travel tech insights

Think about the idea of ordering food at a restaurant. Diners usually have two options: full meals with
side dishes or a la carte, whereby customers can order individual items to create their own meal. Most restaurants offer both to increase the flexibility of their menu offerings and provide diners with the most options possible. This menu structure also allows restaurants to leverage more of their inventory of ingredients for overall sales, as well as create different pricing structures based on the availability and seasonality of ingredients like fruits and vegetables.

The same concept is true in today’s travel industry when it comes to how travel companies position ancillary services in a B2B platform and more widespread distribution network. Ancillary services can mean a variety of things such as meal supplements, city tours, spa and wellness services, entertainment opportunities, and other guided or curated activities. Just like how restaurants deploy different price points to sell items on the menu versus a la carte, travel companies have a variety of strategies to help facilitate these ancillary services and position them to customers at the right time to optimize overall bookings.

A friend of mine recently downloaded an app to his mobile phone that allows him to monitor and adjust the temperature of his house when he’s not home. The app allows him to alter and manage the temperature based on a number of factors such as the number of occupants in the home, the external temperature, the internal temperature, the time of day, and a number of other elements. No matter where my friend is in the world, he can manage his thermostat for greater efficiency, decreased energy costs, and an enhanced standard of living.

After talking with my friend about this app, it struck me how similar it is to the concept of advanced accommodation contract management in today’s global travel industry. With so many suppliers operating across the globe, the ability to manage contracts, availability, pricing, and special offers in order to ensure customers can access the most wide-ranging and accurate pool of potential bookings is a core driver for travel companies in leveraging greater transparency and agility.

Imagine you’re driving through a new city trying to find a specific destination - a restaurant, a bookstore,  etc. You’re using your GPS but the street names on the GPS don’t quite match the names on the street signs: Sate Street instead of State Street, Min Avenue rather than Main Avenue, and so on. You make your best guess to align the names on the GPS with the names on the street, but this ultimately results in confusion, frustration, and wasted time, and it’s not long before you’re completely lost in an unfamiliar place without the resources to get to your destination.

In the first entry of our series on the evolution of the travel industry since 2002, we looked at the traveler and how their needs, desires, tools, and buying behaviors have shifted during the last 14 years. We examined how advances in personal and industry technology have made it easier than ever for travelers to become an integral part of the travel industry rather than just observers watching from the sidelines.

Today’s entry, the second in our three-part series, will focus on the major industry players, their history, evolution, and impact on the global travel industry. The companies and organizations we’ve chosen to highlight have in one way or another made significant contributions to the growth and development of the industry and have left an important mark on how the travel industry operates today.

The beginning of the 21st Century was without a doubt an influential moment in the travel industry. With the rise in popularity of the internet, global, electronic delivery of services, products, and operational functions were becoming more and more the norm. GDS companies, OTAs, and other online-based suppliers and retailers began launching more customer-oriented services such as price comparison interfaces, digital trip planning tool, and electronic tickets and documentation to streamline processes and create more efficient, agile value chains.