Atlanta’s Michelin Guide Deal Translates to Tourism Dollars

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, April 24. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

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Episode Notes

Atlanta recently reached a three-year, $1 million deal with the Michelin Guide. Discover Atlanta CEO William Pate discussed that topic and more in an interview with Global Tourism Reporter Dawit Habtemariam. 

Pate said having Atlanta’s restaurants appear in the Michelin Guide has boosted the city’s culinary scene. He noted restaurants that have already been selected for the guide have seen a 30% increase in business. Atlanta is the seventh U.S. city to be selected for the Michelin Guide. 

Pate also touched on Atlanta’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup, during which the city will host eight matches. He said Atlanta could be a home base for World Cup fans since its airport has nonstop flights to every other host city. 

Next, while the airline industry is seeing a surge in travel demand, JetBlue Airways is struggling. The carrier posted a first-quarter loss, writes Airlines Reporter Meghna Maharishi. 

JetBlue reported a $716 million loss, which Maharishi notes was partly caused by the large fees the company had to pay to end its planned merger with Spirit Airlines. JetBlue’s Chief Financial Officer said the break-up fees cost the carrier $530 million. 

In addition, CEO Joanna Geraghty said the increase in capacity to popular destinations like Mexico and Caribbean has put pressure on the company’s revenues. 

Finally, Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes examines how Amadeus employees have been using Microsoft’s artificial intelligence-powered chatbot Copilot. 

Amadeus is among a group of companies testing Copilot as part of Microsoft’s Early Adopter Program. Microsoft said last September that it would incorporate Copilot into its products. Dawes lists several ways Amadeus staff has used Copilot, such as summarizing long discussions between coworkers and conducting searches of Amadeus’ own data. 

Frederick Ros, Amadeus’ head of digital workspace services, said staff at the travel technology company had spoken very highly of Copilot.