Gilad Berenstein’s keynote speech from Virtuoso’s Travel Tech Summit 2024, provides detailed insights to the current trends shaping our industry and also provides helpful background information for any newcomers.
While this presentation is 55 minutes long, this is useful to anyone working in the travel industry with an interest in AI. Gilad provides concise information, latest trends, helpful tips and predictions for the coming years.
Here are the key takeaways:
- New monetization models in travel: Gilad discusses trends like financialization of travel, travelization of finance, horizontalization of luxury, and monetization of brands through travel offerings. These represent new ways companies are generating revenue in the travel industry.
- Rise of connected operating systems and the connected trip: There’s a move towards more integrated software suites that aim to be the command center for travel businesses, connecting all elements of a trip to optimize the traveler experience.
- The “great commoditization” of AI: AI tools are becoming widely accessible to businesses of all sizes, not just large tech companies. This is leading to a proliferation of AI applications across the travel industry.
- New agency models and travel clubs: The speaker highlights the emergence of novel agency models, often combining AI with human advisors, as well as the growth of subscription-based travel clubs and trip packages.
Importance of data and human connection: While AI is advancing rapidly, the speaker emphasizes that the travel industry’s strength lies in real-world experiences and human connections, which provide valuable data to counter AI limitations and model decay.
