The Future of Business Travel: In Conversation with Skift Media CEO Rafat Ali

Rafat Ali is a two-time media entrepreneur. He sold his first blog a few years ago and is now building Skift, a global media company focused on business travel, conferences, and the business of travel. 

Of course, COVID was not fun. 

The company nearly fell apart, but managed to eek by with a few saving graces. Namely: remote work. 

Rafat made the decision to not renew the company’s lease when it came up in summer 2020, and with that decision the company - and its dozens of employees - went 100% remote. This move stands apart from what’s becoming the major wave of hybrid remote announcements, since as of right now the company is totally remote with plans to stay that way. 

Rafat Ali, Media Owner & Operator @rafat

We’re dropping the word “remote” internally, we are now a connected company. Playing with words help change the mindset, gimmicky or not.

Mediagazer @mediagazer

Skift is closing its physical office when the lease ends July 31 on its Manhattan headquarters, going fully remote in a move that could save about $600K a year (@gregdool / Folio) https://t.co/qKCGs1YUKG https://t.co/3VsgiD0iUf

In this conversation with Rafat, we talked about

📈 How Skift weathered the COVID storm, coming back from the brink of collapse (and what they are up to now)

🔒 Remote work versus pandemic lockdown work (they are not the same thing)

✈️ The future of travel (and business travel in particular)

Have a listen in Substack or in your favorite podcast app! 

Image courtesy Skift.com

Thanks for reading! 

☕ If you enjoy what I do, buy me a virtual coffee from time-to-time to support my work. I know it seems small, but it truly helps.

👉 Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe now to receive the next one. You can also help grow the newsletter by asking a like-minded friend to sign up.

💌 Feedback to share or want to say hello? Hit reply on this email or leave me a comment on Substack.