Saudi Arabia’s latest national carrier Riyadh Air has shown off its second livery at Dubai Airshow. While its first livery was a striking all-over purple design, the second is more subtle, which, according to the airline “reflects purity and the future-focused vision of Saudi Arabia.”
“This iconic second livery is the latest milestone for Riyadh Air as we shape and disrupt the future of air travel and aviation, with many more things to come,” said CEO Tony Douglas.
In March, Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for the establishment of a second national airline, while concurrently placing a preliminary order for as many as 72 Boeing 787 aircraft, as part of its broader economic diversification efforts, moving away from its traditional reliance on oil production.
In late September, Hyatt Hotels announced that it was exiting its vacation rental management business while launching an online short-term rental platform soon. Its Destination Residences Management unit was sold to a real estate investor called Lowe, which, through an affiliate, will run it under Lowe and Coral Tree, though no price was disclosed at the time of the announcement.
Now we have the details from Hyatt’s latest quarterly report filing. From the filing, below:
“Destination Residential Management—During the three months ended September 30, 2023, we sold our interests in the entities which own the Destination Residential Management business to an unrelated third party for $2 million of base consideration, subject to customary adjustments related to working capital and indebtedness, and up to an additional $48 million of contingent consideration. The contingent consideration will be earned within two years following the sale upon the achievement of certain performance-based metrics and the extensions of certain contracts related to the rental programs and/or homeowner associations. We recorded a $28 million contingent consideration receivable at fair value in other assets on our condensed consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2023.
The transaction was accounted for as a business disposition, and we recognized a $19 million pre-tax gain in gains (losses) on sales of real estate and other on our condensed consolidated statements of income during the three months ended September 30, 2023. In conjunction with the disposition, we transferred $10 million of cash to the buyer related to advanced deposits. The operating results and financial position of this business prior to the sale remain within our Americas management and franchising segment.”
Booking Holdings, whose $1.8 billion deal to acquire Sweden’s eTraveli Group was blocked by European Commission earlier this year, paid out $90 million in termination fee this October, according to a nugget in its latest quarterly statement.
Typically deal breakup/termination fees are between 1-5 percent of the total deal value and paid by the seller to the acquirer, but in this case looks like the deal had a reverse termination clause and Booking Holdings had to pay eTraveli as a result, on the higher end of that fee range, in this case 5 percent.
From the filing:
“In November 2021, the Company entered into an agreement to acquire global flight booking provider Etraveli Group. The completion of the acquisition was subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. In September 2023, the European Commission announced its decision to prohibit the acquisition and consequently a termination fee of 85 million Euros ($90 million) became payable to the sellers. The termination fee was paid in October 2023.”
In case you missed it before, Booking CEO Glenn Fogel spoke at Skift GLobal Forum in late September and came out swinging, defending the deal. Watch the video below
That’s according to latest research put out by the Global Wellness Institute, in its annual state of the global wellness sector, of which tourism is one part.
From the report: The wellness tourism market plummeted from 2019 to 2020 ($720 billion to $351 billion), but has seen 36% annual spending growth, and 30% annual wellness trip growth, from 2020 to 2022—significantly higher than growth rates for overall tourism trips and expenditures, at 23.8% and 28.4%.
Wellness travelers made 819.4 million international and domestic wellness trips in 2022, a major increase over 2020 (483 million) and 2021 (608 million) levels. Wellness trips accounted for 7.8% of all tourism trips but represented 18.7% of all tourism expenditures in 2022 (so almost 1 in 5 total “travel dollars”). The wellness tourism market is forecast to more than double from 2022 to 2027, with dramatic spending jumps from 2022 ($651 billion) to 2023 ($868 billion) to 2024 ($1 trillion), as the market continues its supercharged recovery. After that, it’s likely to taper off to a still strong, but less overheated growth curve.
There are some wrinkles to the recovery, as the report points out that the wellness tourism, spa and thermal/mineral springs markets were the hardest hit by the pandemic, given widespread travel restrictions and business shutdowns.
All three grew rapidly in 2021-2022, but haven’t quite yet recovered to their pre-pandemic levels. A key factor is the ongoing recovery of the global tourism market: as of 2022, international trips were still at 62% of their pre-pandemic level, and domestic trips were at 73% (Euromonitor data). The Asia-Pacific region has especially lagged in recovery, due to prolonged pandemic restrictions and border closures in China, the dearth of Chinese tourists throughout the region, weakening economic conditions in China and Japan, currency depreciation, and other factors.
Trevor Noah, world-renowned comedian and 2024 Grammy nominee for best comedy album, has taken on a new title: ‘chief tourism comedian for South Africa.’
In a new tourism campaign, launched in partnership with the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) Thursday, Noah uses his unique brand of humor to tackle frequently asked questions about his homeland.
The campaign kicks off with Noah walking poolside at a holiday home with the iconic Table Mountain in the background as he addresses common misconceptions and queries he often gets about South Africa. “How cold and snowy is your Christmas?” he jests, “Well, Tracy, unfortunately, we can’t afford snow in South Africa. Nah, I’m just playing. We’re in the southern hemisphere, which means when it’s freezing in Connecticut, it’s fantastic in Cape Town.”
Noah’s ad doesn’t just answer quirky questions; it also highlights South Africa’s diverse attractions, from spectacular wildlife scenes in Kruger National Park to adrenaline-packed activities like bungee jumping at Bloukrans Bridge, surfing in Durban’s Golden Mile, shark cage diving in Gansbaai, and high-end golf courses along the Garden Route.
The campaign aims to boost international tourism to South Africa, as the country targets 21 million visitors by 2035, according to TBCSA CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa. Noah’s global appeal and South African roots make him an ideal ambassador to showcase the country’s diverse tourism offerings, added Tshivhengwa.
Last year, South Africa saw 5.8 million inbound international tourists. The country has seen a significant increase in arrivals this year, with over 6.1 million visitors by September, with its peak summer season still ahead. European and UK visitors remain the largest source market, with 862,000 arrivals between January and September, a 50.9% increase in arrivals compared to the same period in 2022. Furthermore, the Americas have shown a notable uptick in interest, with a 59.0% increase in arrivals, led primarily by 206,015 visitors from the United States between January and July.
The campaign debuted across social media platforms and garnered over 66,700 views on TBCSA’s YouTube channel shortly after its launch. Noah has over 8.6 million followers on Instagram and has just launched a podcast called What Now – he has, however, not yet shared the “The Best of Us” video to his Instagram grid.
Noah’s South Africa ad follows another tourism ad he did earlier in the year. Noah joined Switzerland tourism ambassador Roger Federer to promote train travel across the alpine nation, below.
Emirates has launched a limited edition collection of luggage, bags and accessories created by using upcycled materials from retrofitted aircraft.
‘Aircrafted by Emirates’ consists of a range of made to order suitcases, backpacks, handbags, cardholders, toiletry bags and belts that have been created using old aluminum headrests, leather and seatbelts collected during the retrofit of the carriers A380 and 777 aircrafts.
Credit: Emirates
The luggage collection has been designed and handmade by tailors in a dedicated workshop at the Emirates Engineering facility in Dubai.
Aircrafted by Emirates is set to go on sale towards the end of 2024 at official Emirates Stores, with all sale proceeds being donated to children in need via the Emirates Airline Foundation.
“At Emirates, we are committed to constantly evolving our sustainability efforts, and looking at every aspect of our products and supply chain. We knew these materials could be given a second life, because they are originally of very high quality. We challenged our team to be as creative and innovative as possible, and here we are, with our own accessories workshop in Emirates Engineering Centre! This initiative is a passion project for our team, and we are immensely proud of how it aligns with both our innovation and sustainability aims, and even better – that all proceeds will benefit worthy causes via the Emirates Airline Foundation,’ saidAhmed Safa, divisional senior vice president for engineering at Emirates.
A number of pieces of luggage from the collection will be on display at the Dubai Airshow next week.
Skift Ideasuncovers the most creative and forward-thinking innovations happening across travel. We celebrate innovation through our Skift IDEA Awards and hear from leaders on our Ideas podcast.
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Sydell Group is trying to determine interest for NoMad from potential buyers, including major hotel operators such as Hilton Worldwide, sources told Bloomberg. International discussions about a potential sale are said to be ongoing.
NoMad currently has luxury properties in Las Vegas and London. It had opened its first hotel in Manhattan, just north of Madison Square Park, but that property has since closed.
Skift reached out to Sydell Group for comment but did not receive a response.
Dubai’s first and only Dorchester Collection hotel, called The Lana, has been delayed again. Announced in 2021 and expected to open the following year, the super-luxury city hotel has announced numerous opening date revisions since then.
February 2024 is the newest opening date and could be the real deal as it is also accepting bookings from that month.
Before March 2022, Dorchester’s page for The Lana contained the statement: “(Opening 2022) The latest gem in our collection is soon to be unveiled as a landmark of luxury in the heart of Dubai.”
The website later underwent a modification, announcing that the hotel’s unveiling would take place “by the end of 2022.” Come August 2022, the website underwent another alteration, with the expected opening date shifted to spring 2023. It then shifted one more to September 2023, before executives said it would, instead, open before the end of 2023.
When the hotel does open, it will add 225 rooms to the city, along with seven restaurants. It will become the operator’s first hotel in Middle East and Asia, joining a collection of legendary properties and celebrity haunts such as Hotel Eden in Rome, The Beverly Hills Hotel in LA and The Dorchester in London.
The Lana Rates
Including taxes and fees, rooms start from $1,390 a night, comfortably making it one of the most expensive hotels in the city.
Rates can reach more than $13,000 for the royal suite that sleeps five people.
The hotel is owned and developed by a local firm called Omniyat, a real estate major that also owns the ME Dubai hotel operated by Melia. The company also has a portfolio of Dorchester Collection-branded luxury residences, including The Vela connected to the hotel itself and standalone projects on Palm Jumeirah.
Dorchester Collection declined to comment when asked by Skift.
Even though the big MGM-Marriott loyalty & booking partnership that was announced earlier this year with much fanfare has been delayed until early 2024 — ostensibly due to MGM’s cybersecurity threat which derailed much of its business over weeks — MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle is very bullish about it.
In its Q3 earnings call earlier this week, Hornbuckle said that the company will begin to see the benefits of the partnership pretty quickly in 2024 soon after it launches. In response to an analyst question of whether this delay in launch means that MGM won’t see the incremental revenues in 2024 and whether the gains would be pushed to 2025, he said:
“No, I think it’s ’24 because I think the booking cycle for Las Vegas, even with this group [of Marriott Bonvoy users] because we’ve seen it obviously mirrored Cosmopolitan [which MGM now owns and has been part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection] is pretty much in line with everything else. They go a little earlier because they want to make sure they can use their points, et cetera. But there’s a clear window over the next couple of months. So once we launch it, we think it ramps fairly quickly.
And I think by the third and fourth quarter of next year, this time next year, we ought to be — have a real good feel for what it’s going to provide. The group activity that will be part of it is a little different discussion and we’ll take more time given the obvious nature and cycle of that business. And remember, I think the first year, we’re looking for $50 million to $75 million in incremental [revenues].
And there’s nothing to believe even despite the delay candidly, there’s nothing to believe we won’t recognize or realize that.”
