TRACKING THE TRENDS An overview from the


Travolution Advisory Board


For more than a year, our raft of industry experts have worked behind the scenes to ensure Travolution continues to cater to the needs of our intersection of hospitality and travel. As the end of 2024 nears, the board share their insights on how they see things going


CHAIR:


ANDY OWEN JONES, MD AND CO-FOUNDER, SMARTSEER


DEPUTY CHAIR: CHARLOTTE LAMP DAVIES, FOUNDER, A BRIGHT APPROACH TIMOTHY HUGHES


VICE-PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT, AGODA


What will emerge in 2025 on the ‘Slope of Enlightenment’


[the term coined by American ŃíʼníËŃåĈ ƗŃğ 8ËŃŏĠíŃǙǪ ũĈíŃí


we’ll see more instances of a new ŏíåĈĠĥěĥĂůǠʼn äíĠíƗŏʼnǯ RĥĥęĊĠĂ ahead, in travel I expect to see:


O Digital twins and the metaverse to come back, probably ũĊŏĈ ğĥŃí ĂËğĊƗåËŏĊĥĠǫ


O Smart contracts and blockchain


ũĊěě ĈËŨí ŏĈí ƗŃʼnŏ ʼnåËěËäěí ʼnĥěœŏĊĥĠʼnǫ O Explainable AI will start to join predictive analytics making serious contributions.


O Generative AI will disenchant as it goes through the ‘Trough of


Disillusionment’ (Gartner again), but background-building will continue. Amadeus and Travelsoft will keep


buying up companies. Airline holiday companies will get much bigger.


2024 is set to be a transformative year for the travel industry, marked


by a surge in investments in AI-driven companies and a strong focus on sustainability. With heightened environmental awareness, we’re seeing innovative solutions such


as carbon offset programmes and greener transportation methods taking precedence and being included in the conversation with renewed interest. This shift


towards sustainable travel is being championed globally, particularly ĊĠ #œŃĥŁíǫ ëëĊŏĊĥĠËěěůǪ ŏĈí ĊĠƘœŮ of investment in AI technologies is revolutionising the sector,


enhancing customer experiences and ĥŁíŃËŏĊĥĠËě íāƗåĊíĠåĊíʼnǫ TĥĂíŏĈíŃǪ these trends are shaping a more sustainable and technologically advanced future for travel.


Expectations are high for 2025, íʼnŁíåĊËěěů ĈíŃí ĊĠ ʼnĊËǐxËåĊƗå (Apac). They should be. Demand is


strong, but recovery is still a word in Apac. We have growth and demand surges in many areas, but others


(for example, China outbound and international air capacity) are not the same as they were. This gives us


the excitement of continuing to catch the demand growth of Apac, but also the determination and need to build


tech and tools to manage all that has changed. For start-ups this means revelling in the demand of Apac


and in the capacity of generative AI developer tools to expand your tech


output to catch that demand. Equally, ground your work in the customer need you are trying to solve and


build resilience in your organisation for the next shock to come.


20 — OCTOBER 2024 — TRAVOLUTION.COM


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