At the end of April, I headed to Valencia for Arival 2025 — the flagship European conference dedicated to the sightseeing and experiences sector. These may not have been the most significant events of the week, but they’ve stayed with me — enough that, a month later, I want to publicly memorialise them. Pricing breakout […]
On the business & technology of digitally operated tourism & hospitality experiences
Two memories from Arival Valencia 2025 – tour pricing & AI keynote
June 1st, 2025 by Alex Bainbridge
Introducing the LMMM model for AI in tourism – local money, local mobility, local mindset
February 7th, 2025 by Alex Bainbridge
In local tourism, AI is a product innovation, not a retail / distribution innovation. As such this will be more significant a change than web / mobile / social media which, although significant, left tourism product largely unchanged. Even after the rise of the web and e-commerce, tourism still had itineraries & bookings, tour buses, […]
Introducing MoveMeAlong – AI audio based storytelling for tourism
January 24th, 2025 by Alex Bainbridge
In 2024, I presented eight times at the Arival sightseeing conferences in San Diego and Edinburgh, sharing insights on how local tour operators can use Google’s NotebookLM AI tool. It was inspiring to lead small group sessions on the practical applications of AI in local tour businesses – a challenge I’ve been working on for […]
Will Uber or Amazon acquire Expedia? How does AI influence the decision?
October 20th, 2024 by Alex Bainbridge
This week the travel industry trade press has been reporting on speculation that Uber might buy Expedia: Skift – https://skift.com/2024/10/17/uber-expedia-super-deal-our-answers-to-10-big-questions/ PhocusWire – https://www.phocuswire.com/why-uber-not-buying-expedia-but-think-amazon-should None of this analysis talked about AI agents or autonomous vehicles so I thought I should add my perspective including these two key strategic elements. The frequency perspective Traditionally, success in the […]
What is the right number of Rome Colosseum tours for an OTA such as GetYourGuide to feature?
October 13th, 2024 by Alex Bainbridge
Question came up at the Arival San Diego sector conference when Douglas Quinby was interviewing Tao Tao from GetYourGuide. It is a clever question as it sounds simple but the answer goes to the heart of how GetYourGuide see themselves, with many nuances and future looking aspects. Are GetYourGuide a marketplace representing what tour operators […]
