The Travel Industry’s Most Profitable Product Is Your Anxiety

Back in 2017, we coined the term Permanxiety at Skift Global Forum to describe something we were all feeling but hadn’t yet named: a near-constant state of anxiety that pervades every part of modern life — politics, social media, security, climate. 

It shows up in concentrated form when we travel: From security lines to travel bans, laptop restrictions to extreme weather, the act of getting on a plane is layered with dread.

Eight years later, I want to update the thesis. It’s no surprise that Permanxiety has gotten worse. The world is burning all around us, and the pandemic conditioned an entire generation of travelers to expect cancellations as the base case.

But here’s the twist: the industry