Accor Cautious About Amazon + Destination Marketing Evolution + Expedia's Boasts

The Travel Industry's Daily Agenda-Setting Newsletter

June 13, 2018

Note From the Editor Skift Tech Forum wrapped up last night in Silicon Valley and it did not disappoint. Executives from across travel offered their views on how technology continues to change their businesses — for good and bad. One theme that came up over and over again was Amazon's looming presence. Will it dive into travel? It's clear there is much anxiety. Despite the upside for travelers if Amazon gets in, very few Forum speakers see it that way. Personalization — the opportunities and dangers — was a constant theme, too. Speakers agreed the trend would not be slowed, but several emphasized that it is vital to get personalization right. Otherwise, the current incumbents won't be incumbents anymore. — Dennis Schaal and Tom Lowry in Santa Clara, California How Artificial Intelligence Will Make Hotel Distribution Smarter Sponsored by DerbySoft Today's hotel distribution landscape is a complex one –– but artificial intelligence is expected to help solve the issues plaguing the current system. While the technology is still maturing, it's not as far off as some might think. Read More Featured Story New Research Report: Destination Marketing Trends 2018 As travelers' desires change and concerns about the impacts of tourism grow, the role of destination marketing organizations is also evolving. Today, DMOs have more to think about than just marketing. Highlights from Skift Tech Forum Hilton Is Wary of the Risks of Hyper-Personalization Hyper-personalization may be all the rage, but so is respecting the customer's data. Hilton wants to be on the right side of that fine line. Global Distribution Systems Retool for the Next Digital Revolution The global distribution systems are each pushing forward in their own unique way. By investing like technology companies in flexible distribution and payment technologies, they hope to provide a better value proposition to travel partners that are keen to cut out the middleman. Decades of bad blood between the two, however, still linger over the conversation. United Plans New App But Is Weighing 'Creepy' Versus 'Personalized' There are limits to how much an airline like United knows about you and that is comforting to some travelers. But putting the data it does have to good use remains a challenge, although we see nothing controversial about wishing someone a happy birthday. AccorHotels Chief Brand Officer: 'We Need to Watch Google and Amazon Carefully' Smart hotel brands like AccorHotels know that the real threat isn't Airbnb or even their fellow hotel companies. It's the Googles, Tencents, Facebooks, Amazons, and Apples of the world. Expedia Is Closing Gap With Booking on Cloud-Based And Search Engine Tech For all of the hype over its shopping spree of acquisitions in recent years, Expedia didn't have much to show for it compared to rival Booking Holdings. That's starting to change, and Expedia feels it's ready for a cloud-based future. Uber Eats Boss: All We Think About Is the Customer Using data to drive personalized customer interactions means everything in Uber Eats' approach to growth. If the delivery service has its way, it'll be able to predict what you want to eat before you can even finish asking the question. The Rest of the News Rwanda Is Making a Push for the Right Number of High-Spending Visitors Rwanda is setting itself up as Africa's new big luxury tourism destination. And while mountain gorillas are the country's main attraction, new luxury lodges will help open up other regions of this small, yet highly diverse country. InterContinental Hotels' New Upscale Conversion Brand Is Called Voco IHG has been pretty busy over the last few months, firstly buying and building up its luxury offering and now unveiling a new upscale conversion brand. CEO Keith Barr certainly has his hands full. Popular Now Tours and Activities Sector Still Faces Challenge of Moving Bookings Online Everybody wants a piece of the tours and activities sector, but how easy is it going to be to migrate all those businesses that currently operate offline to online? Marriott CEO on Tech Giants: 'We Are in an Absolute War for Who Owns the Customer' Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, along with his fellow hotel CEOs are right: It's not the "disruptors" like Airbnb that are the biggest threat, but the already established tech giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Alibaba, and others that are the real competition for the hotel industry. Letting Troubled South African Airways Go Bust Isn't So Simple: Here's Why One expert called South African Airways a "vanity project." That's probably accurate, because the carrier has lost money for six consecutive years. But the airline will survive, because the government wants it to. That's the way it works. No one wants to see a national airline disappear. For Gmail users: If you are using the tabbed inbox, Skift emails may be pushed to the 'Promotions' tab. To get updates from Skift direct to your primary inbox, drag and drop this email to that tab. You received this email because you are subscribed to Skift Daily Newsletter from Skift.

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