Haaland mania. Real stuff. Real loud.
But does it help Norwegian tourism? Nope. It helps no one but the guys already priced out by the sheer cost of visiting Norway. The hype won’t change that. The tourists Haaland might lure aren’t the ones the industry is actually targeting anyway.
The Hopper/FTC Situation
Expedia ended its partnership with Hopper in 2023. Lasted 17 months. Called out Hopper for deceptive practices. The US Federal Trade Commission has now reached largely the same verdict. A reputational hit on top of another one.
The price tag? $35 million.
Expedia saw it first. FTC saw it next. The pattern is clear.
Booking’s B2B Shift
Booking Holdings is forming a new B2B unit. Who is overseeing it? Agoda’s CEO. The structure is shifting.
Accor & Ennismore
Sébastien Bazin kept four or five doors open for Ennismore in June.
Now? He’s walking through one of them. Report says Accor is hiring banks for Ennismore’s US IPO.
AI Summit Insights
Skift Data + AI Summit just wrapped for 2026. Ten insights walked away with attendees. Focus areas were heavy on AI strategy. Agents. Search. Personalization. And the messy, difficult task of scaling AI in travel.
It isn’t easy. It’s messy. It scales differently than anyone predicted.
