A $1.3B Powerball ticket today? You're 20x more likely to be US President, 400x more likely to win an Olympic gold, 78x more likely to be bittten by a shark & more likely to be hit by meteorite. Good luck! Michael Phelps Shark Week Barack Obama Neil deGrasse Tyson cnn.com/2025/09/03/bus…

Really appreciate this from Thomas Sweeney at Cirium on global air demand. Those who refuse to see US-based leisure weakness have their head in sand. Yes, commercial/premium traffic better (and int'l), but capacities/PAX volume headed down overall cirium.com/thoughtcloud/a… The Wall Street Journal

Fantastic look at the realities of AI/LLMs in today's hotel space from Tim Sullivan. "From visibility to alignment" basically explains that the magic of this new horizon demands better, more curated plumbing. linkedin.com/pulse/from-vis…

An interesting, provocative and needed analysis of alternative assets as part of 401K plans. From virtuous to vicious cycle or a pathway for everyday Americans to participate in "out performance." I always appreciate the intellect of Bethany McLean The Washington Post washingtonpost.com/business/2025/…

Story by Richard Deitsch about #InsidetheNBA that surprisingly doesn't address political cross currents w/#JimmyKimmel. Will it become difficult for ESPN to "preserve" the show's "editorial freedom" when Charles Barkley says something politically charged? nytimes.com/athletic/66444…

Just read fantastic Jan D. Freitag summary of hotel performance thru Aug. Overall hotel RevPAR continues down (as we predicted) w/economy & midscale hit hardest (which I missed, thinking Upper/Upper would suffer most). Leisure demand+pricing power eroding but supply growth slowing

An important read around Google's long-term plans for agentic AI. Full funnel engagement and consolidation of trip planning, booking, plus predictive tech and ties to trip experiences through back-end supplier systems Bloomreach Google AI Barney Harford cloud.google.com/transform/reim…

Is AI travel reaching hyperbolic levels and how much will things really change across the travel ecosystem? linkedin.com/pulse/ai-trave… Kelly Evans Scott Wapner Phil LeBeau Niraj Chokshi Ceylan Yeginsu Tom Lowry

Capital flowing is into travel for new tech start-ups. Which of these do you know and where will the innovation come first? linkedin.com/pulse/ai-trave…

Strong '25 NYC hotel performance numbers from @PWC and Abhi Jain - 7% RevPAR growth, mostly from rate gains. Can someone explain to me why branded hotels are gapping independents so substantially? Josh Friedlander Jan D. Freitag pwc.com/us/en/industri…

Recent narrative about a Vegas Means Business "slump" Is entirely overblown. Yes, RevPAR/visits (largely int'l) have declined 6%, but 39M will still visit this year. Gaming rev is only slightly below record levels, w/group growing and '26 looking strong scott horsley investopedia.com/visitor-number…

Just a reminder for everyone, c/o of Kayak CEO Steve Hafner, that Google finds a way. In this case, Kayak takes a $450M write down (in part) because SEO has moved to paid exposure in the Google algo, driven by LLMs. skift.com/2025/10/29/kay… Skift Allison Pohle David Chestler

RIP Sonder ftnnews.com/travel-news/ac… There are short term implications for travelers, but this is perhaps more complicated for landlords and operators. Marriott bailed but it's not that easy for everyone. Leslie Picker Craig Karmin

$GOOGL full on push into agentic travel booking blog.google/products/searc… Likely partner with $EXPE and $BKNG in the same way google hotels and flights does today, but what’s that look like in 12mo? Will OTAs bid for referrals in the same way we see today with google hotels or

Deeper agentic travel support from Google launched yesterday, with more to come MMGY Global blog.google/products/searc…

I've always believed that photo editors affect a story more, sometimes, than the writers themselves. Case and point, *NewsHour selects this photo to discuss offshore drilling in Florida. As a pro-tourism advocate, I am fine with this portrayal, but nonetheless...Nieman Lab

Hmmm. Jonathan Haidt asked ChatGPT how it would ruin the next generation. ChatGPT basically said: smartphones and social media. If you are a parent, read this: jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-genera… Scott Galloway

Is Southwest's pursuit of airport lounges just another mimic of other carriers. Can they really move customer share? Do we need another overcrowded bar and buffet? Or can WN find a way to improve the model and peel off some of volume from other lounges? Phil LeBeau J.D. Power

Does Frontier/Spirit merger save both airlines? On its face the scale, efficiencies & route map would make sense with more LCC competition. But I suspect it's not that easy, as Barry Biffle stepping down might indicate. Phil LeBeau Henry Harteveldt onemileatatime.com/news/spirit-ai…