Lots of Influencers Offer Tours. But Are They Worth Your Money?
Lots of Influencers Offer Tours. But Are They Worth Your Money?
Punnawit Suwattananun/Shutterstockhttps://www.fodors.com/news/trip-ideas/what-to-look-for-when-considering-booking-an-influencer-led-trip
One Tour Changed the Way I Look at Group Travel
Scrolling aimlessly from my hostel bed in Northern India, I stumbled upon my own personal favorite creator’s (@LostWithPurpose) call for bookings, following a last-minute cancellation on her Pakistan motorcycle tour. Pakistan had long been on my travel shortlist, and considering it was right next door and I was itching to get out of India following a rough bout of food poisoning…I took it as fate and booked the tour. Spoiler: It went shockingly well. The merits of group travel are many. For one, it turns out, people who love the same influencer generally have quite a bit in common, so the group dynamic was excellent. More like traveling with long-time friends than the absolute strangers that they were.
I spent two weeks zooming around the high mountains of Pakistan learning the cultural nuances of this complex and at times challenging destination alongside Alex Reynolds, her Pakistani business partner (Sana Marwat), and a small group of like-minded “influenced” travelers. Since then, I’ve been back to Pakistan three times, and it’s easily one of my favorite countries to visit—all thanks to this incredibly well-designed influencer-led tour.
There are three tell-tale signs to watch for when determining if a creator-led tour is worth the money to you or simply a waste of your time.
The Creator Has Actually Visited the Destination Independently Before Running Tours
This seems like a no-brainer, but you would be shocked at how many creators run tours to countries they have never set foot in before.
Perhaps these influencers are so confident in their unshakeable travel skills that they feel they need no assistance navigating the cultural waters of an unfamiliar destination. Or perhaps, they feel they are in fact the entire reason you’ve signed on in the first place. As any expert traveler knows, the real magic happens when you visit a destination alongside someone who knows it intimately and can spill secrets you won’t find anywhere else.
They employ local guides and Support Marginalized Communities
It doesn’t matter how well-versed your favorite influencer is in a country; your visit should always benefit the local communities directly. This means hiring a local guide. This is just good travel ethics.
This also often means more than one local guide. Sometimes a single influencer-led trip transcends several cultures or regions, requiring different languages, dialects, and areas of expertise. On our trip, Sana was an encyclopedia of knowledge, covering all my in-depth Pakistan questions, but he also offered translation services for our endless questions to other guides they had set up at various forts, museums, and remote corners of the country.
The Tour Itinerary Covers More Than Just the Greatest Hits
I can Google the top 10 places to see in any given country. Those places are bound to have the easiest-to-navigate tourist infrastructure, too. So if your favorite influencer is running tours that only visit the must-see sights in a country, it is a sign that the tour as a whole is unlikely to dip beneath surface level.
While I’m not saying you have to skip the must-sees entirely, you want your creator-led tour to give you something you can’t just do yourself.
Bonus Tip: Creators Ask You to “Apply” For the Trip
I found that most reputable creator tours required you apply for the trip rather than simply pay your way into the group. It shows they genuinely care whether you are a good fit for the group trip and will enjoy it, rather than just boosting their tour numbers to maximize profits.
Alex ensures that all her Pakistan motorcycle tour guests are familiar with motorcycles or seem adventurous enough to rise to the challenge. A quick meet and greet with the influencer can ensure that you are prepared for whatever challenges the itinerary in question will throw at you. How extensive exactly is the hiking? Do you understand the kinds of clothing (conservative or not) you should be packing? Are you a good fit for the rest of the group? This is a great way to weed out miscommunication before you’ve bought your flight.
Know the Warning Signs That an Influencer Trip Is Bound to Disappoint
If it’s a new-to-them destination that doesn’t openly project support of local communities and only visits the sights you already knew existed–it’s probably not going to be an exceptional or memorable tour experience.
Companies likeTrova Trip are mainstreaming this kind of creator-led shallow travel and cheapening the group tour experience. Rather than leveraging years of personal experience traveling in a country, carefully crafting the perfect itinerary, and selecting personable guides to maintain the vibe, influencers in this model work solely as advertisers. They have little to no say in how the trip is run, the guides who lead you, or even the itinerary of the tour—they just sell it to their followers so they can land a payday.
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Forecasts/Majority-of-hoteliers-scaling-back-development-AHLA
Rising costs and softening demand are leading to a pullback, according to the AHLA member survey.
NATIONAL REPORT — Rising costs and uneven demand challenges are placing a significant strain on hotel investment and operations, according to a new survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA).
Falling occupancy could mean ADR declines late in '25
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Forecasts/Falling-occupancy-could-mean-ADR-declines-late-in-25
CBRE’s latest “U.S. Hotels State of the Union” report suggests a lack of positive momentum could mean even more softening.
NATIONAL REPORT —After failing 1.1% in July, month-to-date RevPAR in August for U.S. hotels contracted again as weaker ADR growth (0.4%) was offset by a drop in occupancy (1%). With the lack of positive momentum on the horizon, it is looking increasingly likely that the past five months of falling occupancy will suggest ADR declines later in the year, according to CBRE’s U.S. Hotels State of the Union.
The September report showed that bifurcation continues as the luxury chain scale outperformed the industry again with August RevPAR gains of 2.3%. It also shows that while top-line growth outpaced RevPAR growth in June (+1.2%), cost increases pressured margins, which contracted 0.1%, resulting in declining profits. As weaker revenue growth and higher inflation persist through 2026, CBRE said it expects margins to remain under pressure.
According to the CBRE report, CMBS rates increased slightly, up 10 basis points, in July to 7.3% and credit spreads narrowed by 20 basis points YOY. CMBS loan issuance fell from $2.5 billion in July 2024 to $1.1 billion in July 2025. The average loan size also decreased, from $102.4 million to $78.8 million, as fewer loans were issued with the loan count falling to 13 from 24 a year ago.
Short-term rental (STR) demand increased again in July, up 3.6% year-over-year and outpacing a 0.3% decline in hotel demand. Short-term rental RevPAR increased 6% in July YOY as ADR rose to 140% of 2019 and occupancy remained steady at 101% of 2019.
In terms of the overall economy, CBRE raised its 2025 GDP forecast to +1.6% from +1.3% . But due to the higher expected base in 2025, it lowered its 2026 GDP growth estimate to +1.8% from +2%. Both 2025 and 2026 are expected to be below the +2.1% long run average. At the same time, the consumer price index (CPI) is also likely to remain elevated through at least 2026.
The report stated that real disposable income growth slowed to 2% in July, while the personal savings rate increased to 4.4%. Wage gains continue to outpace inflation, suggesting that consumers have money to travel. However, CBRE stated that RevPAR has continued to decline due to cannibalization and the loss of inbound international travel.
Other findings from the CBRE report:Despite softer GDP growth and persistent inflation, business sentiment has remained steady at 99 in July, while earnings growth is forecasted to increase 13.7% in Q4 2025. However, consumer sentiment has declined from 102 in July 2024 to 97 in July 2025, and hotel demand is increasingly reliant on consumer spending.
As shifting sentiment sets in, inbound international visitation fell 3.1% YOY in July. Conversely, outbound international travel volumes increased 6.6%. CBRE stated that the imbalance between inbound and outbound travel volumes is likely to persist through 2026, which will be a significant headwind to U.S. hotel demand.
Throughput growth may accelerate in the back half of the year as comparisons get easier, which could lead to more robust RevPAR trends. Google searches for corporate and redemption travel increased again in August, up 6.4% and 3.3% YOY, respectively, which could also point to stronger travel trends in the fall.
Beyond sales: A unified marketing strategy for hotel success
Stephanie Atkisson (Raines)
https://www.costar.com/article/1733873913/beyond-sales-a-unified-marketing-strategy-for-hotel-success
A more holistic approach can take hotel marketing to new heights
Hospitality is a multi-faceted experience. Everything from the booking process to the on-site amenities to customer service affects a guest’s impression of a property after checking out. No operational department exists in a silo, and they all work together to create a guest experience greater than the sum of its parts.
This mindset shouldn’t just apply to operations — sales also can benefit from taking a more holistic approach. Traditional sales tactics, such as cold calling, often aren’t strong enough to move the needle for the experience-focused properties that have taken over the industry. The solution: A campaign that leverages both marketing and revenue management to create emotional resonance, builds trust in your property or portfolio and serves as the catalyst to sales.
By leveraging the expertise of their marketing and revenue colleagues, hotel sales teams can develop and continuously update campaigns that drive audience engagement and, ultimately, occupancy and revenue.
Here’s how to start.
Tell your story
Stories are at the heart of every marketing-driven sales strategy, and any marketing team worth their salt will be able to work with their sales team to develop one that drives business. A hotel's story should lean into the little details that make a property unique and answer questions like: “What sets the property apart?;” “How does the property reflect the local market and culture?;” and “What lasting impressions will guests walk away with?” If available, the story should incorporate guest testimonials to build trust and credibility. Guests will heed the opinions of other guests.
It’s also critical that you have compelling visual content to accompany your verbiage. Invest in high-quality photography and videography – it helps your campaign stand out and shows what exactly guests can expect when they visit your property.
Finally, as you flesh out your story, be sure that you have a clear understanding of your mission, brand attributes and target audience. This foundation should guide all your sales and marketing efforts.
Find the right audience
Developing your story is only part one of a successful unified marketing campaign. Next, you need to make sure that story finds the right audience. Not all platforms fit all properties, and hotel sales teams need to find which one works best for their story and their budget. Some hotels might have great success with social media platforms and online ads, others will get a great response to email marketing, and still others will see a greater return on investment from print media.
Key to finding the right platform is understanding what each one brings to the table. Social media is great for brand awareness, but it has not become a direct booking engine quite yet. Email marketing can deepen engagement with existing and potential guests by making them aware of new amenities or special promotions. Digital ads can use geo-targeting to reach potential guests based on their proximity to points of interest. Raines has used geofencing marketing ads to drive direct walk-ins to specific properties. For a new property, this is great exposure and allows the sales team to directly target customers already staying in the market.
Print media, like magazines, is often underutilized by hotel advertisers. Recently, Raines launched its “Curiosity” campaign, directly targeting customers through major publications to take action and drive direct business. Having an advertisement in a trusted publication drove demand to our properties, and our website traffic jumped significantly.
Finally, don’t stop telling your story just because guests are on property. Hoteliers can leverage in-house guest messaging to boost incremental revenue by promoting on-property amenities like restaurants, spas and activities. The guests already in your hotel are still a valuable audience!
Track, Measure, Pivot
When you launch your campaign, you need to know what success looks like. This varies by platform, so familiarize yourself with the different key performance indicators (KPIs) so you know when a sales strategy is working and when you may need to pivot.
In terms of the campaign itself, you should monitor impressions, clicks, interaction and engagement. From a revenue standpoint, you’re looking for growth in direct booking, return on ad spend and ROI. The sales team should make a point of conducting monthly and quarterly reviews of a campaign’s performance.
They should also be quick to shift tactics when metrics are not meeting expectations.
Each property should have its own set of KPIs customized to its unique sales goals. If you’re new to marketing campaigns, work with your team to build an initial baseline of what to track and how to assess early performance without any concrete comparison. This is also where revenue comes in. The revenue team can help measure ROI across the campaign, giving sales and marketing the data they need to drive the campaign’s success.
Build your team
Not every property is staffed with sales, marketing and revenue teams. Sometimes, those teams are shared across a portfolio. Other times, the property is too small to warrant a dedicated marketing team. There are other ways to bring marketing into the fold if you’re a sales director without a dedicated marketing team.
You could work with third-party companies to develop your campaign or manage aspects of your distribution, such as social media or email marketing. There are PR firms that can connect you with influencers that have ties to the local travel community. This isn’t free, but ROI is strong.
Final thoughts
A holistic approach to marketing, sales and revenue is necessary to compete in today’s extremely competitive market. Every hotel, regardless of size, can build and execute effective marketing campaigns. Sales directors must abandon the “I’m not a marketing person” mindset. Now they have to be.
Stephanie Atkisson is senior vice president of commercial strategies at Raines.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.
“Last-Chance Tourism’ Is Killing the Places We Love”
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/last-chance-tourism-is-killing-the-places-we-love
There's an irony in last-chance tourism: the more we travel to visit far-flung, climate-impacted destinations, the more carbon we emit.
As I wandered down to the shore of Washington State’s Lake Kachess, I expected I’d quickly swap dusty pebbles for slippery stones at the water’s edge. But I kept walking, and walking, and walking.
The shoreline never came.
The water level had fallen so low that, rather than the vast lake I’d come to expect after years of visiting, all that was left was a puddle-pocked mudscape with little more than a pond of shallow water. It was a far cry from what I remembered from my first visit to Kachess in my teens.
An unseasonably warm winter had resulted in less snowfall in the Cascades—leading to below average levels of snowpack and much less meltwater to fill the lake basin, a trend that’s expected to continue as climate change worsens.
Kachess is just one of many alpine lakes and natural environments around the globe suffering from the climate crisis, but it’s one of the clearest examples I’ve seen of just how quickly parts of the world are slipping away.
When a place we love is disappearing before our eyes, our first instinct is to grab on as hard as we can to try and save it or snatch some kind of relic to show that yes, we’ve been there, and yes, it was real, but no, it’s not here anymore.
This is the essence of last-chance tourism: see it before it’s gone. It’s also the driving force behind one of the most ethically complicated trends in travel.
Coined by Canadian professor Jackie Dawson, last-chance tourism occurs when travelers specifically visit destinations or experiences at risk from the climate crisis.
This is the essence of last-chance tourism: see it before it’s gone. It’s also the driving force behind one of the most ethically complicated trends in travel.
Coined by Canadian professor Jackie Dawson, last-chance tourism occurs when travelers specifically visit destinations or experiences at risk from the climate crisis.
“I worry about last-chance tourism when people are doing it in a performative sense—where, via social media, they want people to see they’ve done something others won’t be able to do in the future—and when it sounds like it’s somewhat voyeuristic,” added Regina Scheyvens, a professor of development studies at New Zealand’s Massey University, whose research focuses on sustainable tourism.
She explained that sustainable tourism is about more than just the environment: it includes making sure the economy benefits from visitors and that the community wants tourism to occur.
“If people are living somewhere that’s been labelled by visitors as a ‘last-chance’ destination, their local environments are under threat,” Scheyvens said. “There are going to be a lot of other things on their minds besides accommodating travelers or developing tourist infrastructure. Visiting these places might not be in the best interest of the community.”
2. Lake Kachess’ dried-up lake bed.
Photo: Alex Blaze/Shutterstock. Credit:Jake Vacek/iStock;
Walking On Ice
Still, Scheyvens noted certain ways of visiting at-risk destinations can be less harmful than others, particularly when the environment is engaged with safely.
Take the Great Barrier Reef: the reef covers a huge swath of seafloor, and “respectful snorkelers and divers themselves might not be causing more damage to it,” particularly if they’ve travelled domestically versus taking a long-haul flight, she explained.
While a flight from Sydney to Cairns and a boat cruise out to the reef still produce significant carbon emissions, their overall carbon footprint is smaller than that of someone who flew from Los Angeles or Paris.
Another concern in some regions can be a lack of tourism infrastructure—meaning that the environment might not be prepared to handle an influx of visitors. Jackson explained that there’s been a significant increase in cryospheric tourism in recent years, with large numbers of visitors flocking to glaciers across the Arctic Circle, attracted increasingly to ice caves.
You can see the impacts on the ice and in glacier foregrounds. Beyond glaciers melting at a breakneck pace from global warming, tourists are crowding onto trails and causing erosion, and shedding pocket lint and plastics in glacial caves.
“Glacier foregrounds aren’t made for people walking in a straight line,” she added, noting tourism often leads to having too many people in the landscape.
Plus, Antarctic cruises emit approximately eight times more greenhouse gas emissions per day than the average international trip—meaning they play an outsized role in the warming that’s melting the glaciers the cruises came to see.
The climate crisis is also making glacial tourism more dangerous. While ice cave tours in the Arctic Circle aren’t new, Jackson noted that walks through the glacier tunnels were only led in the winter. But increased demand has led to a high-profit industry popping up with some tour operators offering these visits in the summer.
“Especially as climate change increases air temperatures, glacier access in the summer can be unsafe, and anyone offering ice cave access in the summer season is irresponsible and unsafe,” she said, pointing at an August 2024 ice cave collapse in Iceland that killed one person and injured another. “The reason tourists hire a guide is to keep them safe. The guides are supposed to teach them about the glacier.”
“Glacial tourism is so lucrative that safety standards in some places across the cryosphere either don’t exist or aren’t meaningfully enforced,” she added.
On the flipside, she said, it can be easier to see evidence of climate change in the cryosphere, as it’s more visible to the naked eye than changing temperature averages.
“You can visit a glacier in Iceland at the start of the summer, take a picture, and come back a few months later at the end of the summer,” Jackson said. “It won’t look the same. You have a believable, visual record that gives you the ability to say, ‘It looked like this, and now it looks like that.’”
Heating Up
Beyond glacier melt, extreme temperatures and rising sea levels are also hitting key cultural and historical sites around the world.
World heritage in the Mediterranean is greatly at risk.
A 2018 study published in Nature Communications found that over 90% of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites in the region are at risk of coastal erosion and flooding. 47 of the 49 sites—including Venice and its lagoon, Dubrovnik’s Old Town, and various archaeological digs—will be in danger by the end of the century.
Venice is a particularly salient example, as it already regularly experiences “acqua alta” events, or seasonal high tides during the fall and winter. Of all the sites studied, it was found to have the highest potential flood depth of 8.2 feet. To date, the highest recorded flood was 6.36 feet nearly 60 years ago, which demolished over 75% of the city’s businesses.
Coupled with natural sediment compaction that makes Venice sink a few millimeters annually, many fear that the city could be partially or fully underwater before 2150 (if not earlier).
Slightly further east, the Dead Sea, an important religious site, is in danger of drying up. It’s losing a meter of water every year due to rising temperatures, upstream dams, mineral mining, and climate change-fueled groundwater depletion; the decline is only expected to worsen without intervention.
Tragedy Of the Commons
Therein lies the irony of last-chance tourism: the more we travel to visit far-flung, climate-impacted destinations, the more carbon we emit, which then quickens global warming and the rate of environmental degradation.
That tension forces us to confront a difficult truth: there’s no “guilt-free” way to travel to disappearing places. The question becomes how to minimize harm while still engaging with the environment and the community meaningfully.
“It’s got to be about the people having a say in what happens in their environment—and making sure they’re benefiting from it,” Scheyvens said, pointing out that in many cases, tourism dollars leave the regional economy when lodging or tour operators aren’t based in the region. “If local communities don’t want tourism at that moment, we need to respect that.”
Slowing down is a powerful first step to reducing travel’s environmental impacts.
By spending longer in fewer destinations, we cut down our per-day carbon footprint and deepen our understanding of a place. Plus, off-peak tourism is not only more budget-friendly and less crowded, but also eases strain on tourism infrastructure.
Destination choice also matters, as we can be so focused on visiting Instagram’s beautiful world wonders that we forget to explore what’s in our own backyard and accessible via train or car rather than by plane.
Some of the most at-risk environments have similarly appealing “dupes” that can be more sustainable options. Interested in canals, aquamarine water, and European history, but can’t stomach the idea of visiting Venice after you learned it’s sinking? Annecy, an idyllic French lake town 25 miles from Geneva, is a wonderful alternative.
Letting Go
Though I haven’t been back to Kachess since I found the water pulled back from the shore like an unmade bed, the sight of it has stuck with me ever since. It’s flavored the memory with a complicated mix of emotions: awe, grief, and a desire to remember it exactly as it was before.
Last-chance tourism feeds on that impulse.
That’s the challenge, I suppose. To visit Kachess—or a glacier, or a reef—and not just see it before it’s gone, but to do our part and make sure it’s still here for someone else to see.
Hotel asset managers anticipate more 'deterioration' of demand, rates
As hotel demand continues to plateau, hospitality asset managers expect rate strength will erode as well. (Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/2143488679/hotel-asset-managers-anticipate-more-deterioration-of-demand-rates
CoStar News
New survey notes hotel owners are seeking brand, management changes to spur performance
AUSTIN, Texas — For the second time this year, members of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association ranked demand as their top concern in the association's biannual survey.
In total, 77.8% of respondents ranked demand as one of their top three concerns at the moment, up from 65% in the spring survey released in April.
Chad Sorensen, managing director and CEO of CHMWarnick and president of HAMA, pointed to industry projections for full-year hotel performance repeatedly being reduced by major forecasters as one reason for the drop in confidence.
"Deterioration has continued to happen in their updates, so I think the anticipation is that deterioration will continue, which is concerning especially for" the fourth quarter, he said.
The second-highest concern in the latest version of the survey is the trajectory of hotel room rate growth, with 51.9% of respondents ranking that as a top concern. This speaks to a lack of pricing power in a lower demand environment and the broad expectation among asset managers that rooms revenue will be challenged heading into 2026.
"I think the industry right now is at its highest level of trepidation around maintaining rates or increasing rates," Sorensen said. "This is probably the most concern we've had had around rate, and there's been a meaningful shift in the last 90 days."
No other specific issue rose above 50% on the survey, and tariffs ranked as the third highest concern at 34.6% followed closely by wage increases at 33.3%.
John Paulsen, senior vice president at HotelAVE, said tariffs in particular make planning and budgeting difficult.
"There's a little bit of uncertainty from a business perspective, and we've seen that with corporations being like 'Do we really need to travel?'" he said. "They do typically, but it's kind of last-minute. And groups have kind of fallen off slightly."
Notably, increased insurance costs, which has been at or near the top of the list of hotel asset manager concerns in recent years, now ranked as a major issue for just 8.6% of respondents.
Despite pessimism about the broad travel demand environment, asset managers seem to have a higher degree of optimism about the broader economy as only 37% believe the U.S. is heading towards a recession in 2026.
Sorenson said that might be a symptom of growing numb to recession talk.
"We've been talking about it for so long," he said. "We're just kind of to the point where we wake up in the morning and we know there's going to be news. We just don't know if it's going to be good or bad. That's kind of the way it is."
Broadly, hotel asset managers seem to be expecting low single digit revenue per available room growth next year, with 72.8% projecting a range of 1% to 3%, 18.5% expecting 4% to 6% and no respondents calling for 7% or more.
Sorensen said it's likely this trend will "carry into [the first quarter] of next year."
"There's really no indicators that it's not a trend that's going to continue," he said.
Tepid growth rates seem to align with growth rates seen or expected for the current year. Slightly less than half of respondents — 49.4% — said full-year RevPAR growth for their portfolios will fall in the 1% to 3% range, with 17.3% saying it was roughly flat and 18.5% saw a decline. The survey showed roughly 75% of respondents didn't expect their hotels to meet their full-year budget numbers.
Asset managers looking for a change
A majority of asset managers responding to the survey indicated they're looking to make brand or management changes at their hotels to spur performance, with roughly a quarter (24.7%) saying they're going to seek both.
With less hotel construction and thus fewer opportunities to sell franchises, hotel brands are doing what they can to keep flags even through a change in ownership, Paulsen said.
"They need to hold on to their existing contracts," he said. "One example was where a brand offered some key money to stay in the deal. So there might be opportunities like that."
There is also a widespread trend of investing within properties and portfolios, with 80.3% saying they're planning renovations at one or more properties.
Emily Miller, vice president of asset management for Atrium Holding Company, said part of that is brands are getting more anxious for owners to update properties, so they are making it easier to do that.
"They're realizing they're behind on their preferred cycles, so they're creating more flexibility in programming for owners," she said. "So maybe it's not a full, 100% renovation, but it's certain bits and pieces that are the key touchpoints, which is great for us as owners."
The Most Mysterious True Crimes That Happened in the World’s Deadliest Deserts
In the scorching silence of deserts, some of the world’s most haunting mysteries have taken root.
For many, the desert is viewed as a place of spiritual reflection, isolation, and untamed beauty. However, for all its open skies and calming serenity, deserts sometimes also conceal a darker, more sinister characteristic—one steeped in disappearance, deception, and death. From the unforgiving sands of the American Southwest to the vast expanse of Australia’s outback, some of the world’s most famous deserts have served as a haunting backdrop for some of the most chilling unsolved crimes and eerie legends in modern history.
People have disappeared without a trace, leaving behind cryptic clues that remain unexplained, and while a few have been found, their stories often remain unfinished. In these arid lands, where human life feels fragile and time seems suspended, mystery finds fertile ground.
Vanished in the Valley of Fire: The M-Cave Incident
On November 10, 2014, hiker and experienced outdoorsman Kenny Veach disappeared in the Mojave Desert, near Nellis Air Force Base in Clark County, Nevada, while in search of a special M-shaped cave. Veach, who claimed the cave made his body vibrate when he stood near it, was motivated to find it again after some followers expressed doubts in his story.
Documenting his search on his YouTube channel, Veach failed to find the cave on a second trip, which spurred his third and fateful trip on November 10. Armed with a handgun, Veach ventured solo into Nevada’s Sheep Mountains, never to return. His cell phone was later found near an abandoned mine shaft. No other evidence of his fate has been discovered.
In the decade-plus since his disappearance, there have been numerous theories shared about what could have happened to Veach, ranging from accidental death, suicide, and government conspiracies. A multitude of amateur sleuths have combed satellite images and revisited the area where he vanished—driven by a combination of curiosity and the allure of the unknown.
The Ghosts in Death Valley
In the summer of 1996, a family of four German tourists visiting the U.S. vanished in Death Valley National Park. Dubbed “The Death Valley Germans” by the media, the family, which consisted of Egbert Rimkus, his girlfriend Cornelia Meyer, his son Georg, and Meyer’s son Max, was last accounted for at an abandoned mining camp, where Cornelia signed a visitors’ logbook. The four were scheduled to return to Germany a few days later, but never made their flight. After realizing her ex-husband and son hadn’t returned, Egbert’s ex-wife alerted the authorities.
An extensive search quickly ensued, with no leads, until almost three months later, in October 1996, when the family’s rental minivan was found in a mostly remote part of the national park. Despite a thorough investigation of the van, no other evidence was found to explain the disappearance and whereabouts of the four individuals. Eventually, the search was called off. It would take another 13 years before two hikers, who were investigating the mystery of the family’s disappearance, discovered the skeletal remains of Egbert and Cornelia. Although the remains of Georg and Max were never found, authorities concluded that all four had likely perished at the same location.
With no conclusive evidence of why the four were at that specific location and what exactly occurred, authorities have theorized that it is possible they took a wrong turn, got lost, perhaps ran out of gas, and tried walking for help, only to succumb to dehydration. Many others, however, speculate that the family may have encountered a person or two who led them astray, ultimately meeting with foul play.
Deserts as Dumping Grounds
It’s no surprise that deserts, with their vast emptiness, make for perfect hiding places—not just for fugitives, but for bodies, as well. California’s Mojave Desert has earned a rather dubious reputation as a place where secrets go to die. In January 2024, six missing bodies were found in the California desert in that one month. In 2018, a hiker stumbled upon human remains, partially buried near the Joshua Tree National Park. At the time, it was the second instance in a month of hikers finding human remains in the area. Perhaps one of the most infamous incidents in the Mojave Desert was the November 2013 discovery of the McStay family by a dirtbike rider. The family of four had seemingly disappeared without a trace in February 2010. Charles Merrit, the business partner of Joseph McStay, was eventually arrested and later convicted of murdering and disposing of the family.
Deserts have also been a popular dumping ground for cartels and organized crime that often exploit their isolated locations. Northern Mexico’s Sonoran Desert is morbidly referred to as a “killing field” due to the mass graves that have been uncovered—a grim testament to gang violence and human trafficking. However, the desert doesn’t simply conceal evidence; it erases it. The combination of intense heat, scavenging animals, and the passage of time leaves little behind for investigators to work with.
Folklore and Fables with a Sinister Edge
Not all desert darkness is easily categorized. In places like Arizona, stories persist about the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine, believed to be hidden in the Superstition Mountains. According to legend, the mine is cursed, something many believe based on the dozens of treasure hunters who have gone missing or turned up dead while searching for the elusive vein of gold. While some fortune hunters were found, they often returned with broken limbs, sunburnt skin, and delirious expressions. Many others, however, were never found at all.
In Australia’s Simpson Desert, Indigenous legends of Min Min lights—mysterious orbs that follow travelers—have intertwined with stories of vanishings that defy explanation. While some attribute the lights to optical illusions or natural gas, others say they are omens, guiding the lost into oblivion.
Even in the Middle East, the Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter, has birthed myths of entire caravans swallowed by shifting sands. Ancient cities are said to lie buried beneath their dunes, cursed by wrathful gods or lost to time. Some modern-day disappearances in the region are often framed through this lens, adding a supernatural element to otherwise explainable tragedies.
The Challenges of Solving Desert Crimes
Perhaps one of the most enduring reasons why desert crimes are so fascinating to many is that they are typically very hard to solve. The main reason for that is due to the terrain itself. The harsh climate causes the evidence to degrade quickly—footprints fade, bones bleach, and digital signals die. Many disappearances also occur in remote locations where cell service is spotty, and search-and-rescue efforts are complicated by the lack of infrastructure. The window to gather viable evidence is often extremely narrow.
Local jurisdictions often face resource constraints, while jurisdictional boundaries can lead to confusion or fragmented investigations. In transnational desert zones, such as the Sahara, political instability and corruption further complicate law enforcement efforts. Often, by the time authorities are even alerted that someone is missing, the desert has already inadvertently eradicated the truth.
The Allure of Desert Noir
It’s no secret that the popularity of true crime has surged in recent years. Research suggests that 84% of Americans consume true crime content through some type of media, be it television, podcasts, social media, and more. The subgenre of “desert noir” has become a captivating niche within the genre. A significant factor is that these stories combine the stark aesthetics of barren landscapes with the existential tension of being alone and vulnerable. They tap into something primal: the fear of being lost, the dread of isolation, and the possibility that, in the end, no one is coming to save you.
Podcasts, documentaries, and online forums continue to explore cases like that of Kenny Veach, the Death Valley Germans, and the unsolved murders in remote desert towns. Each thread tugged reveals more about human psychology, desperation, and the places we go—both physically and metaphorically—when we’re searching for something we may never find.
Despite the passage of time, deserts continue to keep their secrets. Some victims may eventually be found, while others never will. In these silent places, justice moves slowly, if at all. For every closed case, a new one opens. A missing hiker. A burned-out car. A skull half-buried in sand. The stories shift, but the themes remain—disappearance, dread, and the haunting question: What really happened out there?
This Is a Bad Week to Go to Europe
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/this-is-a-bad-week-to-go-to-europe
A presidential visit this week and labor actions across the continent could snarl European travel for the next month.
Travelers bound for Europe within the next week should pack their patience and keep their airline app sending push notifications. The combination of weather, planned strike actions, and the possibility of traffic disruptions related to President Trump’s state visit to Britain could delay travelers bound for the continent over the coming week.
Travel Headaches in Britain
President Trump is expected to arrive in Britain on Tuesday evening, in what has been characterized as that country’s biggest security operation since the coronation of King Charles III in May 2023. A second state visit was offered to the President by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this year, in a break from tradition. Second term U.S. presidents typically receive a royal invitation for a tea or luncheon, but without the full schedule of events that attends an official state visit.
The official schedule has events at Windsor Castle, near London, and the prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers, in Buckinghamshire, which would likely reduce traffic impacts for visitors to London, although flights could experience disruption at Heathrow Airport. The airport—Britain’s busiest—lies just 8 miles from Windsor Castle, which will have airspace restrictions in place during the president’s visit.
Events at Windsor Castle have disrupted Heathrow flights before, most recently during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022, when airspace over Windsor was closed to provide relative silence during the funeral service and interment. Airlines serving Heathrow cancelled nearly 100 flights on that day. While the airspace restrictions have been announced, there has been no official estimate how many flights—if any—could be impacted.
Air Traffic Control Strikes in France
Travelers bound for France were originally to have faced delays or cancelations this Thursday and Friday as air traffic controllers in that country had scheduled strikes, but it was announced Monday that the strikes would be postponed to October 7-10 because of the recent collapse of the government, meaning there are no negotiators from the Ministry of Transport to hold discussions with until a new government is formed.
Ground Staff Strikes in Italy, Portugal, and Spain
In Italy, ground staff at Volotea have announced a strike action for September 26, so travelers on that airline should check their flight status before heading to the airport. Baggage handlers and other ground staff have also planned strikes in Spain and Portugal in several periods through at least January 2026.
In Portugal, ground workers employed by the ground handling company Menzies Aviation have announced a series of strikes over several multiday periods through December 2025. Disruptions are expected to impact several airports in the country, including Lisbon, Porto, Faro, and in the islands of Madeira and the Azores.
In Spain, Azul Handling staff have said they will strike from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays for the rest of 2025. Airports across the country are affected, including those at Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife South, and Valencia.
Air travelers bound for Europe can request compensation from their airline if their flight is canceled or significantly delayed due to circumstances within the airline’s control. Consumer protection regulations (EU 261) in Europe consider strikes by airline or contracted staff to be within the airline’s control, but not strikes by air traffic control or security staff. All flights departing the European Union are subject to EU 261 rules, regardless of the nationality of the air carrier, while flights on European-flagged airlines are subject to those rules regardless of their airport of origin.
Travelers originating in the United Kingdom or on U.K. certificated airlines have virtually identical consumer protections, grandfathered into British law before the U.K. left the European Union in 2020, although disruptions related to airspace closures for security reasons are generally considered outside of airlines’ control.
Future-proofing hotel agreements: flexibility, alignment and the rise of white-label management
From left to right: Philip Camble, Whitebridge Hospitality, moderator; Winston Zahra, Troo Hospitality; Timothy Walton, Marriott International; Alyona Antonenko, Keystone Law; and Jens Blomdahl, KSL Capital Partners. (Keystone Law)
https://www.costar.com/article/703238270/future-proofing-hotel-agreements-flexibility-alignment-and-the-rise-of-white-label-management
CoStar Analytics
Shifting market demands still require strong relationships and open communication among all involved parties
Keystone Law hosted a panel discussion on 16 September, during which hospitality leaders and legal experts gathered to explore how hotel agreements can be future-proofed in an industry shaped by rapid change, evolving guest expectations and increasingly sophisticated investors. The panel was moderated by Philip Camble of Whitebridge Hospitality and included: Winston Zahra, Troo Hospitality; Timothy Walton, Marriott International; Alyona Antonenko, Keystone Law; and Jens Blomdahl, KSL Capital Partners.
From leases to flexibility: the evolution of hotel agreements
The panel discussion started by tracing the history of hotel agreements, highlighting a move from rigid leases to the rise of franchise models and hotel management Agreements, which have enabled hotel chains to expand globally at a faster pace.
Antonenko from Keystone Law noted that although the hotel market has evolved extensively, agreement terms have not shifted as drastically: HMAs still offer long durations and a lack of termination rights for many owners, which is increasingly seen as outdated. She pointed out that shifting market requirements mean that many owners are now seeking conversion rights, allowing a transition from management to franchise, including white-label operators to better align with evolving market needs.
Performance tests: rethinking the metrics
Traditional performance tests, often based on gross operating profit thresholds, were criticised for being either too lenient or too rigid. Given the shifting market, panellists advocated for more nuanced metrics, including guest satisfaction scores, third-party quality assessments, and ESG-driven key performance indicators. These approaches aim to reflect the realities of modern hospitality operations and regulatory requirements and provide fairer benchmarks for both brands and owners.
Walton from Marriott International emphasised that collaboration between owners and brands remains key, using the example of the JW Marriott in Venice, which is owned by KSL. Given the property’s location and seasonality, there are challenges around defining competitive sets, and performance tests are likely to be scrutinised. It is therefore paramount to monitor the asset's performance closely with all parties to ensure it delivers results for everyone involved.
Property improvement plans: are they a sticking point?
The role of property improvement plans was also discussed, as these may be too rigid, with brands sometimes requiring too much. The relationship between investors and brands continues to be paramount here, with Winston Zahra from Troo Hospitality highlighting the need for transparency, while choosing the right brand, building and partners for success.
Although open communication and alignment were highlighted by all panellists as being key to success when discussing and implementing PIPs, Blomdahl from KSL mentioned potential misalignment of interests between investors and brands, depending on where a brand is in its life cycle. Their experience with some older, franchised brands has seen owners pushing for PIPs, where, as an investor, KSL has questioned the return on investment and the brand’s ability to implement consistency across legacy assets.
Franchise agreements: the new norm?
Franchise agreements are becoming the dominant model in mature markets like the UK and established European destinations, offering scalability and brand consistency.
This may vary depending on the hotel chain, with companies like Wyndham having nearly all of their assets under a franchise agreement, while others may have a more balanced portfolio, including a mix of management and franchise agreements.
Given the complicated fee structures proposed by many operators, concerns remain about fee transparency and reimbursable charges, particularly for inexperienced owners entering the hotel sector or with limited knowledge about the industry. Brands like Marriott are responding with bundled fee structures, which simplify financial modelling and reduce friction during negotiations.
The role of brands and third-party operators and alignment among parties
Brands are increasingly acting as marketing and distribution engines, while third-party operators focus on profitability and operational excellence, aligning with investors’ interests and keeping the operator in check. This division of labour is driving the growth of white-label management, enabling hotel chains to drive franchise growth, particularly in Europe, where there are knowledgeable and well-established white-label operators.
The overarching consensus was that future-proofing hotel deals is not about predicting every possible scenario, as that is practically impossible, particularly given the length of agreements and the pace of change. Instead, as Antonenko, the legal expert on the panel, concluded, it’s about building flexibility, transparency and escalation mechanisms into contracts so owners and operators can adapt together and let agreements evolve with the market. The goal is to solve problems, not terminate agreements, whether the challenge is a pandemic, a regulatory shift or rapid advances in AI.
As Winston Zahra from Troo Hospitality put it, “It’s like a marriage. If you’re not in a happy marriage, you need to find a solution.”
New York Times Claims Airline Passengers Are Subsidizing Private Jet Travel. But There’s More to the Story
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/new-york-times-claims-airline-passengers-are-subsidizing-private-jet-travel-but-theres-more-to-the-story
By: Scott Laird
The New York Times says that regular, everyday flyers who pay the 7.5% U.S. Transportation Tax as part of their airline tickets are subsidizing the maintenance and operation of the national air transport systems, which private jets are getting a virtually free ride on.
It’s come up again.
Every few years, someone does the math on how many private jets are traveling in U.S. airspace, then compares it with the amount of taxes private jet users pay into the system. This time, it’s the New York Times Editorial Board, which points out that private jet users account for less than 1% of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) tax revenues, but account for 7% of the traffic in U.S. airspace.
The New York Times states that this means regular, everyday flyers who pay the 7.5% U.S. Transportation Tax as part of their airline tickets are subsidizing the maintenance and operation of the national air transport system, while private jets are getting a virtually free ride. Because private jets don’t sell tickets, they’re not subject to the transportation tax (cargo is charged a tax similar to the passenger tax, while foreign aircraft overflying the U.S. without landing also pay into the ATC system). To counteract this, private aircraft pay a tax on fuel, but it doesn’t make up the difference.
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) calls that a false narrative. In a letter shared on their website, they argue that the taxes general aviation (which includes private jets) pays into the system cover its use of the system, because the hub-and-spoke models that major airlines use are what drive cost and complexity, requiring significant staffing and infrastructure to manage.
NBAA points out that when general aviation was barred from Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) following the 9/11 attacks, there were virtually no impacts on airport costs.
The NBAA also points out that many of the airports used by general aviation aircraft are smaller, often without staffed control towers, so their use of the system is proportionally smaller than that of the nation’s airlines.
The association didn’t address the New York Times’s proposal that the United States should adopt a system similar to that in Canada. There, users of NAV CANADA, a private, not-for-profit company, are charged based on the weight of the aircraft and distance flown. As the New York Times points out, the incongruity in American ATC funding is that individual passengers pay the bill, but it’s aircraft, not individual passengers, that are ultimately the units counted by the ATC system.
The FAA isn’t entirely supported by passenger taxes. Some of the agency’s budget also comes from the General Fund, because airline passengers aren’t the only taxpayers with an interest in keeping their airplanes flying safely—taxpayers who don’t fly also have an interest in keeping airplanes from falling on their heads. The FAA also charges various user fees for licensing and certifications, collects fines, and manages congressionally appropriated grants.
The NBAA also generally advocates that business travel by private aircraft benefits the U.S. economy by increasing productivity. Businesses that need to move workers between, say, Appleton, Wisconsin, and Toledo, Ohio, can do so without routing them on multi-hour journeys through the airlines’ hub-and-spoke networks. They can also fly them into closer general aviation airports, saving time and expense on ground transportation and airport check-in and screening.
Sales of private jets are set to increase again this year, as there are new provisions in the most recent federal spending bill that revive earlier tax cuts for private jet purchases that are used for business. Previously, companies purchasing the jets would have to spread out the value of their private jet purchases across several years when filing their taxes. Now, they can deduct the entire cost of the aircraft within a single tax year.
To passengers sitting in an economy seat on a flight delayed because of staffing shortages at an agency whose own ticket taxes are the primary revenue source for, that’s cold comfort.
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