In Phocus

Knowing where to start in terms of applying artificial intelligence to a travel business is difficult. Some companies bring in a chief AI officer, others establish an AI business unit and more still just start playing with stuff and learning how it all works. Less than a year ago, American Express Global Business Travel set up a program internally to focus on AI across the business.  During an interview during The Phocuswright Conference 2024, Marilyn Markham, the company's vice president of AI strategy, shared insights on early applications of the technology and the drive to ensure all initiatives are "relevant to the business." Markham shared how AmexGBT had spoken to business leaders within the organization "who felt their area was right for change." "So, we selected staff efficiencies. Another one we had was engineering velocity and whether AI can help in that space. Of course, we had agents and servicing and the last one was finance." Markham was joined in the PhocusWire studio by Michael Gulmann, CEO of Otto, a startup creating AI-powered agents for corporate travel. The company, which is backed by Madrona Ventures, sees huge opportunity to act as a virtual executive assistant for booking corporate travel, learning a traveler's preferences over time. The pair discussed the rapid pace of development with AI, how much of what's out there is hype and where the real potential lies.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many who have left the travel industry often end up back in the industry because they love its ever-changing nature, the people and the dynamics.Filip Filipov, a former vice president of Skyscanner, left travel more than four years ago, and is now back as chief operations officer of airline data specialist OAG. He joined us in the PhocusWire studio to discuss what he has observed about the industry from the outside looking in.Filipov spoke about how some of the same challenges persist as well as the pace of innovation generally. He went on to discuss the "paradigm shift in the usage of data" that he is seeing and how projects that were being talked about five years ago are now happening.Filipov also said he's watching to see how improved access to, and usage of, data will be applied to the travel B2C and B2B worlds going forward, especially as AI developments take hold. He also touched on AI agents in travel and said he doesn't believe they will proliferate that quickly."The missing component here is nailing the customer journey and having enough data to actually power it. The more information you have the better the experience you will give."All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investors Matt Zito and Min Liu have sat front row as travel merger and acquisition activity has warmed up over the last couple of years, with plenty of attention-grabbing moves in the third quarter of this year, following those that happened in the first and second quarters of 2024. “For the M&A side, we're definitely on top,” said Zito, managing partner of TSI, which serves as a broker for travel mergers and acquisitions and also provides consulting services to startups. “There's a lot of activity coming from both buyers and sellers.” Liu, a managing director at investment banking firm Cambon Partners, said that in 2024 the company recorded about 470 deals. That performance is very robust with a year-over-year view, she said, noting the market is vibrant in general. In comparison to last year, the entire environment is amplified, Zito said, which he attributes to a number of factors.  First, buyers have realized that a recession isn’t happening, so money has been freed up on their balance sheets, and with the pandemic behind us, earnings are improving so there is cash available to deploy.  And on the sell side, Liu said consolidation is a big trend, particularly since companies run by older generations are feeling ready to sell. All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will there be a mega merger or acquisition in travel in 2025? Will AI fatigue take hold? And, will travel companies address not just technical debt but technical deficit?  Predicting what might happen in travel is never easy with the industry impacted by so many external factors, but some executives usually take a good stab at how things might play out. Aaron Gowell, founder and CEO of SilverRail Technologies, Timothy O’Neil-Dunne of T2Impact and Lorraine Sileo, founder of Phocuswright research discussed some of the current trends in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference. The executives spoke about what will happen with the new presidential administration in the United States, the possibility of deregulation and general uncertainty affecting consumer spend. They also touched on the hype around AI, whether travel companies have researched what customers really want when it comes to the technology and the lack of focus on meaningful metrics such as conversion. All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Internet boom. 9/11. The financial crisis. The COVID pandemic. ChatGPT. The list goes on. The last 30 years have been full of course-changing events and technological innovations since Philip Wolf founded Phocuswright in 1994. The world has become digitalized with travel shifting largely online and expected to account for nearly 65% of all bookings by 2026, according to Phocuswright's Global Travel Market report.And some industry leaders have had a front row seat to those changes while pushing travel towards the future. Bob Diener, president and co-founder of the Travel Funders Network and co-founder of Hotels.com, is among that group, as is Melissa Maher, founder and CEO of the Pinnacle Enterprises Group and a former Expedia Group executive and Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator, who was inducted into the Phocuswright Hall of Fame last month. As Phocuswright celebrates its 30-year anniversary, the trio took some time to look back and look ahead at the world of travel in a discussion with senior reporter Morgan Hines in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial intelligence is touching every segment of the travel industry with destination marketing being no exception.Tourist boards are exploring how AI and other emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality can improve destination search and booking as well as the in-destination experience.During an interview in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference 2024, Gregory Yap, vice president of the Singapore Exhibition & Conventions Bureau (SECB), discussed the rapid pace of change in the travel industry and the convergence of technology. He shared examples such as a partnership with Google Maps to bring augmented reality experiences in Singapore to maps. Yap also touched on how Singapore's tourism organization and SECB think about innovation.Yap was joined by Jared Alster, co-founder and chief strategy officer of marketing agency Dune7, who said that while AI is so widely talked about currently, AR and virtual reality continue to show promise for destination marketing.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acai Travel, a startup using artificial intelligence to drive efficiency for agency and call center environments, has signed Hopper as its latest partner. The deal sees Acai, a PhocusWire Hot 25 Startup for 2024, use its technology to support Hopper's human agents. The startup, which recently landed seed funding of $4 million, already counts companies including Globespan Travel Management among its customers. During an interview in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference 2024, Riky Vittoria, CEO of Acai, shared details of the deal alongside Jo Lai, vice president of customer experience at Hopper.The pair discussed the potential efficiency gains associated with implementing the technology as well as how the partnership might develop going forward.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PhocusWire's executive editor Linda Fox conducts an interview with Skyscanner CEO John Mangelaars at WiT Singapore. All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fact that many hoteliers have an ambivalent relationship with online travel agencies is nothing new. The push and pull of appreciating the OTAs for their ability to capture bookings while also begrudging the fact they control access to those guests’ data and also may employ tactics that inhibit the hotels’ commercial efforts are ongoing sources of frustration.  News out of Spain in August put a spotlight on these issues when a regulatory agency there imposed a more than €413 million fine on Booking.com for actions it said have imposed “unfair commercial conditions” on hotels in that country.But today hoteliers have a myriad of options for their distribution strategies, and by effectively using technology to capture, connect and analyze guest data they can take action to create a great experience for guests and more revenue for their properties. That was one of the key messages in a discussion with Cloudbeds vice president of strategic partnerships Sebastien Leitner and Javier Delgado, managing partner and EMEA CEO at Mirai, in the PhocusWire studio at the Phocuswright Europe event in June.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The growing importance of experiences in the travel industry has been an ongoing discussion since the fallout from COVID-19. And while there have been no signs of travelers’ appetite for experiences slowing down, at what point does it peak? That was a question kicked around by experts in the field during the Phocuswright Europe event in Barcelona this summer. Sarah Dines, chief commercial officer at Viator, referred to projections that the segment would be worth $350 billion by the end of 2028, about a hundred billion more than it is today. “I think there probably is a ceiling at some point, someday, but we’re very, very, far from that at this point,” Dines said. “What we see in our own business is an increasing number of activities being done by travelers while they’re on one trip. The number of things that people are doing , and the amount of money they’re spending on experiences is continuing to grow.” Dines was joined during an interview in the Phocuswright Studio by Laurens Leurink, the CEO at Tiqets, and Travis Pittman, CEO of TourRadar. They echoed her viewpoint.All episodes: https://www.phocuswire.com/in-phocusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.