Speaking at the China Travel Distribution Summit in Beijing, Brockway said that in future, travellers will be super-empowered and hyper-demanding and they will be the winner in the new web frontier.

Saying we were getting to the stage of “relevance and radical personalization”, he sees a day when web-bots will be “the custodian of all the information I have shared and will share that information with my service providers so that when I arrive at my hotel, they will know that I don’t like chocolates but I prefer fruits”.

“Web-bots will ensure that I only see the things I like,” he said, adding that innovation was happening “that will surprise and delight travellers”.

He said that TripIt had been designed from the ground up to solve problems for travellers. “You email us your information and we will add maps, build services and add a social layer.

“We will give you real time alerts, keep track of your frequent flyer miles and let you know if you paid too much for the airfare,” he said.

Currently TripIt earns revenues through three streams – targeted advertising, subscription fees for premium services and licensing its technology.

The question to ask, he told the audience, is “can I make money beyond transactions but in helping people manage information?”

The obstacle to such a product like TripIt in a market like China however is the lack of inter-operatability of websites as William Bao Bean, managing partner of Softbank China & India Holdings pointed out.

In the US, Bao Bean said there was a lot of inter-operability between sites unlike China. “Sina doesn’t integrate with anyone, neither does Tencent.”

Brockway said two pieces had to come together for a product such as TripIt to work. The technology has to be there to support it but that’s the easy bit. The more difficult part is the business mindset and to say, “by opening up my business, I can acquire more customers and make more money”.

“Facebook opening their platform to third party applications three years ago – that was one of the most successful and smartest things they’ve done and now they are the clear dominant leader.”

 Featured image credit (Hand Using Cellphone): Ockra/iStock