Travel Marketing Insights Newsletter for week 46 (11th November)
Welcome to this week’s edition, where we dive into the travel industry’s ‘leapfrog moment,’ explore the battle between AI and Google for search supremacy, and watch Expedia’s B2B arm outshine its B2C counterpart. It’s a wild ride of tech transformations, strategic maneuvers, and a few eyebrow-raising revelations. Buckle up as we explore how these shifts aren’t just reshaping the travel landscape—they’re reinventing the rulebook. Let’s get into it!
Last week PhocusWire published an interesting editorial named ‘Is the Travel Industry ready for its Technology “Leapfrog” moment?’ about the Tech readiness, or lack of, of our beloved industry:
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The “leapfrog moment” in the travel industry refers to the unique opportunity Tourism related enterprises have to bypass legacy systems and embrace advanced technology, building more seamless, digital-first customer experiences. Newer, tech-driven companies like The Annex, Kasa, and Spotnana are well-positioned to take this leap, having built their infrastructures from scratch to be cashless, touchless, and fully digital. Meanwhile, larger, established players are held back by “technology debt,” with outdated systems that resist quick replacement. This challenge is evident among traditional hotel chains and some legacy airlines, whose entrenched tech stacks limit flexibility. Yet, the article points out that some established brands are adapting by layering new software and using API integrations to bridge older infrastructures, showing that the leapfrog moment is within reach for those willing to innovate despite the obstacles.
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A NYT piece titled ‘Before the Election, Tech C.E.O.s Were Quietly Courting Trump’,
The New York Times piece highlighted how tech executives have shifted from avoiding Donald Trump during his first campaign to actively courting him in the latest election cycle.
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Recognizing Trump’s transactional style, leaders like Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sundar Pichai have been establishing direct communication, seeing potential benefits for their businesses by maintaining favorable ties. This strategic approach, which involves flattery and sharing grievances, is seen as an attempt to protect their companies from regulatory pressures and benefit from Trump’s skepticism toward strict tech oversight. Executives hope to influence key decisions, such as the replacement of FTC Chair Lina Khan, whose antitrust actions have been challenging for big tech. The underlying strategy reveals an industry now focused on relationship-building to safeguard and advance its interests.
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The FTC, under Lina Khan’s leadership, has made the big tech giants uncomfortable by aggressively pursuing antitrust cases and scrutinizing mergers and acquisitions. The Justice Department and FTC filed landmark lawsuits against Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet, particularly targeting Google’s monopoly status. These cases threaten major revenue streams, as seen with Google, where the FTC has challenged the company’s dominance in search and ad tech markets, viewing it as a monopolistic force.
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There was no shortage of articles this week about how Big Tech should benefit from Trump’s victory. Another one can be found here.
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PhocusWire published a new piece about the impact that AI-powered search might have on the Travel Discovery phase.
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The article “How AI-powered search might impact travel discovery” explores the transformative role of artificial intelligence in the travel industry’s search and discovery processes. It highlights how generative AI models, such as ChatGPT, are enabling users to conduct searches directly within AI platforms, potentially reducing reliance on traditional search engines like Google. This shift could significantly affect how travelers find and plan their trips, as AI-driven tools offer more personalized and efficient search experiences. The article also discusses the implications for travel marketers, who may need to adapt their strategies to align with these emerging AI technologies to effectively reach and engage their target audiences.
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A similar, shorter article, was published by Skift on the same lines: “Hello Google, ChatGPT Just Became a Travel Search Engine”
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This is actually a favorite topic of mine, and I’ve published several articles about this subject such as: “Single Source of Truth or how AI is Changing Travel Forever: Why Direct Suppliers Hold the Key to the Future” or “AI Agents and Advertising in Travel: Are We Just Repeating History?”
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ChatGPT-5 won’t be coming in 2025, but Sam Altman believes superintelligence could be achievable today.
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has clarified that ChatGPT-5 will not be released in 2025, dismissing recent rumors as “fake news” Despite this, Altman remains optimistic about achieving superintelligence with current hardware: Jang
He emphasized that while a new version isn’t imminent, OpenAI is focusing on significant updates to existing models TechRadar.
Altman also highlighted the potential for AI to perform tasks autonomously, indicating that this will be a major focus in 2025.
In a recent blog post, he suggested that superintelligent AI could emerge within the next decade, marking the dawn of the “Intelligence Age” Ars Technica.
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Expedia Group’s B2B revenue outpacing B2C, jumps 18% in Q3
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Expedia Group’s third-quarter financial results reveal a notable shift in revenue dynamics, with the B2B segment outpacing B2C growth. The company’s total Q3 revenue reached $4.1 billion, marking a 3% year-over-year increase. However, the B2B sector experienced a significant 19% rise, contributing $1.2 billion to the total revenue. This surge is attributed to strong partnerships with entities like the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Microsoft’s Bing Travel, which have integrated Expedia’s services into their platforms. CEO Ariane Gorin highlighted the B2B segment’s potential, noting that it accounted for 100 million room nights in 2023. In contrast, the B2C segment saw a modest 3% growth in gross bookings, though it has shown consistent improvement over consecutive quarters.
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And that’s all for this week. If you find it interesting, don’t forget to go over Medium and subscribe to receive it every week for FREE.
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