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A deadly heat wave is disrupting tourism across Europe, prompting train cancellations and impacting global attractions like Paris’ Eiffel Tower and England’s changing of the guard ceremony. More than a dozen European nations — including France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy — have issued heat warnings as the region swelters under a “heat dome,” a high-pressure system that traps hot air. The World Meteorological Organization reports that climate change has hit European summers especially hard, with a 2022 report finding the region’s temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average rate. At least 95% of Europe experienced above-average annual temperatures last year, according to the organization. hubs.li/Q04mBQGm0

Thailand’s luxury hotel market faces a supply shortage, with strong investor demand but few properties for sale. Bangkok’s luxury hospitality sector is expanding through major mixed-use developments and rising average daily rates. Year-round demand, changing investor profiles, and a focus on differentiated guest experiences are reshaping the market. hubs.li/Q04ms4PP0

Airlines for America CEO Chris Sununu said Wednesday that the trade group would support legislation banning surveillance pricing, a practice that uses personal information to help set prices.  “Banning surveillance pricing? 100%,” Sununu said during a House Judiciary hearing on airline competition. “Yeah, it’s terrible.” A4A represents most major U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, and United. Sununu’s comments come nearly a year after Delta was landed in a controversy when executives revealed that the carrier had partnered with an AI startup to help it price airfares.  hubs.li/Q04mBJK10

Independent hoteliers are under pressure from every direction, and now there's an AI mandate on top of it all. Tune into Good Morning Hospitality as Wil sits down with Adam Harris, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudbeds, to cut through the noise. Adam's argument: most operators aren't failing because they lack effort or the right tools. Listen here 🎧: hubs.li/Q04mkQvz0 Sponsored by @Cloudbeds

An event in central London about how the world can adapt to more extreme heat has been canceled — due to high temperatures. “Our London Climate Week event on extreme heat has been cancelled due to extreme heat,” organisers the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance said in a statement “Temperatures approaching 40 degrees (104F) are forecast. The event venue, like most buildings in London, does not have any cooling mechanisms in place, and we cannot risk the wellbeing of speakers or guests by subjecting everyone to very unpleasant indoor conditions in addition to hot journeys to the venue.” hubs.li/Q04mxmXM0

Research from Amazon Business shows that senior procurement leaders across industries are highly concerned about various factors, from costs to cybersecurity to technology challenges. This report, published in partnership with @AmazonBusiness, explores how hotel companies can reimagine procurement processes that not only meet the demands of the evolving operational environment but also enable them to adapt in real time to changing guest expectations. Get the free report here: hubs.li/Q04mkmxz0

What does genuinely great AI in travel look like? According to Nikita Miller, CPO at Perk and one of our 2026 Skift IDEA Awards judges, you won't even notice it. The hotel is already prepped. Expenses wrap up in seconds. No friction, no announcement. It just works. That's the standard our judges are bringing to the table this year. Enter by July 1 👉 hubs.li/Q04mmPGG0

An AI agent does not get tired. Point one at an airline website and it will keep going until it has pulled every fare combination it can find. In an example Skift reported earlier this month, a coding agent turned loose on Etihad Airways’ site returned more than 880,000 fare options for a single trip. The gap between travel systems built for human behavior and the machines now using them was a recurring theme in Skift’s conversation with Decius Valmorbida, president of travel at Amadeus. “This is our specialty, because one thing we have done from the beginning is operate at scale,” he said. hubs.li/Q04mpCr50

Brian Chesky has spent more than a decade trying to turn Airbnb into something bigger than a short-term rental platform. He’s trying again — with hotels, experiences, car rentals, airport transfers, and a range of services — but history shows how hard it is to change where consumers book travel. “Why would Airbnb just offer homes? Why couldn’t we offer significantly more things?” Here’s the timeline of Airbnb’s efforts to branch out beyond short-term rentals throughout the years. hubs.li/Q04mq2vX0

AlUla drew 320,000 visitors in 2025, up 15% year-on-year, and is targeting 1 million by 2030 — a goal that requires tripling its current hotel inventory and sustaining international demand through a regional conflict that has already slowed parts of its development pipeline. Phillip Jones, chief tourism officer at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said the destination currently operates 7 hotels with 1,000 keys and plans to reach close to 3,000 keys by 2030. The Hyatt Place opens in October. An Autograph Collection property is under construction. An Aman Hegra and a Six Senses have been announced. “One of the challenges due to the geopolitical crisis is that it slowed some of the projects down because of the uncertainty,” Jones said. hubs.li/Q04mpB7D0

Air India has spent the past two years layering commerce products onto its frequent-flyer program — cruises, car rentals, gift cards. The latest move, a tie-up with Booking Holdings to launch a dedicated co-branded platform built into the Air India website and app, extends that push beyond the seat and into one of the largest pool of travel spend — accommodation. Air India is late to a model already proven by domestic as well as Gulf and Asian carriers, but this deal shows how quickly it wants to catch up through loyalty-led commerce at home. hubs.li/Q04mpBLr0

Carnival Corporation posted record revenues for the second quarter but trimmed its net yield growth forecast, noting disruptions from the Middle East lingered longer than anticipated. Forecast for 2026 net yield growth — a measure of daily revenue per passenger — slipped a full percentage point to 1.75% in part due to lowered expectations for European occupancies.  Carnival, the only major U.S. cruise line that does not hedge fuel, expects $1.35 in adjusted earnings per share in the current quarter, short of analyst estimates for $1.42. hubs.li/Q04mpz_x0

Marriott is getting into the rental apartment business. For the first time, the company will lend its brands to buildings whose customers are tenants, not condo buyers. It’s a departure for a branded residential business long built on selling units. Branded residences provide premium amenities, and both Marriott and developers benefit financially through licensing and management fees, with developers also leveraging presales for financing. hubs.li/Q04mnG440

At Skift’s Data + AI Summit, Wil Slickers sits down with Rob Drotar, Industry Principal at Thoughtworks, to unpack one of the next major shifts facing travel: the rise of AI agents as a new customer interface. Watch the full conversation: hubs.ly/Q04mkH-y0 In partnership with @Thoughtworks

✈️ The aviation industry is under pressure from every direction. Capacity. Sustainability. AI. Loyalty economics that no longer add up the way they used to. On November 12, the executives making the real decisions on these questions gather in New York City for the 6th annual Skift Aviation Forum at the TWA Hotel at JFK. Past speakers have included Robert Isom of American Airlines, Bob Jordan of Southwest Airlines, Joanna Geraghty of JetBlue, Willie Walsh of the International Air Transport Association, and many more. Reserve your seat at our super early bird price for a limited time: hubs.li/Q04m8FTC0

The White House wants to approve what conferences you go to. The White House's OMB has proposed new rules requiring federal agency approval for conference attendance and stricter limits on the use of federal grants. Events industry groups and scientific organizations warn that these changes could severely restrict participation in conferences, professional societies, and international collaborations. hubs.li/Q04mhgC-0

"The most consequential change in Saudi tourism this year is a change of command from the top of the org chart downward, and it is the most bullish development in Vision 2030 in years. It is also the most widely misread. "I spent a working week in Riyadh earlier this month, much of it off the record, following up on two arguments I have made over the past year: that Saudi’s real opportunity is in events and the markets with most affinity to it, not in competing for Western beach travelers, and that the reset forced by the war was the chance to focus capital on the parts of the strategy that are actually delivering. "What I came back with is simpler than the project-by-project scorekeeping. The people running Saudi tourism are changing, wholesale, and so is the target traveler." hubs.li/Q04mdMrB0

Last month, we surveyed 1,000+ travel executives about industry events. The finding: most events produce notes. Almost none produce decisions. Skift Global Forum 2026 is our answer. September 22–24 at North Javits in New York, every session is built around a real decision attendees have to make in the next 12 months — from who owns the traveler when AI agents do the booking, to where airlines cut and where they keep investing. Three days. 1,200+ leaders. One theme: Travel's Great Recalibration. Read more: hubs.li/Q04mdH1G0

💡 Skift IDEA Awards Judge Spotlight: Damien Perrot, Global Chief Design, Technical Services and Innovation Officer for Accor's Premium, Midscale & Economy brands. With more than 25 years at Accor, Damien has helped shape the future of hospitality through design, innovation, and guest experience. Today, he leads global strategy across design, technical services, and innovation, helping brands create experiences that inspire guests and drive performance. The Skift IDEA Awards deadline is July 1, just one week away. If your organization is shaping the future of travel, submit your entry today 👉

New Airline Weekly: What’s Wrong With Las Vegas? Next time you’re in Las Vegas, don’t bet on the number six. In the first four months of 2026, passenger traffic at the city's airport was down 6% versus the same four months last year. This issue asks why Sin City is losing altitude. hubs.li/Q04mdH8h0