Michael Coletta

Voice is quickly going mainstream as an important human/computer interface, and the implications for travel planning, booking and servicing are profound. Voice has the potential to dramatically alter the search landscape and give more power to the companies that control the major platforms. This report highlights the state of voice in travel today – including travelers’ interest in and use of voice technology – and tests and compares the travel-related skills and actions currently available via a variety of voice-enabled devices and platforms.

Phocuswright and innovation experts led a thought-provoking conversation about the state of European travel innovation on April 19, 2018. Download/View this presentation deck and recording to learn about the current state of investments and the funding environment, how industry venture funds are financing startups to advance strategic initiatives. conichi, the 2017 European Travel Innovator of the Year, also shared insights on the challenges of founding and scaling a startup in Europe.

Each year, Phocuswright publishes an annual “trends” report that discusses the most significant technology-driven issues or developments that will shape travel distribution in the course of the year and beyond. This year we incorporate the views of our extended analyst team, who are industry experts in a range of areas. This paper features introductions to more in-depth discussions on these topics that will be published throughout the remainder of this year.

The cruise and packaged travel segments are entirely leisure-driven, and remain the two key segments where traditional travel agents are the most important distribution partners. Because of the overlap in demographics and distribution, cruise and packaged travel companies compete for business. But they also complement one another, as packaged travel companies provide pre- and post-stays to cruise lines. In 2017, the U.S. cruise and package segments grew 5% and 3%, respectively. This report provides complete sizing and analysis on the U.S. cruise and packaged travel segments, including online versus offline bookings, distribution dynamics, OTA versus supplier dynamics and projections through 2021.

At The Phocuswright Conference from November 14-17, 2017, the Phocuswright Innovation Platform events featured presentations from 34 travel innovators: 24 in Summit (for startups and emerging companies) and 10 in Launch (for established companies), predominantly from the U.S., Europe, China and India. They presented on Center Stage to an audience of up to 1,600 conference attendees as well as a global audience through the live stream.

The Asia Pacific region is blossoming with digital travel startups vying to disrupt the status quo of incumbent intermediaries that have been around for more than a decade. APAC startups are garnering astonishing investor attention and implementing viable strategies to bolster local market adoption. This report takes a comprehensive look at the APAC travel startup ecosystem from 2005-2017, with a focus on key investors and acquisitions, and the vertical and horizontal categories that are generating the most interest and activity.

Phocuswright has tracked thousands of digital travel startups worldwide founded since 2005. Over the last 5+ years, a flood of travel-focused investors, incubators, accelerators and entrepreneur support programs have launched to connect promising startups with capital, mentorship and resources. This report presents a comprehensive, 360-degree view of today’s travel startup landscape, and provides essential insights on travel technology founding and funding trends across regions and segments.

This report highlights the status and projected growth of mobile bookings in the leisure/unmanaged business travel markets where Phocuswright has collected data across the U.S., Asia Pacific (APAC)  and Europe. Estimates and projections for the APAC market include China, India and Japan only, collectively referred to as the APAC Big 3 throughout this article. European market figures are based on 15 European Union countries (the EU15) plus Switzerland and Norway.

The unstoppable rise of mobile, along with the evolution of online platforms and other technology advances have given travelers increasingly sophisticated tools to leverage throughout the travel life cycle. Based on a comprehensive survey of U.S travelers’ attitudes and behavior, this special collection of reports explores key aspects of how consumers incorporate technology into their travel planning and booking, as well as into the actual travel experience itself.

Consumers worldwide are embracing chat and messaging at an astonishing rate, and this is fueling an explosion in the use of apps such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat, iMessage, WhatsApp and others. This trend is extending into the travel category, where brands have a significant opportunity to leverage chat and messaging to provide more streamlined, personalized services, and to generate meaningful operational efficiencies. This report explores the use of chat and messaging in travel, including analysis of the top messaging apps used by travelers, and the potential for text-based customer service, travel planning, shopping and booking.