Many emerging travel start-ups will utilize the tech trends covered in this piece from John Bray. In future posts, I hope to capture and elaborate on which new companies are picking up on which key trends. By the way, I took the liberty of editing it down, so click to
IAG or
PCW for the entire piece.
SIX TRAVEL TECH TRENDS FOR 2006Sources: I grabbed this off
IAGportal. Original write-up was distributed to the media at the ITB Berlin 2006 Press Conference.
By: John Bray, Cathy Schetzina and Susan Steinbrink (PhoCusWright)
2006 is already shaping up to be a productive year for travel technology. RSS feeds are popping up, venture capital is flowing in, IT departments are seeing projects large and small come to fruition ... and launching new ones. As anyone who has tried in the past to predict when mobile will really take off knows - it isn’t always easy to anticipate just when a public-facing technology will reach the much-discussed tipping point. Some technology trends develop at a steady - and predictable - pace, while others are hyped to near-extinction before they flourish. PhoCusWright analysts see several technology trends - some visible, some behind-the scenes - being important in 2006. Here are six trends to watch in the coming year.
1. ELECTRONIC SNACKING
The consumer has developed an insatiable appetite for news, media and music tracks. To accommodate this, technology will play an even greater role “behind the scenes” in travel e-commerce by encouraging repeat and just-in-time purchases. More products are conforming to consumers’ need for quick “sound bytes” of information, pricing and travel options prior to, during and post travel. For both leisure and corporate travel, its delivery will be driven by technologies that enable consumers to receive travel information and services off the browser. RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which permits users to subscribe to their choice of content sources across the Web, will continue to spread across the industry and gain traction as more consumers become aware of its potential.
2. THE WEB GETS SOCIAL; TRAVEL MINGLES
Social technologies are the talk of the technorati, with blogs, bookmarks and tag clouds popping up across the net. As the Web has grown larger, users have discovered that sorting the net is a lot more productive with a little direction. Social networking makes it possible for people to share information about personal experiences, recommended sites and interesting content. For people planning travel, the ability to tap the experiences and advice of a Iarge network of people could be invaluable - and when those recommendations have already been filtered based on shared interests, perhaps shared friends, the results will be impressive. “Travel-related social networking tools will be hot on travel Web sites this year - and companies will take a close look at how tagging might be used as a differentiator in the hotel realm and in building excitement over travel experience planning. Look for a few social related travel startups as well in the coming year.
3. THE THREE D’S - DASHBOARDS, DATA MINING AND DATING: POWER SHIFT TOWARD CONSUMERS
This trend is about leveraging past trip patterns, traveller behaviors and trend data to predict future opportunities for savings (corporate through dashboards) and inspire relevant travel purchases (consumer through data mining). It is about anticipating what information travelers, travel managers or procurement decision makers want to have at their fingertips, what a firm could/should do next to better serve them and delivering on these needs. And, all three are required to strengthen a firm’s brand affinity with prospective and current customers and cultivate “customer stickiness.” The challenges for travel companies lie in 1) effectively integrating and utilizing data mining technology, 2) embracing social technologies in a timely manner and 3) reconciling the need to relinquish control and discard outdated models with the ultimate goal of building brand. Technologists have the opportunity in 2006 to help their organizations establish a plan for bringing all of the pieces together: dovetailing social and data mining tools to forge a new type of relationship with consumers and enabling novel ways of owning brand within an increasingly consumer operated Web.
4. ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Cambridge, Mass.-based ITA Software Inc. and Chicago, Ill.-based G2 Switch Works Corp. spent 2005 promoting their alternative distribution systems and refining their agent desktops. The GDSs could be on the losing end. Although the leak will be minor at first, ITA, G2 and others will make progress in building out to suppliers and begin to position themselves to optimize their market-share capture. ITA’s $ 100 million influx of capital - whether it’s largely earmarked for alternative distribution efforts or not - will further infuse confidence in the company and keep the subject of alternative distribution a viable one.
5. RICH MEDIA
Rich media has the potential to be a powerful tool and travel companies will begin to capitalize on it, With broadband penetration on the rise, rich media not only has the potential to differentiate hotel rooms, but enables companies to leverage sound, animation, real-time video and interactive maps to help consumers to visualize the travel experience.
6. X MARKS THE SPOT
Mapping technology has received a great deal of attention in the travel space of late, as more travel companies incorporate interactive maps into their Web sites and mapping APIs inspire technology enthusiasts to create their own custom maps.
