Corporate Travel to Saudi Arabia Has Frozen and Riyadh Is Still Closed

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0:47The Riyadh airport closure freezes Saudi corporate travel. United says fuel is eating into profits, and Airbnb is telling hosts, no more checkout chore lists. Welcome back to the Skift Daily Briefing. This is global tourism reporter Bailey Schultz. It's Thursday, October 22nd. Let's get into it. First up, corporate travel to Saudi Arabia has essentially frozen. Riyadh's King Khalid Airport has been effectively closed to commercial traffic since October 10th, when a Houthi missile attack killed at least 13 people and injured more than 300. One flight tracker says only private and cargo flights have operated there since.

1:25Travel executives tell Skeft that almost all corporate trips to the kingdom are on hold. Corporate travel platform Tumoto says that over the last 10 days, half of its Saudi corporate bookings were canceled, 30 % were rescheduled, and only 20 % were confirmed. The events calendar is taking a beating too. Saudi Arabia pushed its flagship Future Investment Initiative conference to 2027. and Syriam data shows that Riyadh bookings for November and December are down nearly 24 % from a year ago. Jeddah, where the airport is fully operational, is down 1%. Business events are central to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 tourism push.

2:04The longer Riyadh stays cut off, the harder it will be to sell the kingdom as a reliable host. Next, United Airlines just cut its profit outlook. Back in July, United was projecting$9 to$11 per share for the full year. Now, according to CNBC, the best case is about$7.22. Demand is holding up fine. Revenue is up 17 % in the third quarter, and premium and loyalty were up 17 % as well. Fuel is another story. United's fuel bill rose nearly 62 % in the most recent quarter. The airline expects to pass on 100 % of fuel costs by year-end, and CEO Scott Kirby has argued that fares will stay high even if fuel drops.

2:44And finally, Airbnb is telling hosts to dial back the checkout chores list. Starting November 20th, hosts will pick from seven standard house rules. Airbnb says hosts generally can't ask guests to do work a cleaner would usually do. That includes stripping the beds, washing and putting away dishes, or taking trash off site. It's the first time Airbnb has spelled out what counts as a reasonable request for cleanup. Hosts who repeatedly break the policy could see lower search visibility or even have their account suspended. About a dozen hosts objected in Airbnb's community forum. One host in France put it bluntly, we are not hotels.

3:20That's it for your Skift Daily Briefing. For more travel industry news, visit skift.com and sign up for our newsletter at skift.com backslash daily.