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19 Travel Brands That Made It on the 2015 Fortune 500 List

Yesterday marked the 61st running of the highly anticipated Fortune 500 list, on which companies worldwide are ranked by their total revenues for the previous year.

This year, the businesses included account for 26.8 million jobs across the globe. Though companies like Wal-Mart (No.1), Exxon Mobil (No. 2), and Apple (No. 5) dominate the top of the list, many travel brands also made the cut.

Disney was rated No. 57 (up from No. 61 last year) because their fans simply can’t let it go . The hit movie Frozen was the company’s largest grossing animated film of all time, plus, the media powerhouse boasted record-breaking annual revenues across all channels for the fourth year in a row.

Along with hotels, entertainment companies, and online booking agencies, multiple airlines made the list. American Airlines Group, the largest carrier in the world, was ranked at No. 70, and Delta Airlines came in at 73 after focusing on unique strategies like purchasing its own oil refinery plant and refurbishing old airplanes.

Overall 19 travel companies appeared on the list—see the brand names and their rankings below:

70. American Airlines Group

73. Delta Air Lines

161. Southwest Airlines:

209. Las Vegas Sands

221. Marriot International

280. Hilton Worldwide Holdings

289. MGM Resorts International

328. Caesars Entertainment

339. Priceline Group

365. TravelCenters of America

442. Starwood Hotels & Resorts

454. JetBlue Airways

458. Expedia

477. Wynn Resorts

484. Alaska Air Group

485. Host Hotels & Resorts

497. Wyndham Worldwide

Head over to Fortune 500 to see the full list.

Lindsey Campbell is the Associate Audience Engagement Editor at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @lyndzicampbell.

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Travel + Leisure Co. Recognized by Fortune Magazine as One of the World’s Most Admired Companies In 2023

ORLANDO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL), the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company, today announced its recognition by FORTUNE ® magazine as one of the “World’s Most Admired Companies” in 2023. The list is live on Fortune’s website . Travel + Leisure Co. is the only vacation ownership company on the list.

Since 1997, Korn Ferry, a global management consulting firm, has partnered with Fortune magazine to identify and rank the World’s Most Admired Companies. The research reveals how the companies win their strong reputations. Since the debut of Travel + Leisure Co. in 2021, this is its first recognition by Fortune. In 2022, the company also received recognition from Forbes as one of the World’s Best Employers .

"We are proud to receive this recognition which reflects our commitment to put the world on vacation. Our team strives to provide the best experiences for our owners, guests, and associates which drives growth for our shareholders,” said Michael Brown, president and CEO of Travel + Leisure Co. “We are focused on delivering great vacations, and to be recognized as one of the most admired companies shows that we are centered on the right fundamentals for our business.”

Some of the attributes of reputation on which companies are evaluated include: ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of management, social responsibility to the community and the environment, innovativeness, quality of products or services, wise use of corporate assets, financial soundness, long-term investment value, and effectiveness in doing business globally.

Korn Ferry asked 3,740 executives, directors, and securities analysts who had responded to the industry surveys to select the 10 companies they admired most. This is from a list made up of the companies that ranked in the top 25% in last year’s surveys, plus those that finished in the top 20% of their industry.

For more information about Travel + Leisure Co., or to join the company, please visit https://www.travelandleisureco.com .

About Travel + Leisure Co.

As the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company, Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) transformed the way families vacation with the introduction of the most dynamic points-based vacation ownership program at Club Wyndham , and the first vacation exchange network, RCI . The company delivers vacations to more than five million customers each year at 245+ timeshare resorts worldwide, through tailored travel and membership products, and via Travel + Leisure GO - the signature subscription travel club inspired by the pages of Travel + Leisure magazine. With hospitality and responsible tourism at the heart of all we do, our 18,000+ dedicated associates bring out the best in people and places around the globe. We put the world on vacation. Learn more at travelandleisureco.com .

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230201005843/en/

Steven Goldsmith Public Relations (407) 626-5882 [email protected]

Source: Travel + Leisure Co.

Released February 1, 2023

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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A United Vision for Nature - 'Nature Positive' Report Marks New Collaborative Era in Travel & Tourism

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• 22 Apr 2024

WTTC, UN Tourism and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance join forces to support Nature Positive Tourism

The leading players of Travel & Tourism globally have published a landmark joint report setting out their joint plan to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Launched on Earth Day 2024, "Nature Positive Travel & Tourism in Action" is the creation of the high-level 'Nature Positive Tourism Partnership, made up of the World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC ), the World Tourism Organization ( UN Tourism ) and the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance ( the Alliance ).

For years, UN Tourism has been at the forefront of integrating tourism into the broader UN biodiversity agenda, including supporting the work of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

Developed in collaboration with specialist consultancy ANIMONDIAL, the report is the sector's pledge to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the UN's Biodiversity Plan.

It presents more than 30 case studies of inspiring and progressive actions from around the world involving large and small businesses, national and local government agencies, civil society groups, and inter-sectoral partnerships.

By offering actionable guidance and insights, this report not only highlights the intrinsic link between biodiversity and tourism's resilience, but also empowers businesses to become stewards of nature.

Historic partnership for nature

Ms. Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO , said: "This historic partnership with Travel & Tourism heavyweights is a significant step in our collective journey towards a more sustainable and responsible sector. This report is not merely a publication but a movement towards integrating environmental stewardship into the core of travel experiences. As we celebrate Earth Day, let us heed the call to nurture and protect our destinations. Our sector's reliance on nature, coupled with our expertise in creating inspiring and memorable experiences, means we are ideally placed to be guardians of nature."

Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of UN Tourism , said: "For years, UN Tourism has been at the forefront of integrating tourism into the broader UN biodiversity agenda, including supporting the work of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This pivotal new collaboration among key global players sets a robust framework for sustainable practices that not only drive significant impact but also exemplify the power of united efforts in conserving biodiversity. This report is a testimony to what we can achieve together for nature's preservation, inspiring a global movement towards more sustainable and resilient tourism."

Mr. Glenn Mandziuk, Sustainable Hotel Alliance CEO , said: "This report is a milestone for Travel and Tourism, representing our commitment as an industry to protect and conserve nature. The Alliance is proud to contribute to and collaborate on this insightful and action-orientated report which will bring tangible change to destinations around the world, supporting biodiversity.  Nature underpins our society, economies and indeed our very existence. The hospitality industry is today a leader amongst industries in its Nature Positive approach and this report signifies how much our industry understands the true value of nature."  

Expert-led coalition

Recognising that the sector has a critical role to play in protecting and conserving biodiversity, the Nature Positive Tourism approach is designed to be a touchstone for actionable change. It focuses on equipping the sector with the tools and insights needed to nurture and protect destinations upon which it depends.

The commitment of the Partnership to work towards "net positive for nature" draws on extensive consultation with experts from business, government, academia and civil society, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA).

The report, which follows the 2022 WTTC report "Nature Positive Travel & Tourism", includes practical frameworks and real-world examples that encourage both travel providers and travellers to embark on journeys that contribute to the conservation of our natural treasures.

Related links

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• Report “Nature Positive Travel & Tourism”
• UN Tourism Biodiversity
• Sustainable Hospitality Alliance

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Emirates CEO gives workers a hefty bonus, saying they deserve every penny ‘of the 20-week profit share’

It seems like every other day there’s a dumpster (or plane wing ) fire in the airline industry. But Emirates and Dubai National Air Travel Agency, or dnata, are somehow remaining above the fray amidst a sector-wide crisis. 

On Monday , the Emirates Group reported a 71% increase in annual profit as it raked in about $5 billion —$4.7 billion of that coming from Emirates alone, a 63% year-over-year jump.

Disembarking off its “best-ever financial performance,” the company has some wealth to go around—and workers are set to benefit from this golden era. Employees are about to receive a bonus worth 5 months (or 20 weeks’) of their salaries, according to an internal email as seen by Reuters . This bonus will first be reflected in May’s payroll, per The National . Last year, staff received a slightly larger bonus worth 24 weeks of pay. Since then, the company’s total workforce grew by 112,406 employees, or 10%.

“The business outlook is positive, and we expect customer demand for air transport and travel to remain strong in the coming months,” Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and CEO of Emirates, said in a press release. He added the group will be keeping an eye on possible headwinds including “oil prices, currency fluctuations, and volatile environments caused by socio-political changes,” but after two years of hitting new personal records, the airline is projecting blue skies ahead and looking to expand.

“Our business model has been tested before, and I am confident in our resilience and ability to respond quickly to opportunities and challenges,” he said. 

Emirates appears to have bounced back from the early-pandemic travel growing pains, as the release states profits for the group over the last couple of years outpaced pandemic losses. Airline capacity also increased by 20%. Emirates’ CEO said 2023 was a year marked by “high demand” for air transport, striking a chord with larger reports of a rebound . The luxury travel market continues to soar, which could be in part why Emirates—the airline built, in part, around a high-quality first-class experience —is doing so well

But not every airline is doing as hot, despite a bounce-back in travel; other companies say they’re feeling the heat from delayed Boeing jet deliveries and issues in retaining staff. Both Southwest and American Airlines reported a weak first quarter . The job of an airline attendant is famously characterized by long hours and low pay . Staffing issues have also intensified, as workers deal with stressful conditions like managing more volatile customers. But Emirates is doing well—and it’s time for its workers to reap the rewards, too, as Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said. Praising employees for their “heroic efforts,” he added that “for powering our collective ambitions and for achieving them, you deserve every dirham of the 20-week profit share,” Khaleej Times , a local Dubai paper, reported. Worth noting, the group is also awarding $1.1 billion to its owner, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

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The Fortune Hotel review – a fiendishly addictive mix of The Traitors and White Lotus

In this gloriously high-stakes game of pass the parcel, 20 contestants try to win £250,000 by passing around a briefcase full of cash at a Caribbean hotel

T he Traitors on a beach, anyone? Ever since the BBC’s Claudia Winkleman-in-a-castle contest became a runaway hit, rival broadcasters have been tripping over their hooded cloaks to commission their own version. We’ve had The Traitors in a stratified high-rise (Channel 4’s Rise & Fall), The Traitors go Greek island-hopping (ITVX’s Loaded in Paradise), The Traitors in the Big Brother house (Netflix’s The Trust: A Game of Greed) and The Traitors v James Bond (Prime’s 007: Road to a Million).

Now ITV1 has thrown its fingerless gloves in the ring with The Fortune Hotel, pitched as “a hybrid of The Traitors, The White Lotus and Deal Or No Deal”. Sounds like a horrific Frankenstein format, but somehow it works. Of the new wave of post-Traitors copycat programming, this comes the closest yet. It’s a fiendishly addictive affair that might just be your next reality fix.

Ten pairs of Brits are flown to the Caribbean and compete to win £250,000 by passing around a briefcase full of cash. The aim of the game is to find the money and keep hold of it. With regular case-swapping sessions, that’s easier said than done. If The Traitors is a glorified game of wink murder, this is high-stakes pass the parcel.

Upon arrival at The Fortune Hotel – actually a £500-per-night resort in Grenada – guests are randomly assigned a silver briefcase. Neatly stacked inside one case is the jackpot. Eight are empty. One contains the dreaded “Early Checkout” card. Whoever is left holding the cursed valise at the end of each episode has their stay brought to a premature end. Cue sunburnt skulduggery as they try to throw each other under the airport shuttle bus.

Episodes climax with The Fortune Hotel’s equivalent of The Traitors’ nerve-jangling round tables. Over nightcaps in The Lady Luck Bar, each pair must decide whether to keep or swap their case. Has the couple with the loot managed to dodge suspicion? Will their case be cruelly snatched from their grasp? Who will pass whom the poisoned chalice, like a luggage-based echo of Diane’s fizzy Traitors rosé?

Filling the Winkleman role as “hotel manager” is actor Stephen Mangan , sporting a dad-on-a-cruise selection of Hawaiian shirts and Man from Del Monte suits. He plays it smoothly polite with a mischievous twinkle and a camp comic edge. I sincerely hope that before the series is over, Mangan will channel Armond from The White Lotus by bingeing on confiscated drugs and defecating in somebody’s suitcase.

Seasoned reality viewers will recognise certain tropes. The glossy setting and slo-mo arrivals consciously evoke Love Island. This sense of deja vu is enhanced by one contestant, “skinfluencer” Louie O’Neill, also appearing in E4’s recent Josh Must Win. Luckily, he is first out. Sighs of relief from the red-faced casting team are almost audible.

Competitors are reminiscent of Race Across the World, with teams of spouses, siblings, best mates and parent-and-child duos. Ages range from 19 to 60. Their strategies are equally varied. A budding actor turns on the waterworks to win sympathy. A criminal investigator lies about what she does for a living, while a barrister immediately becomes a marked man, despite insisting “I’m a lawyer, not a liar”.

The holiday setting plays its part, with the five-star sunshine going straight to players’ heads. An inflatable flamingo acquires surprising importance. One bloke is deemed dodgy for strolling around shirtless. By episode two, someone is sick in an ice bucket and an exit speech takes an accusatory turn. Awkward for them. Great for us viewers.

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It’s a long way from the tweedy Scottish Highlands but nods to The Traitors abound, right down to the gold graphics and baroque pop soundtrack. There are plentiful shots of portentous knocks on suite doors. The mere act of coming down for breakfast becomes crucial. If The Traitors often recalls a corporate away day, complete with jolly team-building exercises, this is like a package holiday where you become oddly fixated with that weird couple on the next sun loungers who never seem to speak.

ITV has high hopes for what it loftily describes as “an entertainment event”, airing nightly episodes in the hope it will become a national obsession. Will The Fortune Hotel repay ITV’s faith and justify its bumper budget? Can it produce a meme-worthy equivalent of Jazatha Christie, Diane’s coffin or Paul’s bow? Could the channel even have found a phenomenon to rival The Traitors? Winkleman’s pet owl would probably peck my eyes out if I said yes. So no, not quite. But it’s a deliciously trashy way to while away time until we’re back at Ardross Castle.

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Watery, Peaceful, Wild: The Call of the Mangroves

On Curaçao, visitors can explore the trees’ habitat, where colorful birds roost on tangled branches and trunks, and small paths through the greenery beckon.

The Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park offers guided tours, elevated boardwalks, programs for local schoolchildren and a tiered entrance-fee system for residents and overseas visitors. Credit... Frank Meyer for The New York Times

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By Elisabeth Goodridge

Elisabeth Goodridge is the deputy editor for travel at The New York Times.

• May 8, 2024

It was a sunny afternoon in February at the height of the high season on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, but my partner, Aaren, and I were far from lounging on a white-sand beach, snorkeling over a coral reef or strolling among the Easter-egg-colored buildings of Willemstad, Curaçao’s capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site — typical activities for travelers to this former Dutch colony.

Instead, on a kayak tour with Serlon St Jago, a guide from the Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park , we were learning about the country’s mangrove restoration, and the vital role mangrove habitats play in coastal resilience, protection for marine and bird species, and fighting the effects of climate change.

No poisonous snakes, alligators or large predators live on Curaçao, Mr. St Jago said, reassuring information as we paddled toward a forbidding wall of mangroves lining Piscadera Bay. Up close, the trees were magnificent and cheerful. Colorful birds roosted on tangled branches and trunks, and small paths under the green and occasionally yellow leaves beckoned us to explore. With our kayaks beached, Mr. St Jago pointed out fiddler crabs and mussels, and described differences of the local mangrove species — the red, white and black — and how they adapted to live and propagate where water meets land.

“There’s so much life here,” he said with infectious enthusiasm.

We were the only tourists on the water, but getting more visitors like us interested in mangroves, perhaps even persuading them to replant some of the vital trees themselves, has been a priority of scientists, activists, park rangers and tourism operators on Curaçao in recent years.

The island isn’t alone in its efforts: Similar mangrove-focused work has started around the world, in places like Indonesia , Australia , Belize and Florida , as fragile destinations balance tourism’s growth with the conservation — and restoration — of the natural resources that captivate visitors.

“Coral reefs get all the attention. But mangroves are probably a lot more important,” said Gabby Ahmadia , a vice president with the oceans program at the World Wildlife Fund who oversees the organization’s mangrove science and restoration programs. “My favorite analogy about mangroves is that they are Swiss Army knives, because they do provide so many different benefits and they can do so many different things.”

Though these forests are one degree of separation from the sights and the activities that traditionally draw visitors to the ocean, changing perceptions might be hard. To protect the environment, mangrove kayak tours can be — as are most snorkel, fishing and bird-watching tours offered in other destinations — limited by number, and visitors must be interested in the first place. With their summer reads and beach toys, family traditions and limited vacation days, most tourists might simply agree with the old saying “Life is better at the beach.”

A foundation of life

The twisty branches, trunks and distinctive aboveground roots of mangroves are a stark, complex repudiation of how a child’s drawing portrays a common tree. The roots can arch up, pop up spikelike from the water or form stilts above and under the surface. Adapted to oxygen-poor soil, high salinity and the ebb and flow of an intertidal zone, coastal mangroves thrive where other trees and shrubs would perish. Unless they are yellow, the leaves are green, and some, if you lick them, taste salty.

Mangrove forests can appear impenetrable, muddy, smelly and swampy. For centuries, they have been cleared for firewood, farmland, urban development, aquaculture and, yes, tourism. On Curaçao, mangroves are now found on only 0.012 percent of the island. Globally, more than half of the mangrove forests have been cut down or otherwise destroyed in the past 50 years. Deforestation has slowed — but not stopped — in recent years, and rising sea levels and increased storm activity have done further damage.

But coastal mangroves — there are some 60 species worldwide — are the foundation of life above and below the water. With intricate root systems, they act as nurseries for juvenile fish and other marine life. Mangrove branches and trunks make safe feeding and nesting sites for yellow warblers , tricolored herons and other bird species, reptiles like iguanas, and insects aplenty.

Those strongly anchored roots also protect from flooding, erosion and tidal surges by slowing down seawater and trapping dirt and debris. More crucially, mangrove forests are extraordinary for decreasing the effects of global warming, by absorbing and storing carbon annually at a rate 10 times as great as tropical rainforests. Mangroves, along with other coastal wetlands, “sequester enough carbon each year to offset the burning of over one billion barrels of oil,” according to the Nature Conservancy .

Surreptitious beginnings

Ryan de Jongh, a 53-year-old Curaçao native, activist and tour guide, is the living embodiment of regenerative tourism. He’s an important reason we encountered a lush, thriving ecosystem in Piscadera Bay, and demonstrates how one person can make a difference.

Mr. de Jongh grew up swimming in the bay and watched the area’s mangroves being cleared for fuel and construction. In 2006, he surreptitiously planted the first mangrove tree — a single seedling can mature in around 15 years and lead to an entire thicket — and now, he said, more than 100,000 trees are growing. He made similarly stealthy plantings at other inlets and bays, making himself a local hero in the process.

Mr. de Jongh, who gives kayak tours himself , now works on widespread government-sanctioned restoration projects.

His aim is to eventually plant 1.3 million trees on the island. “I have to transform literally a desert back to green,” he said.

The interior of Curaçao certainly looks like a desert, with a dry, dusty landscape of cactus and other succulents. Along with its closest island neighbors, Aruba and Bonaire, Curaçao is outside the Caribbean’s hurricane belt and receives minimal rainfall. People on the island drink desalinated seawater.

The trade winds bring cooler temperatures. In the 16th century, they also brought Europeans who enslaved and deported the Indigenous population and turned Curaçao into a slaving port. The colonists also planted oranges, sugar cane and other nonnative species, with varying degrees of success, and developed giant salt pans for export, but it was the construction of an oil refinery in 1918 and growing tourism that finally brought widespread jobs. The refinery shut down in 2019 — nine years after Curaçao voted to become a semiautonomous nation from the Netherlands — an event that only emphasized tourism’s importance for Curaçao’s economy. Last year, the island, only 40 miles long, welcomed 1.3 million visitors .

Aaren and I gladly did our part to support the economy: In Willemstad, that meant eating at Plasa Bieu , the Old Market, where individual vendors cook and sell local cuisine. We fought with each other over the fried wahoo and an arepa di pampuna — pumpkin pancake — but we were warned off the cactus soup. “I live here,” said another diner, “and I don’t even eat that.” We also snapped photos, like so many other visitors, while crossing the floating Queen Emma Bridge , and watched it open and close for marine traffic.

We waited in an hourlong, locals-heavy line at De Visserij Piscadera Seafood restaurant (“slaying and filleting” since 2017), where diners choose and purchase their fish fillets before sitting down; we drank oregano punch for the first time (think mint ice tea, but oregano and oh so refreshingly delicious); and we inhaled grilled shrimp and raw fresh tuna.

Further north, we ate “williburgers” — goat burgers — at Marfa’s GoodHangout in Sint Willibrordus, which overlooks an old salt pan that, sadly, the resident flamingoes absented that day, and delighted upon coming across a coral nursery while scuba diving right off the jam-packed Kokomo Beach.

Coral reefs are crucial to Curaçao’s tourism and fishing industries and valued at more than $445 million annually, according to a 2016 economic assessment published by the nonprofit Waitt Institute. And coral reefs, which support roughly 25 percent of all marine life, are enduring cataclysmic bleaching and disease brought on or compounded by climate change.

In the last 10 years, scientists have better understood the symbiosis between coral reefs and mangroves: They don’t need each other to exist, but proximity brings benefits to both ecosystems.

“Working in this field of conservation, you might come in from one entry point and then you realize everything is connected,” said Dr. Ahmadia of the W.W.F. “We can work on coral reefs, but we should be thinking about sea grass beds and mangroves, because they are all really connected. And then of course, they are connected to the human environment.”

One morning, Aaren and I walked through the 30-acre Curaçao Rif Mangrove Park , a short stroll from the center of Willemstad and a shorter one from the island’s cruise ship terminal. Open since 2022, the park offers guided and audio tours, elevated boardwalks, programs for local schoolchildren and a tiered entrance-fee system (guilders and U.S. dollars accepted) for residents and overseas visitors. Some 17,766 people came in 2023, an increase of 14,687 from 2022.

Manfred van Veghel is the new director of the Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity Foundation, which oversees the mangrove park and five other national parks. Working with the government of Curaçao, local travel operators and activists like Mr. de Jongh, Dr. van Veghel aims to expand park access, construct an elevated bridge and add a visitor center, among other goals. The efforts are part of his desire to transform Curaçao into more of a nature-based tourist destination.

“We had a record last year and they are pushing to get more,” Dr. van Veghel said of Curaçao’s number of annual visitors. Yet, he said, the beaches are getting full. “So we need to get activities other than going to the beach — and the mangrove park is an excellent activity.”

Mark Spalding is a senior marine scientist with the Nature Conservancy and lead scientist of the Mapping Ocean Wealth initiative , an online tool that applies economic value to coastal ecosystems.

Dr. Spalding said a draw of mangrove activities, like boating and hiking, is that “without having to trek through the Amazon for hours and hours, you can get that sense of wilderness and experience, and also the peace and tranquillity very quickly and very easily.”

“It might only be two hours of your entire holiday,” he said, “but it’s the thing you take home with you — the story you tell.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

An earlier version of this story misidentified an nongovernmental organization. It is the World Wildlife Fund, not World Wildlife Federation.

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Elisabeth is the deputy editor for the Travel Desk at The New York Times. More about Elisabeth Goodridge

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