The five decisions every travel leader is facing right now

A pre-read on what's actually being debated at Skift Global Forum ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

Unsubscribe SEP 22-24   New York City   Five Decisions. Three Days. One Room. Every travel leader right now is recalibrating. The question is whether they're doing it for the right decade. We just published a pre-read (presented by TBO) that maps the five decisions shaping the industry this year: incumbency versus reinvention, the funnel versus the agent, premium versus volume, human versus machine, certainty versus speed. These aren't abstractions. They're the exact tensions playing out on stage at Skift Global Forum, September 22 to 24 in New York. Booking Holdings' Glenn Fogel on why scale still wins once discovery moves to agents. Airbnb's Brian Chesky on what an AI-native rebuild costs the parts of the business that already work. Hilton's Christopher Nassetta on where human service still moves the numbers. Accor's Sébastien Bazin on deploying capital when the map resets every quarter. Read the pre-read here before you walk into the room. It's the fastest way to know which conversations matter most to you. Get in the room The Five Decisions   Incumbency or Reinvention: Follow the Establishment or the Challenger?     The Funnel and The Agent: What’s the Right Pathway Today?     Premium or Volume: Where’s the Risk When the Two Fall out of Balance?     Human or Machine: How Do Brands Decide When the Guest Still Needs a Person?     Certainty or Speed: Which Is the Right Bet? 45+ Speakers Taking the Stage Brian Chesky Co-Founder and CEO Airbnb Dara Khosrowshahi CEO Uber Glenn Fogel CEO and President Booking Holdings Ariane Gorin CEO Expedia Group Christopher Nassetta President and CEO Hilton Bret Taylor Chairman of the Board, OpenAI Co-Founder, Sierra Kenneth Chenault Chairman and a Managing Director General Catalyst Christine Duffy President Carnival Cruise Line Mark Hoplamazian Chairman, President & CEO Hyatt Hotels Corporation view all here A Curated SGF Experience Every SGF attendee benefits from a carefully curated event experience, including world-class content, exclusive networking, and opportunities to connect with industry leaders. Additional invitation-only experiences are extended throughout the week based on event themes and audience fit. Defining the future of travel. Skift. 35 W 31st St., New York, NY, 10001, USA Follow Us: LinkedIn   |  X   |  Facebook   |  Whatsapp   |  Bluesky   |  Threads You received this because you are subscribed to Marketing Emails from Skift. For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab.

The industry has changed. Contracts need to do the same.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online Why Half of Planners Are Rewriting Their Contracts The industry has changed. Contracts need to do the same.   David McMillin, Skift Meetings Head of Content September 10th, 2026 Understanding corporate meetings has never been easy. Fortune 500 companies share quarterly earnings reports, but they’re never going to include how many employees went to the sales kickoff meeting or what the ROI was at the latest user conference. They all host events, but what those events actually look like tends to stay behind closed doors. That lack of data is what drove us to develop a new Skift Meetings research report that just went live. We surveyed 111 in-house corporate event professionals, and the results reveal that a lot of them are putting their contract language under the microscope. Barbara Scofidio dives into why half of the respondents have made adjustments to their contracts over the past two years — and what the other half should be considering for future protections. Scroll below to get the full story, along with a look at Annette Gregg’s upcoming exit from SITE and a heads-up from the FBI on event impersonation scams. — David McMillin       Less than two weeks to Skift Meetings Forum Half of planners are rewriting their contracts because the ground under every program keeps shifting. The other half are working out what to protect next, and that is the conversation happening on stage at the Javits Center on September 22. The 2026 agenda takes on the pressures driving those rewrites head-on: doing more with less as budgets tighten, reading which destination risks are temporary noise and which are structural, and defending programs against AI-fueled fraud. Senior planners may be eligible for a complimentary VIP pass. APPLY TO ATTEND             FEATURED STORIES SITE’s Annette Gregg to Become CEO of the World Trade Centers Association By Barbara Scofidio After four years of moving the incentive industry niche forward, Gregg is taking the top spot at this well-known global brand. GET THE STORY Why Half of Corporate Planners Are Changing Their Contracts By Barbara Scofidio A hotel contract used to be fairly boilerplate. In today’s business environment, many are missing the clauses that matter most. GET THE STORY What the FBI Phishing Warning Means for Event Planners By Andrea Doyle Event invitations are built on trust. The FBI's latest phishing warning shows how easily cybercriminals can exploit it — and why protecting attendees now extends beyond the event itself. GET THE STORY             WORTH YOUR TIME Five things worth your time today. Why attendees are skipping more sessions and what’s filling the gap. What a $100 experiment reveals about reducing no-shows at events. Where a successful meeting is about the story organizers get to tell after everyone goes home.** How more women can move from running meetings into running the entire company. Who will be in the room at Skift Meetings Forum next week. ** A sponsored message from Meeting Destination Vienna.             SKIFT PICK: TRANSLATING TRAVEL TRENDS FOR MEETINGS Snap, Crackle, and BoomPop. Remember around two weeks ago when Andrea Doyle made the case that the wall between business travel and meetings is falling after the Spotnana acquisition of TROOP? Navan, which reported a 35% year-over-year revenue uptick last quarter, just took another sledgehammer to that wall by gobbling up BoomPop. It wasn’t a total shocker — the two companies teamed up earlier this year for AI-powered venue sourcing — but the move is a signal that Navan is betting on meetings to continue on its growth trajectory. Here’s the number that should get your attention: $1,000 per event (or $6,000 for unlimited events) will get you an AI-powered RFP across 50 hotels on the company’s Pro plan. Still longing for a real human being you can count on? The Full Service plan, which comes with a dedicated event planner and white-glove service, starts at $129 per person. Pull up your last event and do the math on what you paid per person for outside help. If it’s higher than $129, your CFO now has a cheaper option to point to.             Skift Meetings Toolkit Great events are built on strategy, innovation, and the right resources. The Skift Meetings Toolkit is your go-to hub for best practices in managing meetings and events. EXPLORE THE TOOLKIT             Thanks for being a regular reader. We are switching to a new email platform. Why? This change will allow for better delivery, and more engaging newsletters. Please take a moment to add this new email address to your contacts to ensure you continue receiving your newsletters without interruption. During this transition, these emails might land in your promotions or spam folder. To ensure you don’t miss out, please move this newsletter to your primary inbox.       1    DEFINING THE FUTURE OF TRAVEL. Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Skift 35 W 31st St. New York, New York 10001, United States