Why this question today? In the last few weeks: Google (Waymo) now open access in San Francisco with their robotaxis (i.e. available to tourists with no waiting list), becoming one of the largest growing US city based attractions and a significant sign of what is to come to all US cities in the next few […]

Yesterday I watched the Apple keynote from WWDC 2024, their annual developer conference. If you haven’t watched it yet, here it is, it is 1 hour 43 minutes long but worth it. As I was watching (and cooking dinner) a couple of key themes stood out that are relevant to the travel industry AI discussions […]

Key themes are emerging that will shape the future of tourism due to AI and AGI after 2030. This article takes a look these five themes and the known unknowns that surround them: end of the web browser (for travel ecommerce) end of the group tour end of the tour guide end of the tour […]

Risk is a judgement. When I set off to sail over the Atlantic (twice), or drive London to Kathmandu (4 months), run a marathon (twice), cycle 1000 miles John O’Groats to Lands end, race a 21 foot boat from the UK to the Fastnet rock and back (and win), or just be a startup founder, […]

Tour bus companies are integral to both the mobility and sightseeing sectors, connecting tourists with the people and place of unfamiliar destinations. By facilitating expansive exploration, they not only enhance the visitor experience but also thrive as profitable businesses. But as readers of this blog know, mobility is changing. As such, when mobility changes, tour […]

The new year period is a time of reflection. With that in mind, I realised that most of my recent focus has been on what can startups do with AI, or what can tour operators do with AI. But what about the current generation OTA marketplaces, how can they adapt to AI? Are they destined to […]

If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, the 2019 version of the GetYourGuide Originals would likely be in place providing 50% of GetYourGuide’s current net revenues, their IPO would have happened, the executive team would have retired to their Swiss lakefront homes, and everyone else would be scrambling to work out how to compete against […]

Last week I went to the Arival conference in Orlando and I was surprised by the reaction to the content. Some tour operators were saying too much AI in the schedule. Well I have news for you, your upstream big tech partners are winning AI and you are not part of their plans. Tomorrows experience economy […]

In the AI age, you can’t just be a digital service anymore. For the digital only companies this makes it a strategically important task deciding what to do beyond digital. This post is a quick summary of how Viator, GetYourGuide and Google are going physical with three different approaches. Not mutually exclusive of course, but […]

Depending upon your perspective, the big news this week was either the Checkfront / Rezdy shared ownership announcement, or Tripadvisor launching their AI tour itinerary generating service to consumers. Here is how both stories can be viewed from a singular perspective and are relevant to more than just suppliers who use Checkfront / Rezdy. But […]