I?ve been focused mostly on tools for planning travel; here are some thoughts on how the planning experience will change:
People will spend less time planning in advance. For some adventurous travelers, they can already just show up in a destination and figure out a hotel at the last minute with apps like Hotel Tonight. Not everyone will go to this extreme ? some people need the peace of mind of knowing that there is a bed waiting for them. But even those people will increasingly rely on mobile apps for last minute decisions about things to do. That being said, some planning will always need to be done in advance, but that planning will get easier and take less time as next-generation travel planning tools become available.
Improved booking tools will allow people to hone in on more efficient itineraries. Increased transit connectivity (more flight routes, high speed trains, etc.) and an expanding matrix of ancillary services have opened up more options and created more confusion for travelers. The hospitality side is also expanding quickly with the help of services like Airbnb. But improved tools will make it easier to sort through all these options and find an itinerary that is reasonably priced and minimizes wasted time.
Travelers will go beyond traditional boundaries. Today, lots of trips are planned with the help of a prepackaged tour, or a guidebook focusing on a particular country. But travelers are busier than ever, and want to squeeze in as many amazing memories as they can without being constrained by these boundaries. The borders between many countries have become easier to cross, and new economies are emerging that make new places seem more accessible than ever. Travelers will not want to be limited by a preprinted book or a preconfigured package, they will instead take advantage of new interactive planning tools that are flexible enough to handle their myriad interests.
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