Technology

So much has happened in the the travel industry in recent years. This new report by Skift Research puts perspective on those dizzying changes by providing definitive and data-driven insight into the current state of the travel industry, and the trends that will shape the future.

Lines between hotels, short-term rentals and other accommodation types are blurring, but we see little merging in the business-to-business tech spaces that support these sectors. This will change, but there are some major barriers to overcome first.

Understanding the customer is becoming increasingly important to hoteliers, and CRM systems can help capture guest data and automate interactions to improve guest conversion and retention. For now, however, CRM remains a tool mainly used by larger hotels.

Sophisticated revenue management systems will undoubtedly become more commonplace in the hotel industry, but today still only a small minority of hotels use them. There is a lot of room left for growth, innovation, and disruption.

This is the most complete vendor landscape and market sizing for the hotel property management system sector. With annual revenues of $4.5 billion, this is the largest hotel tech category, but it is also extremely fragmented. There is a lot to fight for.

Most hoteliers would rather not think about their payment tech, as long as it works. But payment habits are changing, and so is payment tech. Hoteliers - and hotel tech vendors and investors - will want to be on top of these changes, especially now that revenues are suppressed.

Hotel tech tends to be characterized by piecemeal solutions by a myriad of tech vendors, all offering a few pieces of the puzzle. Hotel distribution tech is no different. Hoteliers end up working with many tech vendors to understand demand, set the right rates, and get their rooms on the right channels. Here we provide some clarity on key issues and the vendor landscape.

All the contactless tech that is receiving so much buzz in the hotel industry today pre-dates the current crisis. So it might not be revolutionary tech, but the impact on guest experience and engagement will certainly outlast the pandemic.

Nearly 90% of travel marketers have slashed their marketing budgets due to COVID-19. With restrained resources and changing mandates, how can travel CMOs and their teams navigate through the crisis stronger? We delve into these crucial questions for answers.

There are so many technologies that can and will impact the travel industry, but it is hard to poke through all the hype and see what will fundamentally change the future of travel. Here are four technology buckets with the largest potential.

Legacy PMS vendors have for too long reaped the rewards without truly pushing the boundaries of what they could offer hoteliers. Now technology has passed them by, and they are playing catch-up. Cloud computing, open APIs, marketplaces, and middleware layers are shaking up this stale corner of hotel tech, and it’s crazy exciting.

Millennials have been in the travel industry’s spotlight for years already, yet they still remain somewhat of a mystery. As they continue to gain spending power, their successor generation, Gen Z, is hot on their heels. Thinking about these generational cohorts as a global collective however, risks painting the picture with too broad a brush.