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Photo Credit: A guest room at the first StudioRes hotel from Marriott. Marriott
On today’s pod we look at Marriott’s cheaper room push, Apple’s new tools for travelers, and Google’s rapidly changing marketing landscape.
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Skift Travel Podcasts
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, June 10. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Marriott recently opened its first mid-market extended-stay hotel, a milestone in its push to attract budget-conscious travelers seeking apartment-style accommodations, writes Senior Hospitality Editor Sean O’Neill.
The StudioRes property in Fort Myers, Florida — which includes studio-style rooms, full kitchens, and designated work areas — will pit Marriott against established players like Extended Stay America and Choice Hotels. StudioRes targets a $100-per-night point for guests staying multiple nights.
Marriott has plans for 40 more StudioRes properties through 2027. O’Neill notes extended stay hotels represent one of hospitality’s fastest-growing categories, driven in part by hybrid work trends and the rising consumer preference for home-like accommodations.
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Next, Apple unveiled several travel-related upgrades — most notably digital U.S. passports and live translation for messages and calls — during its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on Monday, writes Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes.
Apple announced that the digital passport would be coming to the iPhone’s digital Wallet starting this fall. An Apple executive said that while not a replacement for a physical passport, the digital ID can be used for domestic travel at supported TSA checkpoints and in person where age and identity verification are required.
Apple is also integrating live translation into the apps for Messages, FaceTime, and Phone. The company said AI can generate spoken translation between two people speaking different languages during calls on the Phone app — even if one of the people isn’t using an iPhone.
Finally, Skift Research’s latest research report examines how Google’s use of AI tools in its search platform is disrupting travel marketing.
Head of Research Seth Borko writes Skift Research had predicted in 2023 that AI would have its biggest impact on travel in search, but take the longest to arrive. In the past six months, “AI visibility” — the frequency with which travel-related searches return AI-generated results — has quadrupled.
Borko adds that Gemini has launched on Google’s search engine results page in the form of AI-generated summaries that help answer queries in a contextual manner and with a conversational tone, a significant shift away from the traditional keyword approach.
Tags: ai, apple, google, marriott, skift daily briefing, travel marketing
Marriott has entered the mid-market extended-stay hotel sector with its new StudioRes brand, aiming to attract budget-conscious travelers with apartment-style amenities and plans for rapid expansion. Apple unveiled travel-related updates, including digital U.S. passports for iPhone Wallet and live translation features for calls and messages. Meanwhile, Skift Research reports that Google’s AI tools, especially Gemini, are transforming travel marketing by increasing the prominence of AI-generated content in search results.