Cabo Verde did it. World Cup history, etched in stone. Now the planes are booking up faster than expected. People want to go there.
MSC goes green, really green
Private islands on cruise routes usually mean two things. Cheap food, pretty views. MSC is trying something different.
Conservation-led development. That is the pitch. Investing in ocean health, maybe helping locals too. It is differentiation. Guests seem to value it, or at least pretend to. Whether it drives interest remains a question mark, but the strategy is clear. Sell the planet back to them, wrapped in a vacation package.
Airports aren’t for flying
Airlines are turning arenas into billboards. Live entertainment becomes loyalty strategy. Premium customers sit in stadium seats while brands hope they book a seat in a plane later.
Does it work? Hard to say. Awareness is easy. Conversions are harder. Theaters as year-round brand real estate? Interesting. Maybe too interesting.
Turkey built the tools
Forget the tech conference circuit. Forget venture capital buzzwords.
Durable travel tech comes from hard conditions. Turkey proves it. Quietly. They built one of the world’s most complete travel tech stacks. Not by accident, not by hype. Just by doing the work.
Hard operating conditions forge durable tech.
Marriott has money. Airbnb has eyeballs.
Marriott outspent every rival on national TV. Big budgets, louder ads. Yet Airbnb’s World Cup ads reached more people.
Budget does not win marquee moments. Focus does. Marriott had the spend, sure. Airbnb had the eyes. Marketers should take note. It’s not about how much you burn, but where you aim the flame.
Who won the attention game? Does it matter?
Travel changes. Again.
