The travel industry is entering a new age with the onset of artificial intelligence (AI)—and it’s likely to be more transformative than the early days of the internet.
“I never thought that I would live in another macro disruption like AI—I thought that the internet was going to be the biggest disruption in my life or generation, and all of the sudden, there comes an even bigger one,” Mauricio Prieto, co-founder and former chief marketing officer of eDreams, said during a session at Phocuswright Europe.
According to Prieto and fellow industry veteran Gillian Tans, former CEO of Booking.com, while there has been ample change since they started their careers in online travel—from the internet to the digitization of content to broadband to mobile—some things remain unchanged.
“Consumers are still looking for trust, they’re still looking for seamless experiences, they still look for the best experiences to create memories of a lifetime—so you see a lot is still the same—but if you think about how customers are doing, that has changed a lot,” Tans said.
Prieto emphasized trust.
“Sometimes, we get a little bit too distracted with the trends and with things that are moving and where things are going, when I think it’s a lot more durable to think about what hasn't changed, what will never change—and what will never change in an industry like ours is things like trust. That’s the ultimate currency,” he said.
According to Prieto, there’s also risk associated with becoming “too digital.” Creating a bit of friction helps build a bigger moat, he said, using Amazon's competitive advantage with trucks, infrastructure and logistics as an example.
“They have a very defensible moat, as opposed to somebody who would be completely digital—and all a sudden, there’s a new tool around that could replace them. It’s very difficult to replace the extremely complex infrastructure that an Amazon has,” Prieto said.
“We need to understand what friction is not needed, what friction is actually adding loyalty and trust to the system and not get too overly obsessed [with] digitalizing everything.”
Tans and Prieto also shared their thoughts on coaching, paying it forward and the power of entrepreneurship.
Watch the full conversation with Chris Hemmeter, managing partner of Thayer Investment Partners, below:
Executive Exchange: Reflections and Projections from Online Travel Pioneers