EDITOR’S COMMENT


Innovation can take many forms, but it’s as much about the mindset as the money


Welcome to our latest Innovation Report looking at the UK travel technology sector, the fourth such analysis Travolution has carried out since 2011. Since we started producing this research


we have studied how travel companies grapple with the twin imperatives of innovation and investment in technology, and assessed how the two are related. What’s certain is that being innovative is


pretty challenging if you’ve got no budget. But, as you will read in this report,


innovation can mean different things to different people. Small start-ups, with tiny amounts of


seed funding, have to be innovative to get anywhere, but to survive and go on to achieve real scale, investment is vital. If you’re a travel agent, being innovative


might mean using technology to access new product streams, or taking your existing systems and making them work better and more efficiently. For operators, maybe


innovation is more about post-booking services, mobile and a more flexible approach to putting together packages. And for suppliers that own the


product – hotels, airlines, cruise lines, ferry operators and the like – enhancing the customer


“MAYBE IT’S JUSTABOUT


STRIVINGTO BE INNOVATIVE WHEREVERYOUCAN WITHIN THE LIMITATIONS YOU FACE”


experience throughout their journey might represent true innovation. But maybe it’s as much about a mindset to


strive to be innovative wherever you can within the limitations of your company or sector. The mainstream travel industry, which this


report focuses on, is beset by factors that hinder innovation, from legacy IT systems and regulations to budgets and skills. Which is why innovation in travel is often


associated with new entrants who come in from the outside, usually in new and as-yet unregulated areas – so maybe the comparison is unfair. What you can be sure of if you’re


reading this report at this year’s Travel Technology Show, where it launches, is


that the businesses around you support a £1 billion sector in the UK. Not all this money is being spent on patching up old systems that should have been put out to grass many years ago.


LEE HAYHURST EDITOR, TRAVOLUTION


TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK — FEBRUARY 2015 — 5


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