More Travel Leaders Join the Skift Global Forum 2026 Stage
Skift has unveiled the second round of speakers for Skift Global Forum 2026, held under the theme "Travel's Great Recalibration." The lineup spans ride-hailing, cruise, hotels, airlines, OTAs, AI labs, and venture capital, including CEOs from Expedia, Airbnb, Hilton, Uber, Booking Holdings, Accor, Wyndham, Carnival Cruise Line, and Qatar Airways, plus AI and investment figures. Recurring themes include who owns the traveler as AI agents mediate bookings, how the discovery-to-booking interface is shifting, and how hospitality and airlines make growth and pricing calls amid geopolitical and fuel-driven volatility.
Impact and considerations
The forum gathers top industry decision-makers to discuss unresolved strategic issues like traveler ownership in the AI era, hotel growth, and airline agility, offering forward-looking insights for business travel.
Key points
- AI as the central disruptor: Multiple sessions focus on how AI agents are reshaping the search-to-booking journey and, critically, who 'owns' the traveler relationship once agents mediate the transaction.
- Cross-sector convergence: The forum deliberately gathers leaders from ride-hailing, cruise, hotels, airlines, OTAs, and venture capital, reflecting that major strategic decisions no longer respect traditional sector boundaries.
- Decisions under pressure: Themes emphasize resilience and agility — how hotels drive growth, how airlines adapt to fuel and geopolitical shifts, and how brands justify their 'permission to exist' in a reordered market.
Sources and time
- Primary source
- Skift
- Other sources
- 0
- First source publication
- 12 Aug 2026, 00:41
- Page published
- 13 Aug 2026, 08:10
- Last updated
- 12 Aug 2026, 00:41
- Original links
- Skift Feed：More Travel Leaders Join the Skift Global Forum 2026 Stage (opens in a new tab)Primary source · en · Published 12 Aug 2026, 00:41