Travel in China made a strong comeback last weekend, a three-day weekend that marked the first national holiday since the government eased COVID-related travel restrictions. As Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (April 6), Chinese residents made 102 million trips during the “Tomb-Sweeping” holiday, a festival in...
The term “pent-up demand” has taken on a wholly new (and surprisingly literal) meaning in the era of COVID-19. It’s not that we’ve been idle. We’ve watched a lot of Netflix, redecorated, bulked up our board game skills and learned to bake bread. We can...
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry saw its worst year on record in 2020 as the pandemic pummeled the business. Data from STR reported all-time lows in occupancy and revenue per available room. In the past two weeks, however, the industry booked its highest occupancy levels...
United Airlines plans to hire hundreds of pilots soon, a process which the COVID-19 process delayed, CNBC reported Thursday (April 1). The airline, based in Chicago, is the first large U.S. carrier to announce it will resume hiring pilots. That’s a sign that recovery could...
Colombia-based Avianca Airlines announced Thursday (April 1) that it has partnered with CellPoint Digital to create an optimized payment ecosystem to improve customer experience and simplify the commercial airline’s internal processes. Avianca said the project is one of its “most ambitious,” and “will also address...
Vacation platform Vrbo is teaming up with the buy now, pay later (BNPL) FinTech startup Affirm to offer zero-interest financing for future travel plans booked now through Sunday, April 11. “Travelers increasingly look for payment flexibility when booking travel plans. In fact, a recent Affirm...
More than a year of worsening cabin fever has Americans ready to hit the road and take to the skies, if Airbnb and Vrbo bookings reported by CNN are any indication. “We’ve had a phenomenal recovery,” Vrbo president Jeff Hurst reportedly told CNN Business. “We...
Airbnb inventory is overflowing with all kinds of vacation stay options as the travel industry looks ahead to a vaccinated population seeking getaways at short-term rental properties rather than at more traditional venues. There are more than 5.4 million active Airbnb listings worldwide, more than...
After spending almost a year inside their homes, consumers have learned to love a lot of things about their digital lives. According to PYMNTS’ most recent survey, consumers have decidedly shifted to digital — and are quite content to continue doing all sorts of things...
