As humans, we crave travel. It connects us to each other and the world around us. Or, as Rafat Ali, founder and CEO of Skift, a leading travel media company, puts it, “Travel as a human need is the default human condition.” But during the pandemic, that need went unfulfilled. Our ability to fly on an airplane, hop in an Uber, or stay in a hotel was drastically limited, if not put on pause. Now, travel is coming back...but just a little bit different. And that raises new questions for both the industry and travelers. Rafat joins the podcast to discuss how the pandemic has both accelerated existing trends and forced a break from the norms of the past -- and what the future of travel means for the world.

Listen to this episode to learn:• How Skift takes an “outside in” approach to understanding changing travel behaviors and connects the dots to what it means for the travel industry

• Lessons from the 2021 Skift Global Forum, and predictions from the CEOs of Airbnb, Hilton, and Uber about the future of travel

• Why embracing flexibility for their customers and pivoting their core business (i.e., becoming cargo carriers) helped airlines survive the pandemic (along with big government subsidies)

• How airports are redesigning their experience through the customers’ lens -- from elevated food options to biometrics and “contactless” check-ins

• Why we’re seeing a boom in domestic travel and how travelers’ rediscovery of the outdoors and local areas is helping small businesses thrive

• How the hotel guest experience has changed as a result of the pandemic (and why your room might not get serviced daily ever again)

• Google’s new sustainability scores, sustainable aviation fuel, and ways in which the travel and hospitality industries are approaching “sustainability”