40 Gary Patel and Airbnb

13:32 Territories and Soft Brands

16:54 Perfect Storm Renewals

19:42 Financing Without a Flag

22:25 Bankers See It Coming

22:54 Reporting Heartland Hoteliers

24:24 Financing Surprise and Data

25:47 Franchise Model Under Strain

28:57 Fees Soft Brands and Flex

30:48 Skift Decision Brief Launch

33:00 Too Many Brands Problem

35:46 Decision Pathways for Brands

38:08 Winners and Losers Segment

40:19 Freddy Quits X Finale

The World Cup brought international visitors to America, expecting one thing and finding something completely different.

Sarah Kopit and Seth Borko discuss the Knicks' championship, sports tourism, viral European road trips across America, and why the World Cup may be reshaping global perceptions of the United States in real time.

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00:00 Knicks Drought Ends

00:58 Vacation and Intro Banter

01:58 Plane View and VPN Save

05:05 NYC Street Watch Parties

07:42 World Cup Overlap Logistics

10:30 Tourists Love Middle America

13:47 Brand USA Reset Moment

15:25 Why Americans Feel Friendly

18:11 DMOs and Small Town Appeal

20:08 Prediction on Inbound Rebound

20:33 Olympics Travel Momentum

21:38 Politics Off The Feed

22:35 Buc-ees Goes Viral

24:53 Most American Experiences

28:06 Rediscovering Niagara Falls

30:32 Early Hotel Data Boost

32:50 Winners And Losers

33:18 Mexico Sargassum Crisis

36:49 Cenotes And Closing

Travel startups raised $3.4 billion last year, but AI may be reshaping where the next generation of travel companies emerges.

Seth Borko and venture capitalist Gilad Berenstein discuss travel startup funding, hotel robotics, the future of travel distribution, and the race to own the AI agent that could eventually plan and book your trips.

Connect with Skift

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00:00 Travel VC Snapshot

03:23 Deal Sizes Rising

05:49 What Makes VC Backable

07:59 Travel as Luxury

09:25 Founder Problem Fit

12:51 Hotels Get Smart

18:20 Robots in Hotels

23:00 Travel Tech and Distribution

24:24 OTAs vs Direct Debate

26:10 Points Change Expectations

27:22 Brands Versus OTAs

28:48 Personal Travel Assistant

29:31 Who Owns The Agent

30:32 Trust Layer Moat

31:35 AI Swarms And Ecosystems

33:19 Work And Company Brain

34:13 AI Backlash Politics

36:36 AI As Tool Or Agent

38:56 Venture Valuations Reality

41:19 Travel Investment Categories

45:44 Pitch Killers And Moats

46:42 Best Bets By Sector

48:30 Travel IPO Watchlist

50:24 Wrap Up And Plugs

Seth Borko and Sean O'Neill discuss the biggest lessons from Skift's Data + AI Summit and revisit a decade of hotel direct-booking strategy.

They examine why hotels improved profitability without significantly reducing OTA share, how loyalty programs reshaped distribution economics, and why AI could become the next major disruption in travel booking.

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