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AI company Anthropic could disrupt travel intermediaries. Airspace closures in the Middle East have exposed the strengths and vulnerabilities of the region's big three airlines. And three major hotel companies are being probed by the UK's competition watchdog.

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Travel Technology

Design by Skift

The Claude Effect Could Hit Travel

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, hasn't yet disrupted travel intermediaries, but the stock market seems to sense the threat.

Anthropic wouldn't need a dedicated travel product to cause some damage.
Travel intermediation has weaker moats than most of the sectors Claude has already disrupted.
AI tools for travel aren't fully developed. But "good enough to make investors question the margin" is a low bar.

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Airlines

Gordon Smith

Airline Weekly Editor

Image by Qatar Airways

The Power and Fragility of the Gulf's Big 3 Airlines

The hubs of the 'Middle East 3' (ME3) — Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Etihad Airways — are indispensable to global travel. Their geographic advantage has reshaped international connectivity, but it also leaves networks exposed when conflict hits the region.

The airlines depend on uninterrupted overflight corridors across neighboring airspace to connect passengers safely and efficiently across continents.
When airports themselves become unpredictable operating environments, disruption cascades rapidly through the global system.
Even when airspace reopens, restoring tightly synchronized schedules will take days.

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Experiences

Q&A: Redefining Tours for Spanish Speakers

Civitatis

Civitatis has built a loyal following of 1.2M monthly travelers by designing exclusively for Spanish and Portuguese-speaking audiences — and their new CEO just revealed how.

45% of their repeat customers drive 80% of revenue.
A new AI-powered app designed to replace the chaos of trip planning with one seamless experience.

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Hotels

Luke Martin

Hospitality Reporter

Hotel-Indigo-London-1-Leicester-Square (1)

Image by IHG

UK Watchdog Probes Marriott, Hilton, and IHG

Marriott, Hilton, and IHG are being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) — the UK's competition watchdog — over the alleged exchange of sensitive pricing and commercial data through STR, CoStar's hotel data analytics tool.

Hotels use STR's data to help set pricing and make other decisions. One concern is whether sharing data may ultimately lead to higher room rates.
The CMA could close the case with no action, or issue a formal statement of objections if it provisionally finds a breach of competition law.
Regulators have been increasingly alert to how data platforms and analytics tools can act as a hub for sharing information.

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