Travel Tech Insider

This week we continue our deep dive into what we know so far about AI, and how it’s being used, being disruptive, being overestimated and perhaps underestimated across the travel ecosystem. In our last episode we spoke to two startup founders who have incorporated AI into their applications to get the perspective of the early-stage company and how AI is changing the landscape for these new players...

It’s been a little over a year now since ChatGPT burst on the scene like a cannonball into a pool, soaking us all. The initial waves have settled down, giving us a chance to see what kind of ideas and applications are making the best use of this fascinating technology. And while AI isn’t exactly new, the democratized access to it that ChatGPT introduced means virtually anyone can make use of large...

The way we travel has evolved pretty dramatically since the pandemic. The traditional “Dream/Plan/Book/Go/Share/Repeat” lifecycle has essentially been replatformed as a result of macro trends like the shift to remote work, multiple rounds of stimmie checks, a growing loneliness epidemic, and an acute appreciation for authenticity and sustainability in the travel brands we engage with. We have more...

The loyalty program as we know it was pioneered by American Airlines over 30 years ago. A lot has changed since then. As travel has become commoditized in many areas, suppliers and retailers have become more innovative and creative about attracting, retaining, and rewarding customers. While customers have become savvier about maximizing and sometimes even gaming the system. The premium credit card...

To paraphrase Lenin (Vladimir, not John), “there are decades where nothing happens, and then there is NDC”. For those of us who have worked in travel tech for more than a few years, it may feel like decades are suddenly happening in months, if not weeks. And it’s not just technology innovations like NDC and AI that are shaking things up. The pandemic gave many companies breathing room to experimen...

The luxury travel segment has always been about high-touch service and premium experiences. In a rapidly changing post-pandemic world where AI turns the service model upside down, over-the-top experiences collide with sustainability concerns, and a renewed appreciation for authentic engagement fosters an even more fragmented landscape of travel providers, what does that mean for the luxury market?...

When it comes to sexy startup ideas, the travel sector usually ranks at the head of the class. Nearly everyone travels, and thus can relate to the pain points that stem from the challenges inherent in an industry driven by legacy tech platforms, fragmented data, and unsophisticated business models. It’s an industry desperate for disruption. Even so, travel startups tend to get the side-eye from mo...

Destination marketing is one of the biggest forces powering the travel industry that we rarely talk about. It’s the Goliath economic influencer hiding in plain sight, using its invisible hand to directly and indirectly guide the way we think about where to travel, how to travel, and what we do once when we get there. And it’s an industry in tremendous flux: Covid, “revenge travel”, rising interest...

Guest Mark Farrell joins the pod to talk about balancing the need for innovation against the need for regulatory guardrails to keep us safe and ensure fair competition. Mark is uniquely qualified to weigh in on this topic given his role as Managing Director at Thayer Ventures , a leading VC firm focused on the travel, transportation and hospitality sector, and his prior experience in government as...