A year to forget - but a year in which the editorial team produced some of its best work since PhocusWire launched in November 2017.
We conducted a vast range of in-depth interviews with industry leaders for our New Reality With... series, beginning in May at the height of the first lockdown.
These one-to-one, Zoom-side chats were regular features alongside our existing news coverage and opinion articles from other prominent figures around the sector.
We all want to see the back of 2020 (although we suspect there's some considerable time to go before the industry reaches any degree of normality) but also recognize that the past 12 months have been an opportunity to learn more about the industry, our colleagues and contacts.
The editorial team at PhocusWire is proud to present the top 10 stories that captured the most attention with readers over the last 12 months (check out our 2019 and 2018 lists)
In reverse order...
10. Digital marketing in the age of coronavirus - what travel brands need to know
As markets around the world reel from the turmoil of the COVID-19 coronavirus, companies of all sizes are feeling the effects - perhaps none more so than those in and adjacent to the travel industry.
The crisis is forcing companies to reevaluate many aspects of their financial plans for the foreseeable future and - particularly for those operating in the B2C space - to reassess their digital marketing strategies such as paid search.
After all, does it make sense to pay for traffic if consumers aren’t buying travel?
9. Welcome to the Hot 25 Startups for 2021
Our Hot 25 this year is a collection of companies that have survived the onset of the global pandemic and that can, as equally important, thrive in 2021.
The criteria that we've used from previous years are still relevant, despite the unusual circumstances the industry finds itself in: ability to grow customer base and expand geographically, product innovation and quality of the leadership team.
8. Laid-off Expedia Group workers have a message for the current regime
A pair of recently downsized Expedia Group employees are shedding some light on recent company layoffs and the events that led up to them.
The Seattle-based online travel agency scaled down its staff by 12%, about 3,000 workers, in February.
A former program manager for Expedia, who spoke under the condition of anonymity and who was impacted by the recent layoffs, recalls a town hall meeting with employees in the weeks after the executive shakeup where Diller discussed job security.
7. "Nothing will be the same": How Italian hoteliers are coping with coronavirus fallout
Life in Italy is largely at a standstill since the country-wide lockdown on March 10, which came as a result of a dramatic increase in the number of infections and deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus. All but essential travel is banned, and those traveling must prove why it is necessary.
Tourism is one of the largest industries in Italy. Phocuswright estimates created before the outbreak put combined online and offline bookings at more than $25 billion for this year.
To get a sense of the current situation in Italy, we talked to Florence-based Giancarlo Carniani last week. Carniani manages a small hotel company, ToFlorence Hotels, which operates three properties in the city.
6. Airbnb courts digital nomads as it continues push for long-term stays
Prior to the onset of COVID-19, the "digital nomad" was seen primarily as a younger traveler living and working in a destination among likeminded peers.
Digital nomad communities had varying responses to the pandemic, with some opting to remain in service while others pivoted to virtual environments.
As the crisis prolongs and people from many industries continue to work remotely, the idea of the digital nomad is expanding to include basically anyone looking for a change of scenery to live and work.
5. You will travel after COVID-19 - but it won’t be the same
The coronavirus pandemic has changed all of our worlds, and not just in the short-term. Outside of healthcare - where heroes dressed in gowns are battling on the front lines - few industries have been hit like travel.
In my own company, bookings are down by over 95%, while nations have been ordered to stay at home, airlines have gone bankrupt, travel companies are laying off massive amounts of workers and hotels are now hospitals.
When things do start to return to “normal,” travel, especially international travel, will look very different. Here are the top changes coming.
4. COVID-19 and the global hotel industry: A roadmap to recovery, part 1
Just before the 2020 Chinese Spring Festival in late January, with the regional hotel industry forecasting more than 450 million domestic incoming travelers to China, the sudden COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak hit the “pause button” hard -full stop.
The total number of festival travelers didn’t even hit 152 million this year. Compare that to the 2019 Spring Festival, which reached 420 million, and Chinese hotels were down 64%.
The loss of tourism during the Spring Festival period has now reached over 550 billion RMB yuan (nearly $80 billion USD). The Chinese Center for Recreation and Tourism Research has estimated the total loss of Chinese tourism this year could reach three trillion RMB yuan. That’s 10 times greater than the estimated loss after 2003’s SARS outbreak.
Here's Part 2.
3. Expedia will refund hotel guests during COVID-19 regardless of existing booking policy
Expedia Group appealed last week to hoteliers to join a worldwide program put in place by the company to assist with the thousands of cancellations from guests due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The operator of accommodation booking sites including Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire and others said it was facing an "unprecedented volume of calls" from travelers asking for help with non-refundable reservations.
Many travelers physically cannot or should not take their trips, Expedia's president of the travel partners group, Cyril Ranque, said in an email to hoteliers that was viewed by PhocusWire.
2. For alternative accommodations, it's out with short-term, in with long-term
As accommodation bookings take a hit due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many providers in the short-term rental industry are pivoting their models to focus on longer-term stays.
Airbnb promoted its shift to extended stays earlier this month and last week announced that it will have more than one million listings that offer monthly stays.
The home-share giant says it has seen an uptick in long-term stays since 2019 - when one in every seven nights booked was for a longer-term stay and the number of available long-tern stay listings grew 30% - but the COVID-19 crisis is contributing to the current surge.
1. Airbnb is set for a blockbuster IPO - here's why
Even a stopped watch is right twice a day. No finer proof of this exists than my prescient prediction of a blockbuster IPO for Airbnb two months ago. But at what price?
Airbnb hit a lofty $31 billion valuation at its peak, but was forced to accept an $18 billion valuation in a panicked fundraise in early April - with onerous terms that would certainly bring that valuation down if it was just common equity. So what could Airbnb hope for?
Well the overall market dynamics are superb. Nasdaq is at record highs, and 60% up since Airbnb hit the panic button with its fund-raise.
On the flip side, the booming stock market has bifurcated, and anything with a whiff of travel or tourism has been well hammered. So where would Airbnb sit?