xpedia’s 17th partner conference, marking the OTA’s 20th year. Lee Hayhurst reports
Travel expected to outpace 2017 economic growth
Travel sector growth globally is expected to continue to outpace economic growth, Expedia chief financial officer Mark Okerstrom told the partner conference.
He said there were high hopes
at the beginning of 2016, but by mid-February the world was back in “economic recovery mode”. Global gross domestic product
will end the year up 3%. Travel, in contrast, is up 5%, he said. “Travel continues to grow a
couple of hundred basis points faster than GDP,” he added. “The economies of the world
are globalising, people are getting more wealthy and there are emerging middles classes in India, Brazil and China. “There is this insatiable curiosity with people and one of the first things they want to do when they have more money in their pocket is travel.”
Okerstrom said growth in the
penetration of online travel was also tracking faster than growth in the overall sector. Despite Expedia’s size, it accounts for just 5% of the $1.4 trillion global travel market, said Okerstrom, although he said it was growing at six times the rate of the industry overall. Looking ahead to 2017,
Okerstrom forecast the travel sector will grow by 5% globally. “People are going to be a little bit better from an economic perspective,” he said. But he added: “I will be honest with you: no one has any idea
“Travel continues to grow a couple of hundred basis points faster than GDP”
OKERSTROM: The world is now in ‘economic recovery mode’
what will happen with a Trump presidency.” Okerstrom highlighted the
impact of the other major political shock of 2016 – the UK’s vote to leave the European Union in June. He said this had caused the UK
outbound and inbound markets, which traditionally track each other, to “unhinge” as Britain “went on sale” and inbound markets spiked. However, Okerstrom said:
“We continue to be optimistic, definitely in the short-term. If you look out further towards the horizon, I would say we are even more optimistic.”
Diller urges travel firms to embrace voice technology
Expedia chairman Barry Diller predicted voice technology would be “as big as the iPhone” in how it changes consumer habits.
Diller is also chairman of IAC,
DILLER: ‘Voice will be the next technology frontier’
which bought Expedia in 2001 before spinning it off in 2005. He said: “Voice technology is in its infancy, but I think it’s going to power so much activity. “It’s both an opportunity and a danger in that it will be another
disintermediation factor. Voice, I believe, will be the next technology frontier.” Diller urged firms of all sizes
to experiment now with voice before it is too late. “There will be plenty of winners. Creative disruption happens when things change – as some things get destroyed, new things are created. As a consumer, voice technology is an extraordinary development.”
Expedia.com head predicts explosion
for virtual reality Voice-activated internet and virtual reality could be set for the sort of explosive change seen in mobile, according to the Brand Expedia Group president. Demonstrating the latest virtual
reality technology, Aman Bhutani, said a move away from screen interfaces, with innovations such as Google Siri and Amazon Alexa voice search, pointed to a “hands-free” search and travel booking future. Bhutani said it won’t be long
before everyone can turn their living room into a virtual reality set. “Within five years we will see a huge amount of voice. Because of our ability to understand natural language, it’s going to grow exponentially,” he said. Bhutani said technology often goes through gradual growth before a sudden spurt, but Expedia plans to invest before that happens. “Not every technology will go
down the sudden path, but if it does, it’s going to go very quickly and by that time it’s too late. “Although we do not know
which technology is going to win, our commitment, as part of travel’s ecosystem, is to bring you the very best technology.”
BHUTANI: Committed to ‘bringing you the very best technology’
15 December 2016
travelweekly.co.uk 71
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
