The travel industry has had pretty much everything thrown at it in the first six months of 2025. It has faced ongoing global conflict, economic instability, political uncertainty and challenges related to climate change.

The second quarter earnings of online travel agencies, hotel groups and airlines reflected some of this turmoil. Airlines blamed macroeconomic factors for revenue losses and demand uncertainty, while the CEOs of hotel groups and OTAs were cautiously optimistic.

The constant in travel that leaders come back to again and again is its resilience—bounce-backs after an ash cloud, stock market crashes and a pandemic spring to mind. While travel was down in certain regions of the world, travel companies are often quick to pivot to other destinations and products to compensate.

In an interview in the PhocusWire studio, Go City CEO Jon Owen said that Europe is having a great year, with some cities seeing an increase in visitor numbers.

"I think ultimately what you need to do as a business is just keep going—you can't affect European reluctance to travel to California at the moment, but what you can do is keep building the right products for customers, and those market trends will change," he said.

He was joined in the studio by Linda Bryndísardóttir, vice president of business development for Dohop, who said that the situation was not as "bleak" as it might sound.

"If you look at numbers from IATA, for example, the number of passengers is growing year over year, even in the U.S. Asia is growing quite fast. We're increasing our partnerships in Asia," she said.

The travel industry has had pretty much everything thrown at it in the first six months of 2025. It has faced ongoing global conflict, economic instability, political uncertainty and challenges related to climate change. The<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/expedia-group-q2-2025" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147"> second quarter earnings of online travel agencies</a>, hotel groups and airlines reflected some of this turmoil. Airlines blamed macroeconomic factors for revenue losses and demand uncertainty, while the CEOs of hotel groups and OTAs were cautiously optimistic. The constant in travel that leaders come back to again and again is its resilience&mdash;bounce-backs after an ash cloud, stock market crashes and a pandemic spring to mind. While travel was down in certain regions of the world, travel companies are often quick to pivot to other destinations and products to compensate. In an interview in the PhocusWire studio, Go City CEO Jon Owen said that Europe is having a great year, with some cities seeing an increase in visitor numbers. "I think ultimately what you need to do as a business is just keep going&mdash;you can't affect European reluctance to travel to California at the moment, but what you can do is keep building the right products for customers, and those market trends will change," he said. He was joined in the studio by Linda Brynd&iacute;sard&oacute;ttir, vice president of business development for&nbsp;<a href="https://dohop.com/" data-feathr-click-track="true" data-feathr-link-aids="5cadecf187056a000ef37147">Dohop</a>, who said that the situation was not as "bleak" as it might sound. "If you look at numbers from IATA, for example, the number of passengers is growing year over year, even in the U.S. Asia is growing quite fast. We're increasing our partnerships in Asia," she said.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

A regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus is a regular dissection of the news, issues and trends in travel and technology, featuring interviews with industry executives and entrepreneurs and hosted by PhocusWire editors.

In Phocus

Travel is known for its resilience—bounce-backs after an ash cloud, stock market crashes and a pandemic spring to mind. While travel was down in certain regions of the world, travel companies are often quick to pivot to other destinations and products to compensate.

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