Travel Tech Insider

Travel is one of the largest industries in the world, yet its economic significance is chronically underappreciated — by consumers, by policymakers, and even by the markets that price it. In the United States alone, domestic travel accounts for the vast majority of the industry’s GDP contribution — yet public discourse and government measurement almost exclusively focus on inbound international to...

Private equity is playing an increasingly visible — and influential — role across travel and hospitality. From platform rollups and carve-outs to growth equity investments in scaled travel tech, PE capital is reshaping who owns what, how companies grow, and what “success” looks like beyond venture-backed exits. This episode unpacks how private equity really works, how it differs from late-stage ve...

As we close out Season 3 of Travel Tech Insider , we’re stepping back to reflect on the conversations, debates, and signals that defined the past year—and to look ahead at what 2026 may have in store for travel, hospitality, and the technology shaping it all. We kick things off at the macro level, asking our guests to share one or two defining lessons from 2025. Those insights span far beyond any...

When we last visited the corporate travel side of the industry with OG Steve Singh about a year and a half ago, most of us were still kicking tires on ChatGPT and “agents” still referred to humans. Fast forward to today, and the implications of agentic AI are reaching into every nook and cranny of even the most slow-moving corners of the industry, like corporate travel. With travelers getting more...

The cruise industry has quietly become one of the most fascinating — and technologically advanced — corners of the travel sector. Once viewed as a niche for retirees and sun-seekers, it’s now riding a powerful wave of innovation, luxury, and digital transformation. From ultra-high-end yachts to fully connected smart ships, cruising has evolved into a microcosm of where travel is headed next. In th...

Fintech has quietly become one of the most transformative forces in the travel industry — shaping how we pay, how we earn and redeem loyalty, and increasingly, how companies manage global transactions behind the scenes. From B2B payment flows between hotels, OTAs, and suppliers to B2C innovation in digital wallets, loyalty currencies, and embedded finance, fintech is no longer just an enabler — it...

Show Notes Agentic AI is the latest buzzword in travel tech — but beyond the hype, it raises big questions about how travelers will discover, plan, and book their journeys. Will the power of agentic AI reinforce the dominance of OTAs like Expedia and Booking, or will it open the door for smaller travel brands to compete on equal footing? In this episode, we explore what agentic AI means for person...

Generative AI is not only impacting how travel is bought and sold as we heard in Part 1 of our AI Effect series, it’s also impacting how companies are building and delivering the travel services that are bought and sold. Companies used to stockpile servers, engineers and access to bandwidth, all of which required considerable capital. In this new AI era, anyone can use Replit or Lovable to spin up...

Generative AI has upended just about every part of the travel lifecycle for both buyers and sellers of travel services. From the consumer perspective, the resources available to inspire, research, plan, book and share your favorite trips have simultaneously expanded the possibilities for consideration and curated that consideration set to a handful of suggestions — all in a matter of seconds. From...

With all the debate over agentic AI and its impact on the traditional search ecosystem, we seem to have forgotten all about that other massive acquisition channel — social commerce. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, and other popular commuity sites around the globe all continue to garner a significant share of top-of-funnel attention and mid-funnel intent. This is acutely true for the G...

The vacation rental industry has transformed from a scrappy alternative to hotels into a global powerhouse—but is the model starting to strain under its own weight? In this episode, we explore how the ecosystem is evolving, and where fault lines are beginning to show. Can tech keep pace with rising guest expectations? Will hosts, managers, and platforms ever find equilibrium in their tug-of-war ov...

In this emerging AI era, what’s different this time when it comes to tech investing? We’ve seen major disruptions before, both business model (eg, internet > mobile > social > AI) and cultural/structural/economic (eg, ZIRP, gig workers, Covid, remote working, cloud computing). Prior eras followed a similar playbook: irrational exuberance leading to the trough of despair, followed by the e...

In our first two seasons we took a deep dive into the venture investing scenes in both the US and European markets, comparing and contrasting the startup trends, approaches to risk, and styles of investing that are taking hold. Now we shift our focus east, and take a look at the state of the APAC VC ecosystem. Given the multitude of different countries, cultures, and currencies the region encompas...

Wrapping up season two of the Travel Tech Insider podcast, we turn the tables on our favorite trade media voices to hear what they’re keeping an eye on for 2025. What are they most excited to cover? What under-the-radar trends do they think will have an outsized impact on the ways we plan, shop, book and experience travel? And how do they go about their day-to-day jobs in the media world, identify...

In part 1 of our exploration of M&A trends in the travel sector, we talked to the bankers and advisors who have a front row seat to the circus that is the M&A process. Given this is their job day-in and day-out, they have a deep understanding of the steps involved in buying or selling a business, can anticipate the gotcha’s and stumbling blocks, and are primed to help their customers avoid...

Dining out, room service, fine dining, continental breakfasts, a fancy cocktail, and food and drink in general have always been a part of the travel experience and hospitality offering. Today more than ever before Michelin Stars, hidden gems, street eats, food tours, cooking classes, Agriturismo, and gastropubs are the central aspirations of an enormous percentage of the traveling public. As we le...

We’ve spent a lot of time on the pod talking about startups, and now we’re going to shift gears to talk about the finish line, and what the climate is looking like for exits. The IPO market has been virtually non-existent the past couple years, and M&A activity (particularly for Big Tech) has been stagnant. That said, there is a ton of capital sitting on the sidelines, seemingly ready to jump...

The fintech sector has expanded massively beyond its origins as a way to modernize and connect the plumbing across the various segments of the financial services world. The intersection of fintech and travel — the “Financialization” of the travel sector — is leading to some incredibly interesting applications that help consumers find value and help merchants more efficiently serve those consumers....

It might be hard to tell at times, but we’re in the midst of a renaissance when it comes to the air travel experience. Everything from the aircraft we fly to the routes they take to the in-flight experience is getting a major redesign. The pandemic and subsequent Infrastructure Act provided the downtime and funds for our airports to get badly needed investment, enabling them to modernize their ope...

We’ve talked a lot on the pod about the mythical Connected Trip concept, and the vision for a unified travel experience across all the different touchpoint throughout the journey. One that is personalized and understands the context of the trip — is it for work or for fun, with family or solo, international or local — and what type of support we might need throughout the journey. One key foundatio...

Last season we took a deep dive into the venture investing scene here in the US, including the different approaches taken by corporate ventures teams and institutional funds, and the growth of new platforms like studios and accelerators. Now it’s Europe’s turn. We’ll take a look at the European venture scene and what investors are seeing on that side of the pond. Valuations, M&A activity, impl...

Ancillaries! It’s such a nebulous term for the travel industry that it’s incredibly hard to figure out exactly how big the market is — but we know it’s massive and getting bigger by the day. In some cases, what we refer to as ancillary products are actually the primary reason for the trip to begin with! Think Disney park tickets or the surfing lessons you booked for that major milestone birthday t...

Corporate travel has been ripe for disruption for quite some time, so why is it taking so long? Road warriors hate the tools they are compelled to use (and frequently bypass), travel managers hate the cat-and-mouse games they have to play to enforce policy on their employees and to police rates and configuration rules with their TMC partners. Suppliers hate the complexity involved in getting the r...

Following up from our Season 1 episode on the investor perspective in travel tech, we bring you the latest from the front lines of venture capital and corporate innovation. What, if anything, has changed for the ecosystem in the past year? Are we bullish or bearish on where the innovation market is heading for travel, hospitality and mobility? If you’re a startup in this space, how should you be t...

The season finale is here! Episode 10 wraps up with some special guests to help us check in on the latest goings-on among all the hot topics we covered in Season 1. Cliffhangers abound... What's next with NDC, loyalty program changes, regulatory trends, and all things AI? Luxury and Zillennials, venture capital funding (or lack thereof?) and the future of destination marketing are all looking...