It is boring. Or rather, the standard way of looking at trends is. Skift is changing the game with its new Research Trend Lifecycle reports. The goal? Help leaders figure out exactly where to put their money, time, and brainpower. No more guessing. Just data.
Last month we dropped the Decision Brief. It was sharp, focused, and designed for specific crossroads in the industry. The new Trend Lifecycle takes that same DNA. But instead of one decision, it looks at the macro forces reshaping travel entirely. It applies a structure to Skift’s usual trend research. Makes it easier to digest. Easier to act on.
The first one out of the gate? The endless hunger for premium airline seats. The line after that is long too: live tourism. Experiential travel. Wellness. All waiting in the wings.
But here is the core of the thing. The Lifecycle Framework.
Every trend gets a phase. Every phase gets an action. We monitor. We update. We tell you when a thing is new and when it is dead weight.
The Five Phases
Here is how you handle it depending on where the trend sits.
Emerging
Watch it.
Signals are faint. The picture is blurry. If you are a brand with a pulse, you are looking closely right now. Thinking. Positioning. But holding back on the heavy investment.
Growing
Test it.
Momentum is real. People are buying. You have a window. Open it. Commit resources. Run pilots. Build the muscle before the market saturates and the window slams shut.
Peaking
Scale it.
It is proven. The demand is massive. The math works. Now you go wide. Capture the market while the sun shines. No time for small experiments here. Execute.
Normalizing
Maintain it.
Not new anymore. Not exciting. Just baseline expectation. Winners in this stage keep evolving. Losers treat it as a box they checked in 2019 and walk away. Don’t be the loser. Keep investing.
Declining
Defend it.
The glory days are over. But there is still meat on the bone. Do not pour fresh cash into a sinking ship. Manage what you have. Keep the loyal customers happy. Defend the core. Aggressive growth? Save your breath.
The wider toolbox
Skift Research isn’t just doing the Lifecycle stuff. This is part of a bigger push. Three new things this year, joining the existing data piles, the Travel Health Index, and the monthly Data Pulse.
- Skift Research Unlocked. It is an event. Monthly. Third Tuesday. Only for subscribers. They dive deep. Present exclusive data. Take questions. Real talk about where the industry is shifting.
- Decision Briefs. Remember these? Short reports. High stakes. They give you the context, the evidence, and the forecast to make hard calls. Not just raw numbers. Meaning.
- Trend Lifecycles. The continuous tracker. Five stages. One clear action per stage. It doesn’t just flag a trend and vanish. It follows the arc. From birth to death. Or maintenance.
Why bother? Because the travel world is loud. And most of it is noise. This cuts through.
So. Where are you spending your energy today? On something emerging? Or something dying?
You can reach them at research@skift.com if you want the goods.
