19th March 2025: Here are few of the stories that caught our attention over the week with some of our takeaways.
American Express Travel 2025 Global Travel Trends Report: This year’s Global Travel Trends Report focuses on the motivations behind why people – especially Millennial and Gen Z behaviours and attitudes – are travelling and how that shapes the future of travel.
Some of the more interesting highlights (for me at least!) from a relevant but otherwise bland report are
- The significant role of children in planning family vacations for Millennial and Gen Z parents: A notable 68% of Millennial and Gen Z parents surveyed report that their children typically help inform aspects of trips. This contrasts with 56% of Gen X and Baby Boomer parents surveyed. Not entirely surprising but still worth noting!
- The willingness of Millennial and Gen Z parents to take children out of school for off-season travel: An impressive 72% of Millennial and Gen Z parents surveyed are willing to take their children out of school to travel as a family during the off-season. This potential shift in priorities regarding education and travel surely is a post covid thing?
- The explicit intention of Millennials and Gen Z to travel for specific handmade or authentic goods: More than half of Millennials and Gen Z surveyed intentionally travel to a destination to find high-quality items that are handmade and authentic to the destination they are visiting. Really? This level of intentionality around souvenir shopping, going beyond traditional options, does seem rather odd…
- The strong association of mindful shopping with great trips across all generations: While the focus on local and authentic goods is prominent among younger generations, 73% of global respondents believe it is important to support local small businesses while visiting a new destination. I’d love to see more of this!
Wyndham looks to Katanox to save distribution and payment costs: Phocuswire reports that the company, which has more than 9,000 properties under franchise, is working with Katanox to drive cost savings and operational efficiencies as well as better control for franchisees with the technology.
Having been involved personally with Wyndham and Katanox, planning this with Vikram and the wider team in the early stages, I am delighted to see that the partnership is coming to fruition. I’m all for the disruption and cost savings that this brings.
Phishing campaign impersonates Booking .com, delivers a suite of credential-stealing malware: Microsoft reports that Microsoft Threat Intelligence identified a phishing campaign that impersonates Booking.com and targets organisations in the hospitality industry. The campaign uses a social engineering technique called ClickFix to deliver multiple credential-stealing malware in order to conduct financial fraud and theft. As of February 2025, this campaign is ongoing.
Well worth reading as it could potentially save you as a traveller or even more importantly as a hotelier a LOT of aggravation and lost income.
The Evolution of SEO in 2025: What Hotel Marketers Need to Know: Callum McPherson, CEO of Obvlo writes that “search engine optimisation (SEO) has undergone a dramatic transformation that’s reshaping how hotels connect with potential guests online and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a whole new playing field.
If you’ve noticed your hotel’s website traffic declining despite maintaining good keyword rankings, you’re not alone. The way travellers find and book accommodation has fundamentally changed, and unless you adapt your strategy now, your direct bookings may suffer.
Can you ignore the new reality of search results?
Callum writes that what once displayed a straightforward list of websites now presents a much more complex and crowded landscape:
- AI-generated answers that directly respond to traveler questions
- Video content showcasing properties and destinations
- Reddit threads and forum discussions about travel experiences
- “People also ask” sections that redirect attention
- Social media posts and user-generated content
The blog post offers some great advice starting with prioritising “Clarity Over Cleverness on Your Website”
EU’s Entry-Exit System Set for October Rollout: Business Travel News reports that the EU’s long-delayed electronic border control system is now expected to become operational in October 2025, however the rollout will take place over a six-month period.