Travel Innovation and Technology Trends: 2012 and Beyond

Summary

Most travel industry professionals cannot remember the last time there was a monumental change in the travel distribution system. The core flow of travel distribution – supplier to GDS to point of sale – has been structurally sound, withstanding (and even enabling) the advent of online travel agencies (OTAs), metasearch, and many other technology-fueled changes. Indeed, most industry pundits have been looking for the “next big thing.” It is unlikely, however, that there will ever be a “next big thing” – the travel distribution system will instead suffer “death by a thousand cuts.” The year 2012 is shaping up as the time where advances in technology will deliver a significant number of those cuts, setting the stage for a major but gradual reshaping of travel distribution.