Tech Vs. Travel: How Innovation is Disrupting One of the World's Oldest Industries

Along with the internet, there are various applications and platforms that give travelers the ability to make their own decisions about the way they want to travel. 

Travel itineraries have become flexible due to a wide range of options

Flexibility and the ability to adapt to various needs is something that is widely desired in today’s landscape. Everyone wants a personalized travel experience and it’s easy to get a personalized itinerary because of the wealth of information and platforms available that help make it possible. 

If you want to stay in a local home, you have the option of going through AirBnB or Couchsurfing - depending on how intimate you’d like to get. But if luxury stays are more up your alley, there’s also elite-class apps that can arrange for that. ThirdHome holds the key to high-flying members of society that have luxury holiday homes in various countries around the world. 

It’s a private club filled with wealthy travelers and homeowners who wish to spend their holidays in luxurious estates or yachts and don’t mind opening the doors on their estates. Membership is only open to those with very deep pocketbooks and own properties that are worth a minimum of 500,000 USD. 

From the very basic couchsurfing to the very luxurious holiday home sharing, the options are indeed endless and all-encompassing. There’s an answer to every desire, catered to every demand and it is prevalent in each sector of the travel industry. Whether it’s what you want to do, where you want to stay or what you want to eat. 

Online reviews and recommendations increasing travel satisfaction

How many times have you gotten to a hotel and felt that it wasn’t as advertised? In the days prior to the social media revolution, when tours were still booked through travel agencies, the answer was plenty. But today, thanks to the digital presence of consumers, the likelihood of that happening has been decreasing. 

In the beginning, it was just small niche blogs that covered hotel reviews and shared information such as itineraries, tips, and attractions. But as social media took hold of the travel industry, it exploded with information and innovators jumped at the opportunity to create travel review sites. 

Today, travel blogs are a dime a dozen, alongside post-pandemic travel influencers. They have become the new authorities in the travel industry, there are also official sites that are trusted, much like Tripadvisor.  

Tripadvisor has become a reputable source of information and businesses now strive to be listed on their website’s rankings in order to increase their exposure. Accommodation booking sites like Agoda or Booking have incorporated reviews into their platforms in order to increase customer satisfaction and it’s working. More people are booking through online means rather than through traditional channels, but it could also be in part due to the ease and convenience of it all.

Ease of planning, managing, and arranging in the palm of your hand

When the smartphone became a household item - or rather, a personal device that never left the sides of many individuals - who would have thought that it would become that multi-functional device that it is today? It started as a means of communication, allowing for basic texts and calls, but that gave way to picture texts, emails, and mp3s. Before we knew it, our smartphones had become an extension of our home and office combined, on top of a global library and camera. 

The accessibility that our phones afford us is limitless, and it has also contributed to the changes in the way that we travel. Common travel apps on a phone would include Google Maps, a ride-sharing app, an accommodation and flight seeker, among others. All of these apps allow us to arrange for a place to stay, something to do, transportation, and it can also handle our booking for meals, and there are apps that can consolidate all that information into a comprehensive itinerary. Talk about convenience. 

Where is travel headed beyond 2023? 

Technology has taken us in leaps and bounds. It has assisted travel to go from being booked through a third party agent to booking tours online, from the comfort of our own home. It has made travel planning a breeze.

One of the great things about living in a digital age is that payment can also be done seamlessly and securely over the internet. E-payment has taken on a whole new meaning when cryptocurrency took off. The first Bitcoin payment accepted by an airline was by AirBaltic in 2014, and surveys suggest that over 20% of Americans intend to pay for their next holiday with their crypto-assets. Aside from digital currency, there is also talk about travel being incorporated into the metaverse - part of the Web 3.0 revolution. The idea is that travel will happen from the comfort of one’s own home, though how that would really take off would really depend on how they intend to recreate the taste of New York bagels digitally and simulate the fresh air from Finland. 

Perhaps down-to-earth innovations are much more practical in the long run. Being able to plan and completely book a trip in a matter of minutes securely is now a common reality and technology will continue to take the travel industry to new heights. Some predictions for the near future include more sustainable and affordable travel options that can be booked at a moment’s notice instead of being planned in advance, because if there’s anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that we never know what might disrupt our travel plans next.