More Travel Leaders Join the Skift Global Forum 2026 Stage
The first round of Skift Global Forum 2026 speakers established who is on the stage. This round shows what each of them is actually there to decide.
The leaders joining this time run companies at opposite ends of travel: a ride-hailing platform and a cruise line, a global hotel group and an AI lab, an online travel giant and a venture firm. Under this year’s theme, Travel’s Great Recalibration, each is walking into a specific call their business hasn’t settled yet.
Who’s Taking the Stage, and What They’re There to Decide
Ariane Gorin
CEO, Expedia
Who owns the traveler once an AI agent handles the booking, and the bets she is making to stay ahead of that shift.
Bret Taylor
Founder, Sierra, and Chairman, OpenAI
How AI is reshaping the traveler’s path from search to stay.
Brian Chesky
CEO, Airbnb
Where the discovery-to-booking interface moves next, and how Airbnb is expanding to reach more travelers.
Christopher Nassetta
CEO, Hilton
The factors driving hospitality’s next growth phase and the data-driven strategies behind his decisions.
Christine Duffy
President, Carnival Cruise Line
How the cruise industry is calling demand and pricing amid a shifting geopolitical map.
Dara Khosrowshahi
CEO, Uber
Compounding Uber’s platform advantage and his strategy for global growth.
Geoff Ballotti
CEO, Wyndham Hotels
Rethinking chain-scales and how room counts adapt as consumer habits evolve.
Glenn Fogel
CEO, Booking Holdings
How AI is changing the nature of discovery, and what travel can do to direct customers to bookings.
Hamad Al-Khater
Group CEO, Qatar Airways
How airlines adapt to a world reordered by fuel pressure, geopolitical volatility, and shifting corridors.
Kenneth Chenault
Chairman, General Catalyst, and former CEO of American Express
How travel brands define their permission to exist in a reordered world.
Sébastien Bazin
CEO, Accor
The global impacts of disruption, how to remain resilient, and how to prepare for what’s next.
Steve Case
Chairman, Revolution, and Founder, AOL
Capital allocation in travel, and why people are both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity in the AI era.
Vikas Khanna
Renowned chef and filmmaker
How cuisines and expectations have shifted, and how he creates meaningful, memorable experiences through food.
One Room, the Whole Industry
For years, Skift Global Forum has been the one week the whole industry gathers in the same room, because the big calls have never respected sector lines. This year’s agenda runs wide on purpose. Who controls the new travel interface and the intent layer behind it. How hospitality makes growth calls under pressure and how airlines stay agile in a reordered world. What AI agents do to customer experience, how destinations balance discovery against demand, and what it takes to keep travel human-first as the next billion travelers come online.
A lineup this senior is itself a read on the year. These are the decisions that reset a P&L, taken while the outcome is still open and before the market has priced them in.
More speakers are being announced ahead of September.
Seats for Skift Global Forum are limited.
