It’s Only May, but We’re Pretty Sure This Is the Worst Tourist of 2026
It’s Only May, but We’re Pretty Sure This Is the Worst Tourist of 2026
Sebastian Coman Travel/Unsplash
https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/worst-tourist-of-2026-a-man-threw-a-rock-at-a-monk-seal-in-hawaii
And other travel news you may have missed.
This week in travel, we have several stories that may have flown under your radar. Among them: In Hawaii, a tourist allegedly threw a rock at an endangered animal; American passengers aboard a cruise ship with a hantavirus outbreak arrived back in the U.S.; a man was killed at Denver International Airport after a plane struck him; and a hiker died of a suspected bear attack in Montana.
Dive into these and more as we examine the latest in travel news.
1 OF 5
Tourist Allegedly Throws Rock at Endangered Animal in Hawaii
A man allegedly threw a rock at a monk seal in Maui while it was swimming off the Lahaina shoreline. In a video shared online, fellow beachgoers asked him to stop and questioned his actions, but the belligerent tourist yelled at them that he didn’t care and that he was rich. The 37-year-old was later detained by police and is believed to be from Seattle.
Another video has since gone viral on social media. In this one, a local is seen approaching the tourist and punching him for harming the animal. The man is being hailed as a hero for meting out justice, and Hawaii State Sen. Brenton Awa also played the clip during a state meeting.
The monk seal, Lani, is a beloved member of the community, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in an Instagram post. This behavior will not be tolerated, he added, determined to get justice for the marine animal.
Monk seals are endangered animals, and it is against the law to disturb or harass them.
PHOTO: Carlos Yudica/Shutterstock
2 OF 5
A plane hit a Man Who Jumped the Fence at Denver Airport
In an unbelievable incident, a plane struck a man on the runway during takeoff on Friday. The Frontier Airlines flight was heading to Los Angeles from Denver when a man jumped the airport fence and was struck and killed. The impact caused an engine fire, and the takeoff was suspended. All 224 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated through emergency slides. Five people were hospitalized after the incident.
The pilot communicated to air traffic control: “We just hit somebody. We have an engine fire.” There is also a video captured by a passenger of the moment the collision happened, which also recorded a loud crash and screams.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tweeted, “Late last night, a trespasser breached airport security at Denver Int’l Airport, deliberately scaled a perimeter fence, and ran out onto a runway. The trespasser on the runway was then struck by Frontier Airlines Flight 4345 during takeoff at high speed. The pilot stopped takeoff procedures immediately.”
3 OF 5
TikTokers Are Crowdfunding to Buy Defunct Spirit Airlines
A week after Spirit Airlines’ collapse, a crowdfunding campaign on TikTok has gained traction, with $337 million raised in pledges. It was 22-year-old Hunter Peterson’s idea to build an airline owned by the people. “There are over 250 million individuals over the age of 18 in the U.S. Now, if we took only 20% of them and paid basically the average fare of a Spirit Airline flight, which is somewhere around $30 to $40, we could buy Spirit Airlines,” he said in a video. He created a website called letsbuyspirit.com and posted a series of updates after the video went viral. Now he is addressing himself as the potential future CEO of Spirit Airlines.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYFQjicMprh/
It may have started as a joke, but people have pledged money to support a crowdfunded airline, and Peterson said he is talking to lawyers to make this a reality.
However, experts suggest it would be nearly impossible to get this off the ground. There will be regulatory hurdles from the start, and aviation has too many moving parts. “I would be shocked if it ever became a reality. I think it’s like going to Mars,” retired finance professor Charles Elson told NBC News.
4 OF 5
18 American Passengers Land in U.S. After Hantavirus Outbreak on Cruise
Eighteen passengers who were aboard MV Hondius landed in the U.S. from Tenerife on Monday morning. They were medically evacuated from the Canary Islands after a hantavirus outbreak on the ship caused three deaths. One passenger tested positive for the virus and another showed mild symptoms.
In an update, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said 16 passengers are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center (RESPTC) in Omaha. Meanwhile, two people were at Emory University’s RESPTC in Atlanta.
The WHO recommends a 42-day quarantine, but health officials may decide to send people home for isolation with the help of state departments. The U.S. is no longer part of the WHO, which experts worry could hinder its response.
There is little risk to the wider American public from hantavirus, which is caused by rodent droppings. Human-to-human spread is rare, and unlike the COVID-19 infection, scientists have studied it for decades.
More than 150 passengers spent several weeks on a cruise in the South Atlantic, and their journey ended tragically after three people died on board due to hantavirus. For days, the ship was moored off Cape Verde before Spain allowed it to dock in the Canary Islands.
PHOTO: Dan Breckwoldt/Dreamstime
5 OF 5
A Hiker Dies of Suspected Bear Attack in Montana
A 33-year-old hiker, Anthony Edward Pollio from South Florida, died from a suspected bear attack in Glacier National Park in Montana. He was on a two-week trip across the central U.S. when he was reported missing. His body was found last Wednesday, and the injuries were consistent with those of a bear attack.
His father, Arthur Pollio, received the last communication from his son on May 3. “Dad, I’m hiking up a mountain. It is wild out here. I love you, Dad,” he said in a text.
“Based on the coroner’s report on his injuries, we believe he came across a grizzly bear, and he used all of his bear spray,” Arthur Pollio said. He further called his son a warrior and said he fought till the end.
Fatal bear attacks are uncommon in Montana; Pollio’s death was the state’s first such fatality in 25 years.
Higher demand for all hotel segments leads Marriott to raise its outlook
Execs expect Middle East to feel travel and airlift pain throughout 2026
Marriott International signed another 10 hotels with Vietnam's Sun Group. Pictured above is a rendering of the W Phu Quoc and Phu Quoc Marriott Resort & Spa, scheduled to open in 2027. (Marriott International)
https://www.costar.com/article/1156146486/higher-demand-for-all-hotel-segments-leads-marriott-to-raise-its-outlook?
By Bryan Wroten
Broad demand levels across the globe and guest demographics drove better-than-expected first-quarter results for Marriott International, leading it to upgrade its full-year outlook.
During the first quarter, Marriott’s global revenue per available room grew 4.2%, Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano said on the company’s earnings call with analysts. In the U.S. and Canada, it grew by 4%, and while luxury and resort properties led in the region, there was broad strength across all segments and chain scales. Luxury RevPAR grew nearly 7% while select-service RevPAR increased 3.5%, an improvement compared to a 1% decline in the fourth quarter.
Leisure RevPAR grew 6% globally, and by 5% in the U.S. and Canada, he said. Group RevPAR grew 5% both globally and in the U.S. and Canada specifically. Business transient RevPAR grew 1% globally and by 2% in the U.S. and Canada, but there was a mid-single-digit decline in government roomnights and slight declines in other business travel roomnights offset by a higher average daily rate.
The global first-quarter results are encouraging, but the strength in the U.S. and Canada is a main point, he said. Leisure and group continue to be solid, as is the business transient segment when excluding government-related travel.
“We're also seeing strength across sectors, which I think is quite exciting to me,” he said. “We have talked for the last number of quarters about the continued strength in luxury, but over the course of a quarter to go from relative weakness in the select-service tiers to about 3.5% RevPAR growth in the first quarter — I think it's a really, really encouraging sign about continued strength really across all the tiers where we operate.”
The conflict in the Middle East weighed on results in March, but international RevPAR grew by 4.6% during the quarter, he said. RevPAR in the Asia-Pacific grew over 7%, driven by strong ADR growth and an increase in demand from Chinese guests. The disruption in the Middle East travel corridor in March affected select APAC markets, including India and the Maldives.
In Greater China, Marriott’s hotels continued to gain market share and stronger leisure demand through the first quarter. The nearly 6% increase in RevPAR was led by Hong Kong and Hainan Island, both of which were up about 20% year over year.
RevPAR grew 2% in the Caribbean and Latin America, driven by record leisure demand in the Caribbean, Capuano said. That was partially offset by a decline in RevPAR in luxury resorts in Mexico.
In the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, RevPAR grew over 3% with increases in Europe and Africa partially offset by a decline in the Middle East due to the war in Iran, he said. In March, Middle East RevPAR dropped over 30% while it grew 4% in Europe.
Upgraded outlook
For the full year, Marriott expects 2% to 3% global RevPAR growth, said Jen Mason, executive vice president and chief financial officer. That new outlook, up from 1.5% to 2.5% last quarter, incorporates the outperformance during the first quarter and the higher-than-anticipated RevPAR growth in the U.S. and Canada, as well as the strength seen across the chain scales continuing into April.
The FIFA World Cup matches in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico are still expected to add 30 to 35 basis points to global RevPAR growth this year, she said.
Marriott is also raising its outlook in Greater China, where it now projects full-year RevPAR growth in the low single-digit range, reflecting strong first-quarter performance, she said. At the same time, it expects RevPAR growth for the near-term in the Asia-Pacific region to be lower than previously anticipated due to softer long-haul demand in certain markets that rely on Persian Gulf hub connectivity.
The company is also slightly reducing its outlook in the Caribbean and Latin America for the rest of the year primarily due to conditions in Mexico, she added.
Due to the ongoing war with Iran, Marriott is also lowing its RevPAR outlook for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region, reflecting a year-over-year decline in its Middle East properties, with the greatest decline occurring in the second quarter, Mason said. The new outlook assumes the conflict could affect full-year global RevPAR growth by 100 to 125 basis points.
“We assume that air capacity and travel sentiment will continue to be impacted, particularly in the Middle East, through the end of the year,” Mason said, noting that the region accounts for 3% of Marriott’s open rooms and 7% of its pipeline rooms.
There are signs of booking activity showing some signs of recovery from the lows experienced in March, but the company expects the impact on Middle East properties will continue through the end of the year, she said. It’s anticipating a 15% reduction in RevPAR during the second quarter, and while it believes that will continue into the third and fourth quarters, conditions should improve as the year goes on.
The Middle East had an incredible fourth quarter last year, driven by some large city-wide events that drove higher rates, so Marriott expects recovery during the second half of the year, she said.
Development update
During the quarter, Marriott added approximately 15,900 net rooms, of which 7,500 net rooms were in international markets, according to the company’s earnings release. As of March 31, its global portfolio had more than 9,900 hotels with nearly 1.8 million rooms.
First-quarter deal signings increased by 9% year over year, Capuano said. Some of those include a 10-hotel deal with Vietnam’s Sun Group, an 11-hotel deal in Italy and the United Kingdom to debut its Series by Marriott brand in Europe, and its joint venture with luxury wellness hospitality brand Lefay.
The company’s global pipeline increased by 5% year over year to a new record of nearly 618,000 rooms by the end of the quarter, he said. Forty-three percent of the pipeline rooms are under construction, including those that are pending conversions.
Conversions, including multi-unit deals, represent over 35% of signings and over 40% of openings in the quarter, he said.
Marriott expects net room growth between 4.5% and 5%, which includes its typical assumption of between 1% and 1.5% room deletions, he added.
By the numbers
For the first quarter, Marriott reported revenue of $6.65 billion, a 6% increase over the first quarter of 2025, according to its earnings release. It reported net income of $648 million, a 3% year-over-year decrease.
The company achieved adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of nearly $1.4 billion during the quarter, a 15% increase compared to last year.
As of March 31, Marriott's total debt was $16.5 billion. Its cash and equivalents totaled $500 million. This is compared to $16.2 billion in debt and $400 million of cash and equivalents at year-end 2025.
During the first quarter, it repurchased 2.1 million shares of common stock for $700 million. Year-to-date through April 29, it has repurchased 3.1 million shares for $1.1 billion.
As of press time, Marriott's stock was trading at $356.70 per share, up 14.98% year to date and 41.6% year over year. The NASDAQ Composite was up 10.2% and 44.8% for the same respective periods.
Hotel execs prepare for evolution of booking journey with rise of AI
'We all have to be ready' for significant change, GHL Hoteles CEO says
Andrés Fajardo, of GHL Hotels, left, speaks about artificial intelligence's uses in hospitality at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit Caribbean and Latin America conference alongside Keith Pierce, Sonesta International Hotels, right. (Bryan Wroten)
https://www.costar.com/article/1993269047/hotel-execs-prepare-for-evolution-of-booking-journey-with-rise-of-ai?
By Bryan Wroten
CORAL GABLES, Florida — Artificial intelligence is quickly growing its role in the hospitality industry, both on the guest-facing side and in internal hotel operations.
During the second "Views from the Boardroom" panel at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit Caribbean and Latin America conference, hotel executives spoke about the current uses of AI and where it may be headed.
The way people are booking hotels and making other hotel-related decisions is changing, GHL Hoteles CEO Andrés Fajardo said. Collectively, there’s been a lot of work put into making good webpages, having the right positioning on online travel agencies’ sites and generally a good online presence, but AI chat agents are changing the game.
Many travelers are using ChatGPT, Claude, or other chatbots to help them plan their trips, he said.
“They know what you do for work, what you do at home, how you like to eat, et cetera,” he said. “So, we’re seeing a lot more people go in and ask their agent, ‘Hey, I’m going to Miami. Where should I stay?’ ‘Oh, based on your profile, I recommend these three or four hotels.'
“That’s a lot of power,” he said.
Travelers used to just go to the OTAs or brand websites, and the hotels had to differentiate themselves among those, he said. Now, there are four main AI chatbots. That’s not many to choose from, and there’s somewhere between 12% to 25% of hotel revenue that could come in that way.
While hoteliers are generally aware of the general direction this is headed, no one knows exactly, Fajardo said, pointing to the question of whether these recommendations will be true recommendations or ad-based.
“We don't know, and I think we all have to be ready, because I do think there's going to be a significant change in the relative power of the players in the value chain,” he said. “I think these intermediations of the value chain might be happening as we speak, but we don't know exactly where it's going to land.”
Mauro Rial, chief operating officer of North and Hispanic Americas at Accor, said his company also believes AI is the next big thing for hospitality. There are three areas for engagement: guest experiences, operational efficiencies, and commercialization.
Accor is still at the beginning of its experiments and tests with AI, but it is working with a platform that uses a large-language model to analyze the billions of comments it received over a 24-month period, he said. The comments are a useful guide because they can tell companies when a guest has had good experiences with specific aspects of a stay or when the brand needs to do some work.
The brand’s website has an explore feature through its booking engine that lets guests put in requests, such as recommend a hotel in Rio de Janeiro for a family of four, he said.
“We've seen growth 20 times of all the different searches that have arrived on our website coming from an AI search,” he said. “It's something that we're working a lot [on], where we believe we need to continue improving.”
Another area Accor is using AI for is to reduce the administrative work of its staff, he added.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. is also implementing an AI-enabled search of its website, said Javier Águila, executive vice president of Hyatt's Inclusive Collection. It tries to push data analytics to get as much data as possible to implement any changes necessary at its hotels.
He said he agreed with Fajardo that no one knows how it will end and that the power of the brand is going to be what makes a difference.
“At the end of the day, if you have brands that are distinctive, that are true and really deliver what you're promising and they're consistent, then all the information that we get to the customer to decide, whatever the channel is, will drive it to our brand,” he said.
The AI chatbots are searching not just hotel websites but everything, said Keith Pierce, co-CEO of Sonesta International Hotels. Whether it’s part of a brand or an individual property, hoteliers should put as much communication out as they can.
“In podcasts, in local communications, in press releases, in local newspapers — because they are sweeping everything,” he said. “The more you can define and describe your property and experiences, the agent will find that, and it will lead you back to Brand.com.”
This approach could help hoteliers take back some of their share from the OTAs that have been dominant for the last two-plus decades, he said.
“We've been spending a fair amount of time with our marketing dollars, figuring out how we can put out more communication versus just traditional advertising communications in this particular case, because the agents are scraping everything,” he said.
Data is the key, specifically the granularity of it and the consistency of it, Fajardo said. The amount of data a hotel company can put on a hotel’s website is limited, so it needs to optimize the bandwidth and attention a person can put into a webpage. For an AI agent, however, it can go through lots of data quickly, so now hoteliers can be more granular.
It’s not enough to say a hotel offers breakfast now, he said. Instead, the website needs to provide details, such as whether it’s keto or allergy-free.
“The granularity has to be there and the consistency, because if you say one thing here, one thing there, another thing there, there’s going to be no way that a tool looking at all this data is going to recommend your hotel,” he said.
Since no one knows where AI-driven bookings will land, hoteliers must be aware of what’s going on and be ready and working on their own foundation, he said. Flexibility is necessary because holding fast to one solution at this point is dangerous if things don’t go in that direction.
People will ask their AI agents where they should stay, and that’s where powerful brands with strong investments and recognition will be key, particularly in a world where points in a loyalty program may be less important, he said.
“I think the decision of the brand making sure that the brand delivers on the promised expectation you is going to be absolutely key,” he said. “It's interesting, because I don't think that huge investments in technology are really the answer at this point.”
Trump Official Under Fire for Cosplaying Anthony Bourdain
U.S. Department of Transportation
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/trump-official-under-fire-for-cosplaying-anthony-bourdain
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has previewed his new travel reality show, "The Great American Road Trip."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his partner, Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, filmed a five-part reality TV series with their nine children to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. However, his return to reality television has drawn criticism, with some calling the venture “tone deaf” amid the cost-of-living crisis and questioning his involvement in a series sponsored by travel companies regulated by his department.
Duffy previously appeared on MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules: All Stars. His return to reality TV surprised many this year.
The recently released trailer shows the Duffy family visiting various tourist spots across the country and interviewing Interior Secretary Doug Bergum and Kid Rock.
Wrong Timing
“So, gas up the car, pack up the kids, get behind the wheel, and get out and see America,” Duffy says in the trailer of The Great American Road Trip. These words come as gas prices in the United States have risen 50% since the U.S. began the war with Iran.
The national average has climbed from $3 per gallon in February to $4.50. In California, drivers are paying $6 per gallon, while it’s close to $5 a gallon in Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Illinois, and Washington.
Flight prices have soared as well, driven by higher jet fuel costs. Spirit Airlines, struggling for years, cited this crisis as the final blow before shutting down last week. Airlines worldwide have scaled back operations and reduced flights, leaving customers with fewer options. Despite this, demand for travel remains high—the AAA expects 45 million people to travel over Memorial Day weekend.
Announcing the show on Fox News with his wife, Secretary Duffy said it was filmed over seven months. His admission has raised questions about his official duties, especially as the U.S. faces repeated issues with near-misses, collisions, and shutdowns.
Traveling in the U.S. has been chaotic for many months, and critics quickly noted that, while Duffy was filming the series, Americans have been struggling.
Last year, the federal government shutdown lasted 43 days, causing chaos at airports and national parks. The Federal Aviation Administration instructed airlines to cut back operations after air traffic controllers stopped coming to work. In 2026, a partial government shutdown caused further disruption, with 50,000 Transportation Security Administration employees working without pay for weeks and more than 1,100 TSA agents quitting. That shutdown lasted 75 days.
Conflict of Interest
Critics are also troubled by the corporate sponsors of the trip. Secretary Duffy said all expenses were covered by The Great American Roadtrip and that his family did not receive salaries or royalties. Still, the series lists Boeing, Toyota, Royal Caribbean, the U.S. Travel Association, and United Airlines as sponsors—companies regulated by the Department of Transportation.
Co-host Ana Navarro said on The View that the conflict of interest is clear. “I don’t know how many Americans, how many average Americans, will be able to go on a road trip when I’m paying $5.99 for a gallon of gas. It just seems that the tone deafness has no limits.”
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described Duffy’s show as “out of touch.”
Sean Duffy tweeted that the ethics and budget officials at the DOT approved his participation, and the series was shot in one- to two-day production windows. He also described the trailer as wholesome and patriotic.
However, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has called for the Inspector General to investigate Duffy’s participation. The group urged the Inspector General to determine whether the family received gifts, how much taxpayer money and staff time were used, and whether any personal expenses were reimbursed by the department.
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