Respected and unofficial tech industry bellwether Mary Meeker from KPCB recently released her 20th Internet Trends Report.
Tnooz covered it here, but I haven't another take on some of its findings.
NB: This is a guest article by Valentin Dombrovsky, head of market relations for Excursiopedia.
Since the first report in 1995, we have seen some major shifts in our day-to-day lives as a result of online technologies.
The travel industry has been involved in the technology revolution from the very beginning and it is interesting to evaluate some of the trends that might influence its future.
Here, I’ll try to cover some of the most important trends which will define different aspects of online travel industry in near future.
Mobile advertising grows stronger and becomes more diverse in formats
The internet revolution began in the 1990s, while the mobile revolution started in the second half of 2000s. Users were quick to adopt smartphones and tablets, but advertisement formats remained mobile-unfriendly for quite a long time.
Today we see global platforms such as see Twitter, Facebook and Google making the most of the mobile channel and trying to bring more “native” and seamless buying (or booking) experiences.
This means that we will see more mobile bookings as buying on the smartphone will become easier. Mobile could become the main channel not only for last-minute bookings but also for travel in general.
Messengers become global platforms too
Mobile messengers are on the rise - six of top-10 most used apps globally are mobile messengers. A younger audience is emerging which prefers this option over Facebook and Twitter.
Being able to get huge audiences, mobile messengers are now thinking about monetizing, and they are turning to “mobile native” formats from the very beginning.
To illustrate this look at the range of services on offer from three big players in Asia.
Wechat added a flight booking service to its platform about a year ago and we’ll definitely see more travel related features in messengers soon.
Messaging and application notifications are another communication channel that should feature in the marketing mix.
User-generated content turns into big data
It’s no surprise that Airbnb is highlighted in the report to show the growing role of user-generated content and reviews.
During the past 12 months 14 million reviews have appeared on this site.
The online travel industry knows the value of user-generated content and reviews more than most. Tripadvisor's shift towards selling hotels was made possible by its power as a hotel review site, and now it is getting into reviewing other verticals - flight reviews are now an emerging trend.
Looking ahead, how will travel companies work with reviews? Reviews reveal a lot about a traveler's preferences, social connections and interests.
Personalization based on insights from this data is the next step to providing better travel experiences.
Users look for “right here, right now” booking
Mobile is a word that not only describes how we access the internet, it’s how we live our lives. People are become more mobile and book many services “on the go”.
In this case, fast service delivery or instant booking becomes more and more important and travel already holds its own compared with other verticals.
Location-driven instant booking apps will continue to gain traction. And we should also expect more APIs (such as the one introduced by Uber) that will enable inter-app connectivity and more seamless experience.
Sharing economy brings new opportunities and broadens horizons
Meeker notices two internet trends that are directly connected to the sharing economy.
The online travel industry should be proud for having two companies - Airbnb and Uber - that are seen as sharing economy flagships.
The sharing economy enables more and more people to be involved in providing a services or selling goods. It stimulates economic growth in general.
The sharing economy is also bringing about a change in the relationship between business and government too.
Airbnb or Uber must meet the local regulations in each country where they operate, becoming the drivers of change to these regulations .
Brian Chesky, co-founded and CEO of Airbnb said many of the regulations it faces "feel a bit outdated...They are really 20th-century laws, and we're in a 21st century economy".
A global change is coming about because three startup cofounders were looking for a way to pay their rent.
And according to the internet trends report, we are to see more amazing twists and turns in the future.
NB: This is a guest article by Valentin Dombrovsky, head of market relations for Excursiopedia.
NB2: Travellers beach mobile image by Shutterstock.