Over the last 20 years, many areas of the travel industry have been transformed by waves of disruption, from technologies like the web and mobile to new product categories like home- and ride-sharing.

The next wave is undoubtedly artificial intelligence (AI), a catch-all term encompassing natural language processing (NLP), machine learning, machine vision and robotics.

Each year, Phocuswright publishes an annual report that discusses the most significant technology-driven issues or developments that will shape travel distribution this year and beyond. This year we again incorporate the views of our extended analyst team, who are industry experts across a range of segments, regions and topics.

In spite of some early-stage funding contraction, the travel startup ecosystem is alive and well. This article explores the state of innovation in travel and highlights the top trends and developments, based on the innovators who participated in Phocuswright’s Innovation Platform events in 2018. Presenters are grouped into categories based on area of focus, and key trends are summarized.