Significant changes look set to transform the travel industry in 2018. Blockchain technology, China’s booming tourist sector, and the continuing travel ambitions of Airbnb, Facebook and Google all look set to define the coming 12 months. Here are six major trends we will be keeping an eye on in 2018.
1. Review platforms attempting to dethrone TripAdvisor
The dominance of the world’s biggest travel review site will be heavily challenged in 2018. Along with the less-than-stellar performance of its hotel booking product, TripAdvisor’s reputation suffered following revelations that it censored reviews concerning rape allegations at specific hotels.
Both Google and Facebook are coming up on the rails following their recent moves into the reviews game. Yelp is also making a play for the huge hotel advertising market by expanding ad offerings to hotels. And there are rumors Yelp also wants to add booking capabilities to their site.
All summed up, the environment looks ripe for some seriously competitive moves next year.
2. Airbnb to lead an end-to-end travel booking movement
Airbnb’s ambitions show no sign of abating. Along with busily expanding Experiences (part of its Trips tool), the company has made a huge investment in restaurant reservations app Resy. It’s pretty clear that Airbnb intends to be a one-stop shop for booking your entire travel experience. The only thing it doesn’t seem to be focusing on is transportation.
The company also seems keen to redefine travel for locals, too. Regarding Airbnb Trips, CEO Brian Chesky recently said he wants to make “outsiders feel like insiders,” in part by helping local people better connect to their own city. It’s a smart move that could help Airbnb build up a base of regular local users. Add in talk of introducing a loyalty program, and 2018 looks set to be a big year for Airbnb.
But Airbnb is far from the only platform that sees the potential in tours and experiences, something that Skift classed as a “megatrend” in 2017.
TripAdvisor is betting on growth from its “non-hotel” business with the strengthening of its tours and activities segment. Expedia and Booking.com are also investing heavily in tours and excursions as well.
The big question for next year will be whether the OTAs also attempt to integrate end-to-end bookings (accommodation + activities + food/restaurants) into their own platforms. This would effectively make them a one-stop shop, rather than acting as multiple sites operating under the same umbrella. Given Airbnb’s ambitions, this move may come sooner rather than later.
Against this changing booking landscape, hotels will also need to adapt. This could involve integrating tours and experiences within their own offerings, either publishing tours on their own website or integrating links to make booking easy.
