Robert Cole

Technology plays a growing role in individual lifestyles and how people engage with their surroundings. Smartphones and wearables are ever-present companions. Unlimited entertainment options are instantly available across multiple devices by subscription. Digital assistants answer questions and execute commands. As consumer reliance on technology increases, expectations while traveling will inevitably grow.

A combination of these new direct and indirect needs will permanently change the hotel guest experience. Hotel design will become more focused on satisfying various guest personas demanding the technological conveniences of home and office while traveling.

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.

Download/View the presentation deck and audio recording of the June 22, 2017 webinar - in partnership with Adobe - to explore the changing roles of content, messaging and analytics in delivering relevant, personalized experiences across multiple devices, media and channels.

TripAdvisor’s Instant Booking platform – through which travelers can confirm their hotel bookings within TripAdvisor without being passed off to the hotel’s website – represents another successful pivot for the online travel leader. Following strategic moves that repositioned TripAdvisor first as a review site and then as a metasearch company, the launch of Instant Booking was a bold move that has required mid-course adjustments to position the product for success. This Analysis examines the introduction and evolution of the Instant Booking platform, including strategic deals with key OTA and hotel partners.

As the post-recession U.S. economy becomes steadier, travel has enjoyed the ride. While demand is high for all types of travel – domestic, inbound and outbound – the impact on the bottom line varies by segment. U.S. Online Travel Overview Fifteenth Edition provides comprehensive market sizing of the U.S. travel industry, with a focus on the purchase, distribution and marketing of travel booked by the leisure or unmanaged business traveler. The report highlights the trends that have driven the growth of the online channel, and features a comprehensive view of the U.S. travel landscape from 2013-2017.

Web 2.0 produced the promise of unparalleled consumer engagement through interactive communication, user-generated content and the mobilization of an army of independent brand evangelists. More than a decade later, virtual communities created through social media have become an important dimension of individual personas and commercial branding.

For decades, travel marketing was dominated by mass broadcasting of product features – convenient schedules, on-time performance, pleasant staff or comfy beds. Now, however, advanced technologies and communications enable unparalleled traveler self-sufficiency, customization and personalization when researching, booking and experiencing travel. The challenge for the travel industry is to prioritize personalization initiatives to take advantage of technologies that capitalize on advanced analytics and big data, which other industries are embracing.

Hotel products are inherently complex, and the ability to price and distribute rooms efficiently (at a reasonable cost) is fundamental to sustaining profitability. But in such a fragmented marketplace, any efforts to optimize rates and inventory will face a host of challenges: functional limitations in reservation systems and intermediary platforms, difficulty obtaining a complete picture of distribution costs, shifting OTA business models, loss of rate parity, and personalization. The future of channel management will focus on centralizing business rules across disparate systems, most likely with cloud-based reservation platforms. Until then, channel managers need to establish a total revenue management strategy across channels.

Purchase Together and Save! This package combines two hotel revenue management publications:

• Hotel Revenue Management in 2013 - More Art Than Science? (US$350)
• Hotel Revenue Management: The Future of Now Part II ($450)

Shifting competitive dynamics, the advent of new devices and channels, and the growing complexity of traveler behavior are rendering traditional hotel pricing strategies ineffective. Unless hoteliers wish to cede control of industry pricing to online travel agencies, revenue managers must leverage new technologies to create sustainable advantages for the future.

Hotels are complex, hybrid operations that combine the challenges of real estate development and labor-intensive service delivery. Revenue managers must balance directives that are often in direct conflict with one another. This article outlines the challenges faced by hotel revenue managers and highlights the market changes that are putting their traditional strategies to the test.

Hoteliers face major challenges in their quest for the optimal distribution strategy — distribution mix, revenue accounting, product complexity, and cost allocation, just to name a few. This article delves into the obstacles within these obstacles and explores possible realistic solutions.

Despite the rapid rise of online travel and the influx of new travel services, the travel process remains inefficient and often frustrating for travelers. By increasing providers' understanding of travelers' needs and behaviors, semantic technologies hold the promise to make trip shopping easier.