The Skift Global Forum 2026 has announced its second wave of speakers — a high-caliber cohort of global travel executives set to convene in September. According to skift.com, this group includes CEOs, founders, and chairmen from across the industry’s spectrum: ride-hailing, cruising, hospitality, online travel, aviation, venture capital, and culinary innovation.

Ariane Gorin, CEO of Expedia, will address a pivotal question: who owns the traveler once an AI agent handles the booking? Her remarks reflect Expedia’s strategic bets on maintaining relevance amid automation-driven shifts in customer control.

Bret Taylor, founder of Sierra and chairman of OpenAI, will explore how AI is reshaping the traveler’s journey — from initial search through to the stay itself. His dual role positions him at the intersection of foundational AI development and real-world travel application.

Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, will focus on the evolution of the discovery-to-booking interface. His session highlights how Airbnb plans to expand its reach to new traveler segments as behavior and expectations evolve.

Christopher Nassetta, CEO of Hilton, will outline the data-driven strategies guiding hospitality’s next growth phase. His talk centers on the factors shaping capital allocation and expansion decisions in a volatile environment.

Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line, will examine cruise industry demand forecasting and pricing strategy — particularly amid geopolitical realignments affecting port access, itineraries, and consumer confidence.

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, will detail how the company plans to compound its platform advantage globally. His remarks emphasize scaling mobility infrastructure while adapting to regional regulatory and competitive landscapes.

Geoff Ballotti, CEO of Wyndham Hotels, will discuss rethinking chain-scale models. As consumer habits shift toward flexibility and localized experiences, Wyndham is reassessing how room counts and brand portfolios align with demand patterns.

Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, will analyze how AI is transforming discovery — and what travel providers can do to steer users meaningfully toward bookings rather than passive browsing.

Hamad Al-Khater, Group CEO of Qatar Airways, will address airline adaptation under three concurrent pressures: fuel cost volatility, geopolitical instability, and evolving air corridor dynamics.

Kenneth Chenault, chairman of General Catalyst and former CEO of American Express, will tackle how travel brands define their ‘permission to exist’ — a framing rooted in purpose, trust, and relevance in a rapidly reordered market.

Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, will speak to resilience in the face of global disruption. His session outlines how multinational hospitality groups prepare for uncertainty while maintaining operational coherence across diverse markets.

Steve Case, chairman of Revolution and founder of AOL, will confront capital allocation in travel — arguing that people remain both the greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity in the AI era.

Vikas Khanna, renowned chef and filmmaker, will bring a cultural lens to the forum. He’ll trace how cuisines and traveler expectations have shifted — and how food serves as a vehicle for creating meaningful, memorable experiences.

This year’s theme — ‘Travel’s Great Recalibration’ — frames every session. It signals a moment when long-standing assumptions about distribution, pricing, growth, and human agency are being actively questioned — not after results are published, but while decisions are still being made. As skift.com notes, these are calls that reset P&Ls before markets price them in.

The Skift Global Forum remains the industry’s most concentrated gathering — one week where leaders from airlines, hotels, platforms, startups, and destinations share the same room. Sector boundaries blur here: the interface questions facing Airbnb echo in Carnival’s pricing models; Uber’s platform strategy informs Booking Holdings’ AI roadmap; and Khanna’s experiential insights resonate in Hilton’s guest experience design.

Seats for the forum are limited, and additional speakers will be announced ahead of the September event. The forum’s timing — just before Q3 earnings cycles and peak holiday planning — underscores its role as a strategic inflection point for the global travel economy.