Travel Technology

The travel technology giant has bowed to investor and airline demands for a management team more focused on software solutions that help with the retailing, distribution, and fulfillment of travel as an end-to-end journey, not just siloed by function.

If there is a common thread throughout the in-destination journey today, it’s mobile. Even so, gaps exist in mobile usage between parts of the journey and the key players in each part. For those that are behind, it’s urgent to play catch-up.

From finding things to do, to making spontaneous bookings, and more, mobile has a role to play at each part of the in-destination journey. Travel brands that can add value to this mobile journey have a lot to gain.

Mobile has become a key component of the in-destination experience for U.S. travelers today. From finding things to do, to spontaneous bookings, mobile apps and websites have a role to play at each part of the in-destination journey. Travel brands that can find a meaningful place in this mobile journey have a lot to gain.

The hotel industry needs to catch up with the times when it comes to technology, and we're not just talking about cloud offerings and software-as-a-service technologies. The smart hotelier of today is investing in next generation tech capabilities such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, voice capabilities, virtual reality, robotics, and more, but all with the guest experience in mind.

Do hotels really need to be flagged under a big brand if online travel agencies are most effective at selling rooms? Hotelbeds' Joan Vila thinks hotel chains may be forced to wind down some brands that aren't succeeding in the marketplace.

The hotel tech stack of today should focus entirely on the customer journey and be arranged so that it provides guests a seamless experience. A hotel tech stack that is not integrated on the back-end will feel fragmented on the front-end.

Oracle Hospitality is the market leader in selling hotel tech software. But the company has made some missteps. It is adjusting course, and two weeks ago it appointed a new top boss, Greg Webb. The industry will watch his moves closely.

The global distribution systems are each pushing forward in their own unique way. By investing like technology companies in flexible distribution and payment technologies, they hope to provide a better value proposition to travel partners that are keen to cut out the middleman. Decades of bad blood between the two, however, still linger over the conversation.

Sabre has slimmed down over the last year and is investing in its airline and hospitality technology products. Find out more from CEO Sean Menke at the Skift Tech Forum on June 12 in Santa Clara, Calif.