Travel industry folk are always interested in career moves but few attract as much attention as the departure of Expedia Group chief technology officer Rathi Murthy in May. Little was said at the time except that it was for a "violation of company policy" and yet it was PhocusWire's most popular story of 2024.
This was not the only time Expedia made our headlines with the company, in some way, accounting for three of our top stories in 2024, not least for the billions it invests in online marketing.
The sudden nature of the CTO's departure was almost matched by the sudden demise of European tour operator FTI Group in early June. The company, one of the largest and most longstanding in Europe, filed for insolvency just weeks after an agreement had been reached for Certares to invest €125 million in the group.
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The year was also marked by increased merger and acquisition activity especially in the corporate travel space and interesting moves in the tours and activities segment, especially from Airbnb.
We hope you’ll enjoy reviewing the 10 stories that captured the most attention with readers over the past 12 months. And check out our 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 lists for a quick refresh on the travel tech stories that garnered the most interest in those years.
From 2024, in reverse order …
10. As Gorin debuts as CEO, Expedia Group launches new AI assistant, content creator shops
As one of the first to experiment with generative AI in early 2023 with a ChatGPT plugin, Expedia Group soon followed up with integration of the large language model into its app.
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Then at its Explore event in May, the company announced its latest iteration - an AI assistant called Romie which aims to help travelers with research, booking and in-trip services.
9. Amex GBT acquiring CWT $570M deal
While there have been a number of M&A deals in corporate travel in 2024, this size of this one quickly became the subject of many conversations in the space.
And, while the deal was initially slated to close in the second half of the year, it has hit regulatory challenges in the United Kingdom and is now delayed until the first quarter of 2025.
8. Southwest Airlines' CIO on plans for its $1.7B technology investment
The demands on an airline's technology budget are great so what may seem like a huge sum can be eaten up relatively quickly. Southwest's SVP of technology CIO Lauren Woods explained how the budget is committed.
Woods also spoke about how the airline has accelerated its system modernization since it suffered severe weather disruptions in late 2022.
7. Online travel giants set new record for marketing spend in '23
Airbnb, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and Trip.com Group spent a colossal $16.8 billion on sales and marketing in 2023, up 20% from slightly more than $14 billion in 2022.
The spend is a clear sign of the fierce competition these companies are facing as they vie for consumer attention and as they compete with one another and with suppliers such as hotels and airlines who want to attract direct bookings.
What will be interesting to watch in 2025 is whether the online travel companies begin to divert spend away from channels such as Google to the social media platforms that have captured the attention of younger generations.
6. Airbnb's "Icons" launch prompts mixed reaction from industry voices
The launch of Icons, described by Airbnb as “extraordinary experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports and more” had some industry executives pronouncing the move as an "amazing innovation."
Others, however, were quick to dismiss it as a publicity stunt that would be unlikely to add anything to the platform's bottom line.
Like it or hate it, the free media it attracted alone for experiences such as a night at the Ferrari Museum in Italy, will have ticked boxes for Airbnb when it comes to brand awareness.
5. Top travel industry predictions for 2024
Unsurprisingly generative AI was predicted to be a hot topic in 2024 from travel industry experts across every segment. However, pundits are more circumspect with many dialling back a little on how quickly the technology will make real change.
Travel executives also talked up the potential for more modern technology to streamline travel processes and drive efficiency in the B2B market in areas such as payments as well as with B2C solutions with more self-service options for consumers being offered.
4. Airbnb is removing 5,000 experiences, canceling future reservations
A few short weeks after Airbnb unveiled its Icons initiative, the company began pulling thousands of existing experiences from the platform.
At the time, the company said it regularly evaluated experiences based on a number of criteria including uniqueness and local relevance and told operators that the experiences did not meet its standards.
However, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky talked about wanting to bring the "magic of Icons" to everybody in its first quarter 2024 earnings signalling how the company is thinking about experiences going forward. In August, Chesky said the company would relaunch experiences in 2025 and in September, Airbnb reopened the platform to new experience listings.
3. Presenting the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2025
Now in its seventh year, the PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startups list, unveiled in November continues to be a popular read of newcomers to the sector. The year-round selection process started this time with approximately 160 startups which were considered against criteria including: innovation, growth and diversity in sector, location and founders.
This year’s winners join an already illustrious line-up; the 150 companies selected over the first six years have raised collectively total funding of $2.8 billion across 456 funding rounds.
2. European tour operator FTI files for insolvency
While FTI Group thought it had secured its future with support from a Certares-led consortium of investor, the company said that liquidity was required in the intervening weeks as bookings fell short of expectations and suppliers insisted on advance payment.
In the immediate aftermath, FTI Touristik was the affected brand but the group said insolvency proceedings would be filed for other brands.
1. Expedia Group CTO Rathi Murthy out due to "violation of company policy"
Rathi Murthy joined the online travel group in June 2021, was its first female CTO and lead the unification of its technology stack to a single platform. Her departure coincided with that of Sreenivas Rachamadugu, senior vice president, core services product & engineering of Expedia Group.
She has recently been replaced by Ramana Thumu, who previously spent a decade at digital sports platform Fanatics Commerce.