TripAdvisor Unveils Self-Serve Advertising Platform for Small Businesses

In what could be either seen as a challenge to Google or an opportunity for marketers, TripAdvisor, one of the world’s largest online travel recommendations and booking sites, has introduced its own self-serve advertising platform directed at small and medium-sized businesses. Using what the site is calling the “TripAdvisor Media Manager,” brands and media buyers…

Branded Airbnb Homes Are Becoming a Lucrative Way to Get Exposure

For the average price of a bottle of bourbon, whiskey drinkers could spend the night on the grounds of the famed Jim Beam distillery on Kentucky’s famed Bourbon Trail. The home, built in 1919, comes with a tour of the stillhouse, a barbecue dinner and a bourbon tasting session with host Fred Noe, the spirit’s…

Airbnb Experiences Will Get the Same Scrutiny as Its Home Listings

Airbnb announced earlier this month that 100% of its homes will be verified by December 2020, and today the home-sharing platform extended that pledge to its ever-growing Airbnb Experiences business in a bid to restore trust among its customers. In a statement, Airbnb said every Experience is already “reviewed for quality,” though a representative declined…

Focusing on Hospitality Made the Taco Bell Hotel So Successful

Pool floats resembling hot sauce packets, manicures with the word “Fire!” on nails, and even a Mountain-Dew inspired Baja Blast drink–these were just a few of visitors’ favorite things at the Taco Bell Hotel. The brand activation, produced in partnership with Edelman and United Entertainment Group, garnered 4.4 billion impressions from the event, with more…

Lufthansa’s Empathic Marketing Doesn’t Focus on Conversions

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.–Much of the marketing and advertising in the travel industry is aspirational: feet in the sand, chilled daiquiris and nary a worry. At least, that’s the idea–but in the real world, even before customers arrive on a beach, one lost suitcase can derail an entire trip. It’s stories like that which made Alexander…

Hyatt Joins IHG, Hilton and Marriott in Eliminating Miniature Toiletries

Following Marriott, Hilton, and the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) lead, Hyatt has officially joined its corporate peers in kicking single-use plastic toiletries to the curb. The hospitality brand announced Tuesday morning that it would be transitioning from “small bottles of shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and lotion,” to “large-format” containers in the brand’s 896 hotels and…

How Lufthansa’s Marketing Chief Is Taking Air Travel to New Heights

An advertising agency veteran who has worked for such high-profile agencies as Leo Burnett, Lufthansa marketing vice president Alexander Schlaubitz says the sheer complexity of the airline business makes it a unique marketing challenge. But, he says, working with the right partners can make all the difference. At Adweek’s annual Brandweek summit, executive editor Stephanie…

Musa Tariq on Why He Left Ford and Landed at Airbnb

When his last gig ended, Musa Tariq took six months off in Central Michigan to contemplate the next step in his career–but it would take a cross-country trip before he found his answer. At the 2019 Brandweek summit, Tariq, head of marketing for Airbnb Experiences, was joined onstage by Adweek’s chief community officer Nadine Dietz…

From Drag Queens to Pizza Delivery, JetBlue Is Having All the Fun

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.–From flying iconic New York pizzas to hungry Californians to creating a (parody) airline safety video starring drag queens, nobody’s having more fun in the sky than JetBlue. At Adweek’s 2019 Brandweek summit, JetBlue’s vp of marketing Elizabeth Windram and her team took home the Alliance Award at the 2019 Constellation Awards for…

Airbnb CEO Pledges to Verify 100% of Listings by 2020

After a week of (particularly) bad press, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has announced the home-sharing service will be taking the “most significant steps towards designing trust on our platform” since launching in 2008. Chesky, who is also Airbnb’s co-founder, said the brand will roll out a more stringent verification process across all 7 million of…

Airbnb to Sponsor 2020 Summer Olympics and Beyond: Report

Airbnb is planning to enter into a global sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee, according to sources speaking with Sports Business Daily. The sponsorship is expected to run through the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Sports Business Daily reported. While financial details were not disclosed, the deal could potentially go into the tens…

Rei Inamoto’s Agency Made a Splash Designing the NYC Ferry

Breaking through the clutter in New York is no easy task. Despite the challenges of navigating New York’s subway system and much-needed infrastructure upgrades, the design vocabulary and signage directing riders continue to endure. Massimo Vignelli’s visual map has been a subject of typography and design enthusiasts for years. And it is as timeless today…

The Bigger the Waves in Hawaii, the Lower the Alaska Airlines Fares

The surf report is becoming a temporary, pseudo-flight tracker in a new campaign for Alaska Airlines. In a data-driven bid to encourage more spontaneous and passion-fueled travel to Hawaii, the airline has partnered with the forecasting site Surfline to let the ocean dictate its fares for last-minute seats. The “Swell Deals” campaign, which runs from…

United Embraces Star Wars for New Safety Video, Though It Feels a Bit…Forced

While it might seem odd to be excited about a new airline safety video, there’s no denying that we’ve been in a golden age of clever iterations on something that had long seemed boringly boilerplate. Led by creative pioneers like Air New Zealand, airline safety videos in recent years have often been fascinating forays into…

Travelers Didn’t Know They Were Going to … West Virginia

Despite 27 different types of trees and an infinite horizon of rolling mountains, dotting the 5th most forested state in the U.S., West Virginia was falling short. Instead of the Mountain State, travelers headed north for the fall foliage of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont–despite the fact that West Virginia was closer to fall fanatics…

Sandra Oh Politely Insists You Travel Like a Canadian in Spot for Air Canada

When you’re breezing through Instagram photos of friends lounging on the beaches of Cozumel, waving from Times Square, or watching the sun set over Santorini, it’s very easy to overlook all the bumpier moments that led to that picturesque moment. Even for the most seasoned globetrotters among us, little can erase the dread of flying….

Uber Tries Ads to Guide Airport Travelers as Rideshare Is Pushed Out

Though many airports have kicked Uber from terminal curbs to parking garages and car lots, the rideshare service has found a way to make sure travelers arriving at Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport can more easily find it. In a partnership with Clear Channel Airports, Uber is branding directional signs so travelers can get from their arrival…

Executives Are Unhappy With Their Companies’ Loyalty Programs

When seemingly every travel brand offers its own specialized loyalty program, industry leaders are finding it difficult to stand out. A new report in the Harvard Business Review found that corporate faith in loyalty programs might be weakening: 58% of executives surveyed believe their organization’s approach to customer loyalty is ineffective. The report, which was…

Q & A: Amtrak’s Roger Harris on Connectivity and Competition

With a C-suite full of airline executives, America’s chronically underfunded and much-maligned national passenger rail network, Amtrak, is expected to break even within a year, a first in the company’s 50-year history, if it happens. Adweek spoke with Amtrak’s CMO and CCO Roger Harris, a former Aeromexico SVP, about how to sell train service in…

’90s Style Icon Lisa Frank Brings Nostalgia to Travel With Rentable Dream Room

The Lisa Frank aesthetic–dolphins, unicorns and lots of hearts and rainbows–is coming to a Los Angeles penthouse apartment available to rent from booking site Hotels.com and hospitality firm Barsala. Reservations for the Lisa Frank Flat will open Oct. 11–the annual Day of the Girl, incidentally–on Hotels.com. Stays are available from Oct. 11-27 for $199 per…