9th October 2024: Here are some of the stories that caught our attention over the week with some of our takeaways.
ChatGPT Advanced Voice: The Future of Travel Booking or the End of OTAs?: ” After a history of false starts with Tellme, Alexa, and Siri, will ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode unlock the holy grail: booking a flight?” Platform Aeronaut wonders how much of an impact ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice will have on our current hotel and travel ecosystem.
It is a fascinating read and hypothesis as it challenges thinking on the current status quo – here are our takeaways:
- The article calls out how ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode can quickly provide tailored travel recommendations with the suggestion that AI is getting closer to handling complex travel bookings – and in turn pointing out that AI could potentially disrupt traditional online travel agencies (OTAs).
- Interestingly, the article suggests that AI could potentially access a significant portion of global hotel inventory through the Global Distribution System (GDS).
- The author believes that despite initial privacy concerns, consumers will likely adopt AI-driven travel booking due to its efficiency and convenience.
Looking at it from an industry standpoint, the road ahead may not be as straight forward!
- Given the current painpoints with GDS including fees and content quality, not sure the inventory sourcing from GDS works…
- Complexity of Hotel Inventory Management – Hotels use sophisticated (or messy depending on reality or point of view!) yield management systems with lots of room types, rate plans, and availability
- AI would need some kind of real-time integration with property management systems or central reservation system
- Direct bookings scenario and not sure how this would pan out given recommended sources of inventory.
- Corporate rates and loyalty programme discounts are not publicly available – how do they get access to closed user rates?
- What about payments, taxes, currency and legislative requirements?
Despite having an element of fantasy, it did make me wonder what can and will change in the near future…
Dharma and the Rise of Passion-Led Travel: “In the age of AI and automation, where algorithms increasingly dictate everything from our media consumption to our shopping habits, one thing remains clear: content is still king, especially in travel. Dharma is laser focused on humanizing the travel experience in a way that no algorithm can replicate.”
Travel Tech Essentialist believes that “the emergence of passion-led journeys, where the “why” behind travel matters more than the “where,” is fundamentally reshaping the tourism industry.”
While the article presents a compelling case for passion-led travel as a whole new segment (and would love to see it grow!), I am inclined to approach with caution for the following reasons:
- Not all travellers prioritise immersive, community-driven experiences, and many still prefer traditional destination-based tourism.
- There is an overreliance on influencer economy
- How the company studied Dharma or others that may follow will maintain the quality and uniqueness of experiences at scale. Maintaining the “one-of-one” nature of trips could become increasingly difficult as the company grows.
- As influencer-led experiences become inevitably more commercialised, how do companies in this space not lose authenticity that initially attracted travellers in the first place?
Another fascinating read and well worth watching this space…
Where are they now? Catching up with the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2020: “It’s been almost five years since PhocusWire named its Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2020. Since that time the industry has experienced a jump in AI technology and many mergers and acquisitions in travel around the world, which leaves these companies excited for the opportunities ahead and some even concerned.”
This summary is particularly interesting as these businesses were identified pre-pandemic as poised to grow in 2020. Unsurprisingly in 2024 almost all of them call out AI as the biggest opportunity and challenge.
The next place you’ll find Starlink tech isn’t a war zone — it’s your airplane seat: The Week reports that several major carriers, including United Airlines, Air France and others have begun implementing Starlink on their planes to allow passengers to access the internet in the skies. And unlike the majority of current airplane internet packages, these airlines are offering Starlink’s Wi-Fi capabilities for free. Opinions are clearly divided on whether it is the best thing to happen – and disturb the relative peace on a long distance flight, but is there a path to retreat?
HotelPlanner launches Membership Club: Alertify reports on a Hotelplanner announcement that “it will be launching a brand new membership service that will save busy travelers substantial amounts of time and money, and increase the pleasure of travel”
A few observations:
- The Classic membership at $5.99/month doesn’t seem to offer significant benefits beyond discounted rooms and a newsletter, which many not be much of a differentiator
- At $49.99/month or $500/year, the Premium membership is quite expensive. It’s questionable whether the benefits justify this cost for most travellers especially when eDreams Prime membership at about 55 euros appears to provide a whole lot more.
- It’s not clear if they’re targeting frequent business travellers (who often have these benefits through work or credit cards) or leisure travellers (who may not travel enough to justify the cost).
