The travel industry looks forward to a summer rebound: Will they get it, though?

On today's episode, we discuss the actual viability of the sharing economy: What should we make of Uber's diversification efforts and are Airbnb's latest changes enough to power the company up and to the right? "In Other News," we talk about the travel industry's optimism in the face of inflation and ad spending's positive outlook in the face of recessionary fears. Tune in to the discussion with our Briefings director Jeremy Goldman.

The return to office, the summer wedding and event season, and the resumption of major summer travel will also drive demand for specific sub-categories of apparel and accessories. Relevant brands can lean in by using Amazon Live to showcase their goods to a willing livestream audience during Prime Day. Read the full report.

Some British Airways workers have voted to strike during the peak summer travel season after the airline refused to reverse pandemic-era pay cuts. The impact on retailers: The hit to disposable income has caused shoppers to reduce discretionary purchases.

Leisure travel is picking up, but economy clouds outlook: Inflation, continued COVID-19 challenges raise concern about longer-term demand.

The return to office, the summer wedding and event season, and the resumption of major summer travel will also drive demand for specific sub-categories of apparel and accessories. Relevant brands can lean in by using Amazon Live to showcase their goods to a willing livestream audience during Prime Day. Popular Products for Prime Day. Amazon-branded consumer electronics will grab the spotlight.

Prior to the pandemic, we expected search ad spending to grow by 14.4% this year as part of a trend of gradually slowing growth from 2018 through the end of our forecast period in 2024. When the pandemic upended those expectations, we revised our outlook in anticipation of a virtual halt to travel industry search spending. But as more information has come in throughout the summer and early fall about the pace of consumer ecommerce spending, we have again updated our estimates of search ad spending in 2020—this time, in a positive direction.

eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson, junior analyst Blake Droesch, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss Oracle winning the TikTok bid, the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo definitely happening next year, CBS All Access being rebranded to "Paramount+," "YouTube Shorts" being tested in India, Americans' 2020 travel plans, what living creature is technically immortal, and more.

This year, 120.0 million US adults will book travel via digital channels. While that figure is up 29.7 million from 2020’s pandemic low, it’s 6.2 million fewer digital travel bookers than in 2019.

While gas prices are unusually high for US drivers right now–which could discourage road travel this summer–airfares are not yet excessively high by historical standards. Thus, the overall impact of 2022’s inflation is hard to predict for the travel industry. Consumer confidence, or lack thereof, will likely play a bigger role than pricing.

There’s tough competition for workers this summer: While companies such as Subway, Walmart, and Starbucks are boosting hourly pay, the dearth of unemployed people looking for work could hinder growth.

Travel's on the up: With US adults' demand for domestic travel on the rise, prices are following. But there are still a few ways for marketers to capture that demand among price-conscious travelers.

Even as lockdowns and other restrictions ease across most of Europe, travel will remain depressed this year. Consumers’ fear of contracting the virus some distance from home will limit air travel. In addition, airlines have been slow to announce plans to safeguard passengers’ health in airports and on board.

Where US travelers plan to soak up summer sun

Faced with competition from general-purpose travel cards, airline co-brands are looking to add offerings and diversify product suites. These shifts can keep their base engaged while casting a wide net for future customer acquisition as the travel industry changes post-pandemic.