It’s that time of the year when we ask industry leaders for their thoughts on what happened in 2016 and what they forsee will happen in the new year. Here’s Part 2.
Kei Shibata, CEO, Venture Republic
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. Ctrip acquired Skyscanner.
2. Airbnb launched Trips.
3. Google launched Trips.
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. More consolidation in meta and OTA spaces.
2. Hotels will start struggling in the competition with private accommodations.
3. AI/chatbots won’t be in mainstream.
Yoshihiro Morii, Chief Commercial Officer & EVP Commercial, Peach Aviation
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. Severe competition among KIX(Osaka) and HND(Tokyo) because so many LCC has entered to Japan market.
2. Because of China EC enthusiasm, Chinese tourists spend in Japan has gradually declining.
3. Korean bad economic condition influences LF down in general.
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. More differentiation of each Airline must be necessary under oil price increasing circumstances.
2. More focus on Data Driven Marketing for stimulating PAX personalized motivation.
3. New technology, for example AI, Iot and deep learning will be equipped to Airline platform.
Steven Greenway, Deputy CEO, UFly Alliance
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. Big data – Nothing much happened except everyone talking about it.
2. Security – Given a number of events around the world.
3. The rise of airline fees!
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. Big data – Still everyone talking about it but not doing much else 😉
2. Mobile/Wearables.
3. Regulatory crack-down on fees, ancillaries and some retailing practices.
Bobby Healy, CTO, CarTrawler
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. Google came out of hiding and acknowledged that they intend to compete with their own customers to take control the top of the trip planning funnel. Look out all aggregators, destination sites, review sites. Everybody really. Hopefully the European commission will halt this unfair and illegal extension of a monopoly.
2. Ctrip acquisition of Skyscanner. This was an unprecedented multiple paid by a quality business for a quality business, and perhaps pits CTRIP against PCLN in a “meta race for Europe”? Given EXPE have announced “no further acquisitions” for now, will it be a two horse race? Similarly, however, Trivago IPO at time of writing appears to be a disappointment. CTRIP joins with Baidu to create a $3bn fund.
3. Uber, Lyft, Didi, Apple, Tesla, Google and just about every other tech and car business in the world have given notice that they expect a large portion of their fleets to be fully autonomous within 5-10 years. The issue is “existential” according to Uber CEO.
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. Increased uncertainty in Europe (mainly) due to terrorism.
2. Consolidation in the on-demand space potentially with some casualties.
3. Heating up M&A activity in Europe led by Chinese funds/companies. Likely targets European OTAs.
Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, Managing Director & Co-founder, Air Black Box
3 topics of geopolitical importance that will affect Travel in 2017
1. I will say that overshadowing all of the items below is the current softness in the supply side (especially in APAC) particularly Air.
2. Terrorism has reared its ugly head which will affect Europe significantly.
3. The new reality in politics will see a very strong dollar but a lot of anti-American sentiment.
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. Norwegian (NAI) approval for Transatlantic flights – a wind of change on Long Haul.
2. Sabre’s loss to US Airways (AA) in court is an indication of the dismantling of the current GDS model. With Expedia already out and LCCs not really in – how sustainable is that?
3. Both Google and AirBnB’s decision to move into Travel big time. For the latter starting with Trips and soon to come Flights. This represents a further encroachment on the closed world of Travel. Its not so special any more.
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. Lufthansa’s dismantling of the standard airline group model into more of a power house. I hope they get it right. It will be a race to see who gets there first BA or LH.
2. The emergence of external players from the non-traditional Travel world into Travel distribution. Hint think China!
3. A series of regulatory (non) decisions that will permit bigger companies to operate with impunity and this will harm choice and consumer protection.
Filip Filipov, Director, Product, Skyscanner
3 Top Things That Happened and That Mattered in 2016
1. AirBnB expanding outside of rentals.
2. Consolidation in the travel tech (generic trend).
3. Google finally starting to get serious about travel.
3 Top Predictions for 2017
1. Voice will become more relevant as choice of interaction for consumers.
2. Further consolidation, especially outside of hotels and flights (tours and activities, restaurant reservations).
3. Payment platforms will push the highest adoption of online travel up till now.
