As we enter the last weeks of 2023, we ask our community of travel leaders to share their reflections of the year and their outlook for the coming one in this series of trends and predictions for 2024. This first instalment carries a mixed bag of sentiment, with some more bullish than others. What is definitive is their clarity over what’s hype and what’s real.
Omri Morgenshtern, CEO, Agoda
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Back
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
War
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
9
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024
Hope
Looking at your data, how would you describe the start of 2024?
Strong
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Focusing our investments on the key things that matter. We’re in a high cost of capital environment. Sustainable operations is crucial.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2024?
GenAI automation of services (internal, back office or software development related).
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2024?
Deep collaborations with strong local players. Now more than ever we need to work together.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
Drive by Daniel H. Pink. Made me think.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
Scandinavia. Haven’t been, and living in Bangkok, one learns to appreciate snow.
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
All repeatable work…
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
I think over the medium long term, there’s nothing that AI can’t solve.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
You know I’m a gene-editing fan. I think people are talking about it, but the extent it will change the world is not widely grasped. We will be programming humans in 50 years. Or maybe it will be AI that will do that…
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Blockchain… or is it already gone?
Steve Hafner, CEO & Co-founder, KAYAK/CEO, Open Table
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Rational
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
7
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024.
Optimistic
Looking at your data, how would you describe the start of 2024?
Steady
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Cost discipline
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2024?
Product Innovation
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2024?
Recruiting
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
Oppenheimer
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
Cap Ferrat
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
Flight delays
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
Polarisation
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
Industry consolidation
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year.
COP28
Ross Veitch, CEO & Co-founder, Wego
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Inflection-point
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Covid-19
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
8
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024
Promising
Looking at your data, how would you describe the start of 2024?
Encouraging
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Developing AI capabilities throughout the organisation
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2024?
Leveraging all of the new technologies that emerged in 2023
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2024?
R&D
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
I recently re-read Thomas Petzinger’s book, “Hard Landing: The Epic Contest for Power and Profits That Plunged the Airlines into Chaos”. I highly recommend it for anybody working in travel technology. It helps explain why much of the industry and the systems that make it work are the way they are.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
I did a day trip to Seoul for business this year which was the first time I’d been back in over 20 years and was amazed by how much had changed and how vibrant it felt. I’m curious to go back again and explore at a more leisurely pace.
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
Travel planning and booking is still way too hard. AI powered travel assistants, be they chat bots, speech interfaces or enhancements to existing website and apps, are going to allow us to make it considerably easier.
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
Weather related flight delays (although a sufficiently intelligent auto-pilot + air-traffic control systems + better weather forecasting models can likely reduce them significantly.)
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
The long-term impact of demographic changes as a result of declining birth rates is off most people’s radar but is going to massively impact economies worldwide. Since the start of the internet revolution, Total Addressable Market (TAM) has only ever increased year-over-year but for many mature markets TAMs are going to actually start declining. Japan has already experienced this and the rest of East Asia and many Western countries are soon to follow suit. Productivity gains from the adoption of AI may offset the shrinking workforce but it’s not going to help change the fact that the number of people to sell to is shrinking. It’s a good time to be building a travel business in the Middle East where populations are young and growing fast.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Web 3.0
Rajesh Magow, CEO & Co-founder, MakeMyTrip
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Fulfilling
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Covid
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
8 in the Indian context, 6 in the world context
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024
Growth
Looking at your data, how would you describe the start of 2024?
Positive
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Building resilience with diversification
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2024?
Penetrate deeply in India to acquire customers from Tier 3 and 4 cities and Outbound Travel
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2024?
Meeting younger people across teams and budding entrepreneurs. Always gives a fresh perspective and new ideas.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
The Wimbeldon Finals/The ICC Cricket World Cup – as good as reading a literary classic with so many lessons and takeaways.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
Visit New Zealand
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
Traffic jams
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
Introspection – it will always be a ‘human-only’ exercise.
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
Geotourism, or rather the new form of it. Travellers are not just seeking out geographical landmarks, but also really focusing on immersing themselves in everything that is native and local to the area. And they are truly invested in leaving the place a little better than they found it.
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Revenge Travel – because multiple trips in a year is now the norm.
Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, Managing Partner, T2Impact
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Hype
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Recovery
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
5
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024
Tactical
Looking at your data, how would you describe the start of 2024?
Uncertain. Many budgets have been slashed. Generally people are saying tactical and revenue focused. But underneath change is a-coming.
What’s the one key thing you’re doing to prepare your business for whatever lies ahead?
Staying AGILE. It is critical that the agility learned during the pandemic is maintained. However, a lot of companies as soon as the good times came back (2022) forgot how to be agile and slipped back into bad habits.
What is the biggest opportunity for your business in 2024?
Lots (and I mean the majority) of players both on the Supply (mostly airline) and Demand (mostly Travel Sellers) recognise that there is a new wind blowing through. Thus there are 3 players – Tech, Sellers and Suppliers/Airlines who need (my) help.
What part of your job would you like to do more of in 2024?
Listening – I enjoy learning by listening to individuals which I can make up as part of a larger whole.
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
One of my school peers wrote a book about his time at Stonyhurst. It was a bit cathartic to think about how life and the world changed since then.
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
South Africa. Haven’t been in ages and really looking forward to it.
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
Itself
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
Itself
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
Synthetic Intelligence
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Alliance
Rod Cuthbert, Chairperson, Jayride; Board Member, Veltra (Tokyo); Board Member, Tourism Tasmania; Founder, Viator
Looking back – one word to describe 2023
Depressing
One word you wish would disappear from the vocabulary
Iconic
On a scale of 1-10, rate how optimistic (10 being most) do you feel about 2024?
4
Looking forward – one word to describe 2024
Scary
What’s the most interesting thing you read or watched in 2023?
Succession
What’s the trip you want to make in 2024 to add to your memory bank?
More of Italy
What’s the one thing you wish AI could solve?
The Middle East
What’s the one thing you think AI will never solve?
The Middle East
One important trend that no one is talking about yet?
The diminishing importance of nation-states vs. company-states (ie Which is more powerful? USA or Facebook?)
A buzzword that will disappear this time, next year
Blockchain. It’s probably gone already.
