travel tech insights

If asked to name industries most affected by the Internet since the 1990’s, most people would think of online retailers like Amazon – draining sales away from small and large store-based retailers; or perhaps the music industry – careening from vinyl to CD’s, CD’s to mp3s and ultimately to Spotify.  Both are good answers. Another answer might be storefront travel agencies; certainly the widespread acceptance of online travel agencies (OTA) transformed the agency business model.  However, the ultimate fate of the traditional agency remains an open question. Ironically, technology – which crippled the travel agency twenty years ago – may be the very thing that saves them in the 21^st century.   

The tour operator travel business grew in 2015 and remains highly competitive, circumstances which are likely to remain during 2016. This means tour companies can’t count on just long hours and hard work to keep them successful and competitive – they’ll have to also work smarter and plan better than ever before to stay ahead of existing and emerging competitors.

Just this past November a bargain-hunter found a NYC hotel right on Central Park with a 35% discount off regular rates. A quick Google scan showed strong 4 star review averages across several booking sites.  Then she noticed a different result on Yelp. That site showed a 2.5 star review average. Yelp’s average was based on several hundred reviews whereas the other sites averaged several thousand, but both struck her as good sample sizes. It didn’t make sense for the ratings to be so different.