Travel Technology

Messaging tech is replacing existing forms of commerce in ways that stand to drive returns at levels the industry has seldom experienced before.

Download this free report from Skift and Checkmate to learn how travel brands can utilize messaging to create better customer experience and streamline operations.

Chat apps are no longer just for chat. Check out China's ubiquitous WeChat platform, which handles everything from bill payment to transportation reservations, for a sign of where the industry is headed.

We'll jump at the chance for automated expense reporting whenever we can and Microsoft's Cortana and Skype bots have potential to help travelers book trips. We just need to see whether travelers will trust bots as they've trusted their own booking capabilities in the past.

IBM is attempting to build a global business around its Watson cognitive computing platform, but there are significant challenges for many C-suite executives in travel and transportation to understand how to develop new strategies in the fast moving data and digital landscape.

Give Kayak credit for going where the users are and building a travel-search app on top of Slack. Is Slack the optimum way to plan a trip? Hardly. But there will be some users, who are chatting at the office in Slack all day, who could find it convenient. Messaging apps such as WhatsApp would be fertile ground as well.

With more people traveling abroad than ever before, travel brands are increasingly expected to provide international customers with a seamless digital experience. The ones taking the tech-first approach are winning the battle for loyalty and direct bookings.

Most travel brands have so far shied away from Snapchat for all the right reasons. Marketing efforts on the platform have a fuzzy return on investment and can be difficult to scale.

Items like film cameras and retro hotels are finding new life with travelers. Is it a blip on the radar, or a sign of a greater yearning for experiences that are less commoditized and more personal?

Earned content, or user-generated content is a new key player for travel marketers. Download Olapic's free strategy guide, "How Earned Content is Transforming the Travel Industry”, to learn more about this rising marketing trend.