Saniya Zanpure

With a growing share of hotel bookings made online, many hoteliers are reliant on third-party travel websites for booking volumes, and global visibility. Booking engines, website builders, and direct-booking tools can help these hotels find a better balance between first- and third-party bookings.

The Asia Pacific region, aided by the re-opening of China and the Lunar New Year is on the path to rapid recovery. While China gets ready to travel again, the global tourism industry needs to catch-up with the growing demand.

The vast majority of hoteliers still rely on manual checklists, Excel workbooks, and phone calls for managing staff operations. However, if tech vendors can convince hoteliers to adapt, a new tech category has the potential to generate $1.3 billion annually.

Although not fully recovered, the travel industry gained substantial momentum at the start of the year. All regions have almost recovered from the pandemic blues, Asia Pacific being the only exception. With loosening travel restrictions and China reopening, we expect a stronger travel industry to be less uneven this year.

The explosive popularity of online guest reviews on numerous review platforms has made it imperative for hotels to adopt reputation and review management software to be able to manage their public perception and benchmark guest satisfaction. This tech category has observed growth in the last decade and has the potential to generate $1.3 billion in annual revenues.

Guest-facing tech has gained popularity over the last few years, especially due to its contactless capabilities. While there is a lot of investment in this landscape and growing interest from hoteliers and guests, it is still largely in its infancy with a lot of potential to grow.

Last update: March 2025