Latest Research

The tours and activities segment is a two-sided race, with the big online aggregators clamoring to bring both suppliers and travelers into the digital age. The category has a relatively short booking window compared to accommodations and flights, leaving little room to use the latest in digital marketing and retargeting tech. Average booking values are also significantly lower than other categories. Yet, despite the challenges, the opportunities remain significant; the category is very much the next (if not final) frontier in online travel.

Disney’s success with its theme parks, hotels and cruise products is directly attributable to a highly-sophisticated marketing program that leverages cross-monetization of its different media businesses. It’s a case study for travel and hospitality companies on how to think and look outside of travel, when building globally successful businesses and brands.

2017 will be a big year for Skift Research. We are on a mission to transform our knowledge services from a nice-to-have, to a must-have resource for smart decision-makers and savvy executives in travel.

Large hotel chains have been successful in increasing direct bookings, but the actual economic impact on Expedia remains minimal. We continue to believe that Direct Booking campaigns do not need to escalate into a war.

There are over 77.5 million family households in America, with an average size of 3.26 people, and an average annual vacation spend of $3,340. It's a sizeable market and most travel memories are made with life partners, family, friends, or children when taking into account trip composition, but also during the decision-making process on where to go and what to do once there. Travel and tourism professionals should have a keen sense of modern family dynamics.

The mechanics of metasearch technology and how travel brands use it to effectively bring attractive products to market are extremely complex. While many have tried, very few are now doing it in a meaningful way that produces attractive scale and profits. Those that succeed long term will ultimately need the right mix of technology, connectivity, user experience, market strategy, and budget. This definitive report outlines the competitive landscape along all five of these essential benchmarks.

The very nature of investment in the travel startup space remains complicated. A lot of hype but also plenty of opportunity and big payouts for those who can bring together the right tech, the right user experience, for the right market segments. This report delves into what has worked and what investors should be paying attention to as we move into 2017.

Travel brands are certainly not immune to the tectonic shifts now ripping apart traditional digital marketing strategies. Our 2017 Digital Transformation Survey reveals that many in the industry are in fact unprepared to cope with the deluge of new digital content formats now pervading the traveler mindset.