Thought Leadership

Opinion / Online

How hotels can use top-of-funnel data to capture recovering demand

By Gino Engels - OTA Insight | November 10, 2020

To gain more visibility into future demand, hoteliers are transitioning from using historical data to analyzing new, top‐of‐funnel data sets with deeper insights into traveler intent. Read More

Opinion / Distribution

Five ways airline loyalty might look different in 2021

By Mark Ross-Smith | November 4, 2020

Given the industry-destroying events of 2020, what will airline loyalty programs look like 12 months from now? Read More

Opinion / Distribution

A reset in hotel bookings is happening right now

By Mike Ford - SiteMinder | November 4, 2020

The hotel booking cycle generally goes through five key stages until it resets into a different normal. Here's what to know. Read More

Opinion / Online

How attractions can (safely) boost group sales

By Noreen Henry - Sojern | November 2, 2020

While it’s easy to let digital marketing fall by the wayside when last-minute bookers come to call, online marketing is the best way to score direct, advance, online bookings. Read More

Opinion / Technology

How the coronavirus gave QR codes a major role in travel

By Sooho Choi - Publicis Sapient | October 28, 2020

QR codes hold even more potential as they have become an essential and welcomed tool for travel and hospitality brands, in particular, helping the industry get back on its feet in the face of adversity. Read More

Opinion / Online

In the age of remote work, hotels serve a new purpose

By Lennert de Jong and Ernest Lee - CitizenM | October 26, 2020

COVID-19 has spawned a work-from-anywhere movement. Here's how hotels can capitalize. Read More

Opinion / Online

Travel brands eager for a hit on Google might be disappointed

By Robert Cole - RockCheetah and Phocuswright | October 22, 2020

Travel industry expert and analyst Robert Cole dives into the antitrust probe into Google and finds there is little there that will appease concerns in the travel industry. Read More

Opinion / Technology

Big Tech is eyeing the travel industry again with autonomous vehicle push

By Alex Bainbridge - Autoura | October 20, 2020

If the OTAs don't get involved now, tourist ground transportation and vehicle-based sightseeing will be handed over to Big Tech and it won't ever come back to the OTA's collective sphere of influence on... Read More

Opinion / Technology

Imagine there’s no COVID-19 slamming the travel industry - it isn’t hard to do

By Gavin Smith - Element | October 12, 2020

There are four key areas to focus on as the travel industry navigates its way through this mid-pandemic period: revenue, organization, operations and technology. Read More

Opinion / Technology

Data - the old answer to new questions in travel

By David Thompson - Amex GBT | October 7, 2020

We know things will be different from now on. For each trip, questions about health risks are multiplying and restrictions come and go quickly. But how will the industry adapt? Read More

Opinion / Distribution

For hotels, COVID-19 has created an operational "perfect storm"

By Katherine Grass - Optii | October 2, 2020

On top of the basic need to have the right amount of staff in place for a highly unpredictable amount and type of guests, hotels also have to process systemic change in the way their operations run to... Read More

Opinion / Online

How travel marketers can reboot and find their audiences

By Mike Skladony - Semcasting | September 25, 2020

In order to figure out who’s in the market to travel at this moment and where they’re likely to go, marketers will have to shift focus to the top of the funnel, where audience development capabilities... Read More

Opinion / Distribution

The risks and rewards of gamification in business travel

By Allison Ponchak - American Express GBT | September 23, 2020

For many travel managers, gamification has been a successful tool; however, in these uncertain times, they should reevaluate existing gamification programs for potential risk and to ensure they align... Read More

Opinion / Online

Reevaluating travel risk through the lens of equality, diversity and inclusion

By Rhiannon Parker - Intertek Cristal | September 22, 2020

Notably missing from the dialogue around diversity and inclusion in the travel industry is critically evaluating the way we manage travel-related risk and the lens through which it has traditionally... Read More