“It’s TikTok‘s world now,” reports Bloomberg News. Mark Zuckerberg is changing everything about Instagram to try and catch TikTok…but that might not work. The stakes are high. “About a year ago his company had a market value of about $1 trillion. Today it’s worth about half that.”
The article’s authors indicate that Zuckerberg REALLY needs Reels—his short-form video feature—to work in order to fund his metaverse, and that you can smell his desperation. “He needs talented users to start posting entertaining Reels to draw young people to the app, and to Facebook by extension. The main social network’s user numbers have flatlined, sending investors running and contributing to a 47% drop in the company’s share price since the start of the year. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy to reverse the trend—and shore up investor support for his long-term bets on virtual reality—is centered almost entirely on copying TikTok.”
TSA Numbers From Memorial Day Weekend
More Industry News Bites
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection has just increased the fee it levies on inbound international travelers from the 40 countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (allowing stays up to 90 days without a visa). Now priced at $17, up from $10, the fee does not include a $4 administrative fee and was extended to 2027. Part of the proceeds fund Brand USA, the public-private entity that promotes U.S. tourism overseas. Source: Business Travel News
- U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes testified last week before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in support of the Visit America Act (H.R. 6965) and the Travel and Tourism Act (H.R. 7820). Barnes advocated passage of both bills, which would establish an Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism position at the U.S. Department of Commerce, direct the Commerce Secretary to set inbound visitation goals as well as a national travel and tourism strategy, and direct the Commerce Secretary to facilitate U.S. bids for large international events and trade shows. Source: U.S. Travel Association
- Chase is launching a consumer travel site, ChaseTravel.com, potentially making the bank a big new player “…with supersized ambitions.” Chase claims they’ll be a top five U.S. leisure travel provider by providing travel-related services to cardholder and banking customers, a total of 66 million U.S.households. Source: Skift
- Delta Air Lines is trimming its mid-summer schedule by 100 flights per day, citing rising Covid-19 cases and vendors’ staffing shortages that challenge operations. Following a messy Memorial Day Weekend that saw thousands of flight cancellations, several other U.S. airlines are cutting capacity over the summer: Alaska, Spirit, Southwest and JetBlue. Source: Travel Weekly
- Hotels cut back on housekeeping during the pandemic and slashed working hours for thousands of housekeepers. As guests return, most hotels are keeping with the “on-demand” housekeeping strategy, which continues to sideline housekeepers. However, housekeepers that are back on the job are now facing rooms that take significantly longer to clean, making what was already one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry even more grueling. Sources: Travel Weekly and Bill Geist’s Zeitgeist
- TikTok now allows businesses to manage their accounts via third-party tools such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social, Sprinklr, and others. Source: Search Engine Journal