Skift Megatrends Debate: How Fast Will AI Disrupt Travel?
Photo Credit: Thomas Reiner of Altimeter (left) and Seth Borko of Skift-Research (right) faced off in a debate moderated by Sarah Kopit, Skift editor-in-chief, at the New York Megatrends event on Thursday. Skift
Skift Take
A VC and Skift research analyst agreed AI will transform travel distribution. They disagreed on timing — and on whether consumers will trust a machine with their most consequential purchases.
At the Skift Megatrends event in New York Thursday, Altimeter Capital Partner Thomas Reiner and Skift Head of Research Seth Borko squared off on how quickly artificial intelligence will reshape travel distribution.
They largely agreed on where the industry is headed. The disagreement was over how fast it gets there, and how the travel industry can capture value along the way.
The Future of Online Travel AgenciesReiner argued that online travel agencies face structural decline. Not death, but compression, pushed down the value stack as AI takes over discovery.
“The Yellow Pages were a business that were structurally and permanently impaired
