In a span of just a few months, Google’s threat in booking travel is looming even larger. Indeed, Skift said last October Google’s new hotel search is presenting a greater threat to booking rivals. Now the tech giant has added a full-fledged destination site for hotels, without any major fanfare, and has potential implications for booking sites, as well as Airbnb, on the lines of what it has done with its already very-popular Google Flights.Raini Hamdi (Skift)
I’m in La Plagne – a ski resort in the French Alps which, until now, has catered mostly to the family market. But this winter, it’s upping its appeal to millennial visitors with a new concept in hostel accommodation, ho36. With beds from €18 a night, the option to self-cater and cheap beers at the bar (pale ale from €2.90), you can save on accommodation and spend most of your holiday budget on Instagrammable experiences, like sunrise ski touring, instead.Lucy Grewcock (The Independent)
The unveiling of the 777X comes at a troubling time for Boeing as its entire 737 Max 8 fleet has been grounded in the wake of the Ethiopian Airlines crash that claimed the lives of all 157 on board.Jennifer Newton (Daily Mail)
❤️Žiga Sancin
Yum cha is a group activity that involves everyone around the table. As it’s centred on sharing, there are certain things to bear in mind when you’re being served or serving others. My grandmother, the eldest in our weekly yum cha gathering, has always been quick to straighten out everyone’s table manners. A few rules that she frequently mentions include finishing the last grain of rice in the bowl so a future spouse’s skin will resemble the smoothness of the clean bowl; and to never stick chopsticks straight down into a bowl of rice because it resembles incense for the dead and will bring bad luck. She also reminds us to never bang our chopsticks on the bowl for fun because that was what beggars used to do for attention and is thus believed to bring poverty to the family.Karen Chiang (BBC)
Travelers today have grown more discerning about their destinations and their choice of airports to stopover. With this in mind, we hope to create a one-of-its kind, multi-dimensional destination at Changi Airport to fulfill these travelers’ needs. We firmly believe that Jewel’s unique retail proposition will enhance the overall Changi experience for the millions of travelers who pass through Changi Airport and attract more visitors to Singapore.Hung Jean (Jewel Changi Airport Development)
Rund um den georgischen Ort Kasbegi gibt es phantastische Berge, feinsten Pulverschnee und sogar ein luxuriöses Designhotel mit Hubschrauberlandeplatz. Skilifte und Pisten gibt es keine, und daher fliegt der Heli auf bis zu 3000 Meter Höhe, setzt dort eine Gruppe Wintersportler ab und donnert dann hinunter ins Tal, um die Gruppe dort wieder aufzusammeln und zum nächsten unberührten Tiefschneehang zu fliegen. In der Einsamkeit dieses fernen Hochgebirges schwingt man dann durch den glitzernden Schnee, bis die Oberschenkel brennen – und jauchzt, bis die Stimmbänder versagen.Andreas Lesti (FAZ)
The Healthiest Cities Index was created by measuring factors such as the number of parks, gyms, spas, yoga and pilates studios, health food shops and vegan option restaurants in the top 100 cities in the world. These figures, sourced from websites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp, were divided by each city’s size to reveal a per square kilometer ‘density’ figure. Average sunlight hours and the average cost of a night’s stay were also considered, and then each metric was assigned a score based on how valuable it was to travellers. These scores were ranked and the highest scoring cities were consequently crowned as the world’s healthiest cities.Jennifer Newton (Daily Mail)
Historically, independent hotels set themselves up as franchises in order to access a steady supply of bookings, hospitality consultant Bjorn Hanson says. But franchising, rather than operating an independent hotel, is quite expensive. […] With the proliferation of online travel agencies and now Airbnb’s further expansion into hotels, they have another option: Open an independent hotel and keep all the revenues. Savvy hoteliers can rely on such platforms for distribution rather than on the power of the brand it’s franchised under. And independents might be more popular than traditional brands.Ruth Reader (Fast Company)
Millennials tend be more nomadic than the older generation of travelers and spend more time outside of their room. Hotels have picked up on this, and more of them are offering a co-working option.Jessica Colliso (Global Business Travel Association)