Skift buys tourism consultancy Twenty31

Skift, a New York-headquartered travel industry news and intelligence company, has acquired Twenty31, a Vancouver-based tourism consulting firm.

Founded in 2015, Twenty31 is a market research consultancy that helps leaders and operators of tourist destinations unlock competitive advantage. The firm has practices in strategy, research, and investment attraction, with regional expertise in Canada, Africa, and the Middle East.

Twenty31’s core business is designing and evaluating destination development strategies based on primary quantitative and qualitative research.

Skift’s acquisition of Twenty31 will grow the firm’s advisory business, which launched last year to provide go-to-market strategies to travel industry clients. The company’s advisory business is led by Lisa Weier Parilla, who has been at Skift for the past six years and previously held leadership positions at Hearst, Condé Nast, and Forbes.

Eight full-time employees from Twenty31 will join the Skift team, which numbers approximately 80 people globally.

“I am so excited to announce that Skift has acquired the premier tourism consultancy Twenty31 Consulting Inc. to expand our fast growing advisory capabilities,” Rafat Ali, co-founder and CEO of Skift, said in LinkedIn post. “This is the 5th and largest acquisition we have done at Skift, and strategically rounds out our business with editorial, research, events, marketing services and now deeper into advisory business.”

Skift was founded in 2012 and is a leading news platform for the travel industry, with more than 41,000 published stories and 1.3 million daily newsletters sent each month. The company also provides industry-focused marketing services and market research, as well as organizes events and conferences, including its marquee Skift Global Forum held annually in New York City.