March 24, 2024
<aside> 🪂 By: Doug Barker
</aside>
The Future of Travel Booking: The Experience Economy
Quite a few of my friends are working in the travel domain, with projects spanning APIs, Marketplaces, and Experiences. It has given me the unique opportunity to see emerging trends from different lenses. Recently I’ve started to firm up some of my theories about the trajectory of travel in the years to come.
The "moats" established by travel companies have been substantial, BUT they were fine-tuned for consumer habits that are shifting.
Typically when you think about booking a trip, four main aspects come into play:
Destination: Where you'll be staying.
Accommodation: Options such as hotels, resorts, Airbnb's, VRBO, Expedia, etc.
Transportation: Choices ranging from flights to rental cars to trains.
Experiences: Activities, tours, restaurants, adventures.
These can scramble into very different trips depending on what we lead our decision making with. Here are some sample trip booking flows:
Destination led: