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What is the long journey of the journey? Responding to this is Skift’s editorial mission, and publishing our annual megatrends is at the core of that mission.
Our sleuths spend months a year bringing to light, discussing, debating, and writing about the most sensible megatrends we’ve identified, and we publish and feature them in early January. This will be our 11th edition.
Taking place in New York and online on January 9 and in London on January 11, Skift’s Megatrends 2024 events will bring together industry leaders and creatives to hear and talk about those trends.
We have a good record of pinpointing the emerging Megatrends that the travel industry needs to reckon with.
Here we take a look at how the megatrends of 2023 are developing.
We’ve been talking about mixed since 2013. Al beginning, travelers were tired of bulky corporate booking teams and demanded undisputed platforms on par with Expedia or Travelocity.
In the absence of those more modern tools, workers would make unauthorized commercial outdoor bookings on corporate booking sites on sites or apps like Airbnb or HotelTonight, and settle for a long weekend.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the trend towards remote bookings has encouraged the arrival of package travel.
In April, American Express Global Business Travel cited a survey that found that 80% of respondents in the U. S. had a global business trip. U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that they were susceptible while working remotely.
Andrew Nocella, United Airlines’ chief advertising officer, told analysts in October that many of the airline’s commercial consumers were also recreational consumers.
And U.S. News & World Report noted that remote workers expanded the Thanksgiving holiday period in the U.S. by working away from the office in their travel destinations.
India has become the largest travel origin in Asia for the first time in 2022, surpassing the number of trips made by Chinese, South Korean and Japanese travelers, according to IPK International.
Skift Asia editor-in-chief Peden Doma Bhutia this week highlighted a wave of Asian countries seeking to make it less difficult to welcome more Indians. Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand have announced visa exemptions for Indians, and Vietnam is considering a similar plan.
Meanwhile, the number of international travelers visiting India or traveling outbound reached 31.4 million in the April to September period of 2023, just eclipsing the same six months in during pre-Covid 2019.
But don’t count the Chinese. The Chinese government removed many Covid-related restrictions earlier this year, and Asian countries outside of China have historically been favorite destinations for these travelers.
Although still in its infancy, generative AI is transforming marketing and marketing in general.
For example, Trivago recently announced a new brand marketing campaign in multiple countries that employs just one actor speaking numerous languages — thanks to an assist from AI. The tech enables Trivago to replace close to two dozen actors it previously contracted with for its global ad campaigns. AI also enables Trivago, which does price comparisons at hotels and short-term rentals, to roll out new ads quicker.
Skift Travel Tech Reporter Justin Dawes said this week Microsoft and Amazon Web Services are developing AI-infused tools for the hospitality industry to ease the creation of personalized recommendations. In the short-term rental sector, companies are releasing tools to help hosts and other clients write copy and create social media posts.
“About a portion of destination marketing organizations expect AI to have a significant effect on content creation in the long term, according to a recent survey conducted through travel marketing platform Sojern,” says Dawes.
Meanwhile, VRMB. com founder Matt Landau wrote in his newsletter on Thursday that he chose Hubspot as his email sender, adding that Hubspot allows him to “rewrite your chosen text, expand or summarize it, and even replace the tone to fit your brand. “”
Banks and credit card companies are entrenched in the travel sector and are indeed increasing their foothold.
In mid-December, Jason Wynn, head of JPMorgan Chase, told Skift that his company is on track to meet its goal of $10 billion in sales through 2023. He claims that Chase Travel is among the top five most sensible recreational service providers in the world. United States.
“I’m confident we’re going to grow and be successful by $15 billion by 2025,” Wynn said.
Credit card companies continue to roll out their own hotel collections, striking direct relationships with hotel brands to supplement the travel inventory they get from online travel agencies and global distribution systems. Credit card companies are expanding their airport lounge networks, as well.
Meanwhile, Capital One provided Inspirato with a $25 million convertible note in August. This follows Capital One’s $96 million investment in app-only online company Hopper in late 2022.
Following Airbnb’s decision in late 2022 to demonstrate full value (excluding tax) in initial U. S. directory filings, Airbnb has been unable to provide a full value (excluding taxes) in the U. S. In the U. S. , we said that value transparency in short-term rentals was going to catch fire.
It hasn’t gained momentum, some players have followed Airbnb’s lead. Still, if you visit websites like Evolve and Vacasa, you still may not see the full value when you first see the ad. Evolve notes that a rate of $300 per night is “before taxes and fees,” while Vacasa only shows an average rate per night.
Greater transparency in short-term rental payments, as well as in other industries like hotels and airlines, is most likely on the way, at least in the U. S. , as the Biden administration pushes for transparency in payments. This is transparency that pays off for years.
Among other developments, the Federal Trade Commission is readying a new rule to combat deceptive fees, and two California laws will mandate greater price transparency, too.
A limited number of pre-priced tickets are available for the occasion in New York City. We recommend that you purchase a priced ticket as soon as possible to ensure a seat and the most productive price imaginable.
January 9, 2024
January 11, 2024
Watch a broadcast of the January 9 event in New York City. Subscribers to Skift Research, Skift Pro, Daily Lodging Report, and Airline Weekly can sign up for free. Non-subscribers can sign up for $25. Register here.
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Tags: ai, airbnb, amazon, amazon internet services, amex, amex gbt, synthetic intelligence, capital one, hunt, events, evolving, generative ai, hopper, hubspot, india, inspirato, jp morgan hunt, no rates desired, megatrends, megatrends 2024, microsoft, mt2024, skift, trivago, vacasa
Photo credit: Co-working is important to some Gen Z travelers in an age of blended, or bleisure, travel and hybrid working. Selina La Fortuna in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, offers co-working. Selina runs the Remote Year program, too. Source: Selina.
The most important stories about destination management, marketing, and development from Skift’s editors and reporters.