Week in Review

For Earth Day, airports and airlines are marking the day with environment-focused special events, according to USA Today.

In major news this week, the Los Angeles Times covered a recent GBTA Foundation report showing China has surpassed the United States as the global leader in business travel spending. Entrepreneur also reported on the reasons behind the lagging growth in U.S. business travel this year, and noted that companies are maximizing their travel to make it as cost efficient as possible. “Business travel is not a perk, it’s a necessity,” GBTA’s Mike McCormick told reporter Carly Okyle.

ABC News reports that airlines are looking to make window and aisle seats a luxury meaning you could be paying more to get out of the middle seat. Airlines seat size has been making the news a lot lately and you won’t want to miss this video from Fox and Friends where they ask if it should be the government’s role to regulate comfort and seat size for airlines.

Hotel Marketing took a look at the social side of hospitality this week reporting on a Cornell study saying hotels really shouldn’t overdo responses to online reviews. In other articles they focused on using Facebook messenger and Instagram for booking.

In an interesting interview, Skift talks with the Paris Convention Bureau about their strategy to engage the international meetings marketplace since the attacks last November and what challenges they now face.

Lyft is gaining on Uber when it comes to corporate use, according to Skift, while taxi use has plummeted. Also in the news, Uber settled this week with the California drivers suing to be treated more like traditional employees. A Bloomberg story says the agreement calls for Uber to pay as much as $100 million to drivers in California and Massachusetts and allows them to solicit tips from riders, but keeps them classified as contract workers.

In GBTA news, GBTA announced the launch of GBTA India this week and also gave out awards honoring companies who demonstrate outstanding leadership, innovation and commitment to delivering best in class sustainability programs, products and services. OpenJaw reports on a checklist for corporate travelers delivered during a duty of care session at GBTA’s record-breaking Canada conference earlier this week.

Here are your lists for this week plus a bonus infographic:

5 New Travel Startups Making Business Travel Stress-Free – Skift
The Reasons Why Business Travel Isn’t Up to Modern Trends – Entrepreneur
Infographic: The Who, Where and Why on Millennials and Travel – Tnooz