Abta chief Mark Tanzer has warned the industry faces a second online transformation which will leave no business model unchanged.
The association’s chief executive told Travel Weekly: “We’re entering Phase 2 of travel and the internet which is the real transformation. Phase 1 was based on choice and price comparison.
“But consumers don’t want lots of choice. Now the move is towards multi-platform – to online and offline rather than online versus offline – and travel is becoming more like a publishing business, with much more emphasis on peer reviews and personalised content.”
Tanzer said: “There are new consumer demands, there is big data and Google, and there is new airline capacity. I don’t think a single company can say it has a business model that is going to see it through the next 10 years.”
Abta has themed next month’s Travel Convention on ‘The Power of the Personal’ to address the challenges to the sector.
Tanzer said: “The Travel Convention will look at the underlying changes in the market and ask whether people have business models that work. We’ll ask how you cope with the changes and move to practical suggestions of how one can structure a business.”
He cited the rise of accommodation rental site Airbnb and other peer-to-peer businesses as an example of the new challenges, saying: People feel it’s unfair and a great commercial threat. Is Airbnb paying tax? Are they looking after health and safety? Are people letting properties legally?”
But Tanzer said: “Travel is a sufficiently segmented market that there are lots of ways to succeed. If you get the proposition right, demand is still there. It’s about getting a model right for the future. Everybody has to look at their model afresh.”
The Travel Convention, Ljubljana, Sept 21-23. Details: thetravelconvention.com