This year has been a fascinating one for a sector that, pre-April, was already billed as one of the most interesting in the industry.
The reputation until that point was built on there being lots of players involved (and no single overly dominant brand), a massively fragmented supply base, vastly different sets of opinion on the best strategies, and a vibrant startup scene around it.
And then, over the course of 24 hours, tours and activities got even more attention.
Back-to-back acquisitions of two reservation systems – FareHarbor in the U.S. by Booking Holdings and Iceland’s Bokun by TripAdvisor - were enough to trigger any range of reactions.
Luckily, Phocuswright Europe 2018 had already earmarked an executive roundtable even before two of the industry's heavyweights raised their hands with either a ramping up of their existing activity or a decision to (finally?) muscle in on the sector.
The panel at the event:
- Luuc Elzinga, CEO, Tiqets
- Eric Gnock Fah, Co-Founder, President and COO, Klook
- Tao Tao, Co-Founder & COO, GetYourGuide
The session with PhocusWire's Kevin May covers reaction and analysis to those deals, ambitions and strategies of those participating in the sector, and a lot more.
Executive roundtable: New activities in the destination sector