Travel Megatrends 2021: Travel Sectors Get Scrambled and Definitions Blur
Nadia Sgaramella
Skift Take
Expect most travel sectors to shed their defined borders, with convergence running wild. But a handful of companies will choose to focus instead on their core services as an elixir for growth.
Looking back from 2025, we see that the pandemic catalyzed and sped up a sector convergence that had been simmering for years. Fierce competition from superapps like Grab, WeChat, Line, and Rappi fueled the cross-selling spurt.
Another factor: Making the most of marketing money. Many companies ran direct booking campaigns to optimize their marketing expenditures. So corporate investors pushed the brands to add more products and services, hoping to boost the average number of transactions per customer.
Asset-light businesses, such as hotel groups and online booking services, found the shift straightforward to make. Showcasing the trend, Accor entered the ski resort and operation business via acquisition with a deal it saw fitting into its Live Limit
