Martin Symes, CEO of Wego, said as much when I asked him the question during our panel on “Understanding the new Asian traveler”, yesterday at ITB Berlin.

“Yes it’s exciting but it’s also hard. Things are changing so fast. Forget the one- or two-year projections, now we only think in quarters.”

Frank Trampert, president of Circos Brand Karma, said that in his previous life as a corporate hotelier, he used to think in quarters and years, now he thinks minutes and hours.

I reckon soon it will be seconds at the rate change is coming so fast at us it is making most of our heads spin.

Listening to speakers, being a panelist and also moderating a couple of sessions, it’s clear no one has the answers but a few things are clearly apparent.

1. Three words rule – social, local and mobile (SOLOMO) – as one of the PhoCusWright analysts coined it. In essence, the power of location-based services, social media and smartphones to transform the industry in every which way from marketing and distribution to service delivery.

2. Social media will evolve into ecommerce platforms – even though there is still skepticism around this idea (but remember when there was scepticism about social media itself). For instance, Everbread’s Assen Assilev believes social media will be the key to unlocking the ability of airlines to offer differentiated, targeted offers through social networks like Facebook and this will pave the way for ecommerce on social networks.

3. The true marketer will win – “those who know how to use Facebook well” – again, Assilev. “The real future is to differentiate the product itself, not just the price, and make it relevant to the customer and instead of hoping that the customer will come into the store and find something they like. This is where personalisation and the new wealth of customer information will take us. The moment someone does it, they will win.”

4. With more people accessing the web through the smartphone, there is a real opportunity to market to the individual and to transform service delivery.

5. More suppliers will try new things, which can only be a good thing. There was talk about Malaysia Airlines and its booking engine on Facebook and its MHBuddy feature where you can see if any of your friends are travelling on the same flight.

Alvin Ch’ng, Singapore-based commercial director of TripAdvisor, dismissed it as a competitive strike against AirAsia but said it would lead to suppliers willing to try new things on social media. That can only be good – competition leads to innovation.

6. The next generation needs to be engaged, not just as travellers but as employees. In Europe, it’s the 18-24s who have the most leisure time, according to the PhoCusWright report on European consumer trends.

Wego’s Symes also says this age bracket is changing travel patterns in Asia and intra-Asian travel will absolutely change the Asian travel industry. In Singapore, close to 80% of its visitors come from within the region.

“Younger travelers have stronger inclination to travel and a different relationship to travel – the impact will be huge,” said Carol Rheem, director of research at PhoCusWright – and the next thought is obvious, it’s a tech-savvy generation and needs a whole new way of engaging with.

7. Localisation is paramount and it’s not just about using technology but down to products and services. “You do not serve a German doughnuts and muffins for breakfast,” said Brand Karma’s Trampert. Being a German, he should know.

8. Content and creativity rule – whether you’re blogging, pinging or tweeting for business, tell your story well and use the right channel to tell the right bits.

9. Who will win? Those who know customers best and uses the right technology.

Sounds easy, right? But it ain’t.

This is why WIT Conference’s theme for 2011, launched this week, will be all about finding your groove so that whatever product or service you are selling, it’s about providing the most relevant information at the most relevant time at the most relevant place at the most relevant price. Now that’s the right groove to be in.

PS This article comes to you from ITB Berlin for free.