Online Travel - Thematic Intelligence

Globally, travelers are increasingly online and more mobile savvy than ever before. Concurrently, global online travel intermediaries saw their market value experience rapid growth. In 2019, the global market value for international online travel reached $461.53 billion. However, companies within the travel industry have faced, and continue to face, unprecedented challenges and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, as travel came to a virtual standstill, the global market value for online travel intermediaries declined significantly, eventually recovering partly in 2022. Travelers' requirements are constantly evolving. As a result, online travel intermediaries will have to change and adapt to meet future demands. Within the online travel industry, there has been an increasing focus on personalization by online market players as loyalty to a particular brand is being replaced by a traveler's loyalty to their own preferences.

This thematic research report takes an in-depth look at the theme of online travel and the impact it has on the travel and tourism industry. This report analyzes the players impacted by this theme alongside the contributing trends, negative destination trends, unintended opportunities, and trends that have emerged as a result of online travel. It then dives deep into an industry analysis, presenting several real-life case studies looking at how destinations and companies have responded to the impact of this theme on their operations. Recommendations are then offered for the travel sector, alongside a description of companies mentioned throughout.

Key Highlights

Globally, travelers are increasingly online and more mobile savvy than ever before. Concurrently, global online travel intermediaries saw their market value experience rapid growth. Travelers' requirements are constantly evolving. As a result, online travel intermediaries will have to change and adapt to meet future demands. Technology and digitalization continue to transform the travel industry as both consumers and companies embrace online travel. Companies have been able to utilize online platforms as a way of enabling transactions, promoting sources of information, as a key marketing tool, and to directly communicate with the end-user. The key players within online travel can be segmented into commercial companies and government organizations, which are found throughout the whole travel and tourism supply chain.

Due to the changing needs and demands of the modern traveler, travel booking has evolved from traditional high street stores with in-person travel agents to a highly fragmented online marketplace of travel products and suppliers. Companies have had to shift the focus away from a high street presence towards an asset-light, online-only operation to remain current in the ever-competitive online space, which has been hastened by COVID-19. This trend will further accelerate as internet penetration grows worldwide and online platforms become the preferred method for travelers to find information and make transactions.

The ubiquity of the internet has completely revolutionized the travel and tourism industry. The need for a digital platform and online distribution system is now essential for all forms of operators across airlines, hotels, attractions, tour operators and destinations to appeal to today's traveler and to survive within this hypercompetitive industry. An online presence is now critical for success for most travel and tourism companies. As more firms establish a presence online it will become more important to innovate and invest in new technologies to offer the best experience to the customer.

Who should buy?

CEOs, Senior Executives, and Marketing Executives within travel and tourism should use this report to understand the highly important theme of Online travel.

Scope

• This thematic report provides an overview of the impact online travel has on the travel sector and seeks to understand some of the contributory factors
• The key trends within this theme are split into three categories: consumer trends, enterprise trends, and industry trends
• Several case studies are included to analyze the multiple ways countries and companies have responded to the impact of this theme's growth and what they are doing to grow with this theme

Reasons to Buy

• Understand the current online travel trends within the travel landscape today and how these will escalate in the near future
• Assess how travel and tourism companies such as tour operators, OTAs and DMOs are utilizing online travel to drive revenues
• Acknowledge the potential pitfalls of using online travel by understanding the social, cultural, and environmental effects on the destination
• Discover recommendations for businesses involved in online travel
• The publisher's thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage
• All across the travel and tourism supply chain, now have an opportunity to capitalize on online travel, and there are notable examples of this. Therefore, all should buy this report to fully understand how this theme will continue to be a key theme in the future travel landscape