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1. Pope's funeral spikes travel interest to Rome
Since Pope Francis's death on Monday, over 150,000 mourners have visited St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to the first pope from the Western hemisphere, Reuters reports. Appointed in 2013, Pope Francis was 88 and died of heart failure after suffering a stroke. Public viewing will end at 7 p.m. Friday ahead of the funeral on Saturday.
In the three days following his death, flight searches from the U.S. to Rome surged 250% compared with searches over the same period in 2024, according to Expedia as reported by CBS MoneyWatch. Global searches are also up, trending 125% higher than the same period last year.
"I can't think of any other event that has caused a sudden spike in travel searches like this," said Melanie Fish, Expedia Group's head of global PR. "And it's not only flight searches. It's accommodation searches, too, and it's clear why because of the travel dates."
2. Southwest Airlines pulls 2025 outlook in earnings call
Despite exceeding its revenue expectations for the first quarter, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is the latest airline to alter its outlook for the rest of the year due to rising concerns of a softening travel market.
"In the first quarter, we had terrific operating results," Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan told Yahoo Finance. "We really beat our cost plan. We had good revenue results. ... But we were highly impacted on the demand side by the tariffs and then just the consumer confidence erosion."
Southwest joins American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines in making sweeping changes to their full-year outlook.
3. Accor address US trade war in quarterly earnings
In its first-quarter 2025 earnings call, Accor's Chief Financial Officer Martine Gerow said the company has “started the year with sustained momentum.” Group revenue increased by 9.2% year over year, which she said was driven by geographical and segment diversification, reports CoStar News' Terence Baker.
The French hotel company did address concerns on volatility come from the imposition of U.S. tariffs and a looming trade war between the U.S. and China. But for now, Gerow said Accor's hotels have been unaffected. She said Accor’s business in the U.S. equals 5% of its rooms revenue business, and for U.S. guests traveling internationally, it represents less than 3%.
“When you’re looking at April or May, we’re not really seeing much change in [U.S.] bookings. The only market where we’ve seen an inflection, which is actually benefitting us, is Canada where we see Canadians who were planning to travel in the U.S. actually staying in Canada and some events that were planned in the U.S. now repositioned in Canada,” she said.
4. California passes Japan in reaching world’s fourth-highest GDP
California has leapfrogged Japan. The gross domestic product of the Golden State now measures $4.1 trillion, which would make it, if it were a sovereign nation, the fourth richest on Earth, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom.
A news release from the state, quoting figures released jointly by the International Monetary Fund and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, said “California’s nominal GDP reached $4.1 trillion, surpassing Japan’s $4.02 trillion and placing California behind only the U.S., China, and Germany.”
India and the United Kingdom made up the final two spots in the top-seven-ranked nations for GDP, with India in 2024 earning $3.9 trillion and the U.K. $3.46 trillion.
Newsom added that “preliminary data indicates India is projected to surpass California by 2026.”
5. New train route to connect 2 Gulf Coast cities
Beginning this summer, the Amtrak Mardi Gras Service will connect New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama — two cities with long histories of celebrating Mardi Gras. The twice daily route will provide morning and evening departures from both locations, according to a news release from Amtrak.
“Amtrak Mardi Gras Service is a natural choice for the name of the new trains that will reflect the region’s distinctive culture,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “Travel should be about more than just getting somewhere. Our goal is to have some of that festive Mardi Gras feeling on every trip, sharing the culture of the Gulf Coast region while connecting with the rest of the Amtrak network.”
Route information will be made available once Amtrak announces the official launch date of the service.