Travel Tech Insider

Wrapping up season two of the Travel Tech Insider podcast, we turn the tables on our favorite trade media voices to hear what they’re keeping an eye on for 2025. What are they most excited to cover? What under-the-radar trends do they think will have an outsized impact on the ways we plan, shop, book and experience travel? And how do they go about their day-to-day jobs in the med

In part 1 of our exploration of M&A trends in the travel sector, we talked to the bankers and advisors who have a front row seat to the circus that is the M&A process. Given this is their job day-in and day-out, they have a deep understanding of the steps involved in buying or selling a business, can anticipate the gotcha’s and stumbling blocks, and are primed to help the

Dining out, room service, fine dining, continental breakfasts, a fancy cocktail, and food and drink in general have always been a part of the travel experience and hospitality offering. Today more than ever before Michelin Stars, hidden gems, street eats, food tours, cooking classes, Agriturismo, and gastropubs are the central aspirations of an enormous percentage of the traveling

We’ve spent a lot of time on the pod talking about startups, and now we’re going to shift gears to talk about the finish line, and what the climate is looking like for exits. The IPO market has been virtually non-existent the past couple years, and M&A activity (particularly for Big Tech) has been stagnant. That said, there is a ton of capital sitting on the sidelines, seem

The fintech sector has expanded massively beyond its origins as a way to modernize and connect the plumbing across the various segments of the financial services world. The intersection of fintech and travel — the “Financialization” of the travel sector — is leading to some incredibly interesting applications that help consumers find value and help merchants more efficientl

It might be hard to tell at times, but we’re in the midst of a renaissance when it comes to the air travel experience. Everything from the aircraft we fly to the routes they take to the in-flight experience is getting a major redesign. The pandemic and subsequent Infrastructure Act provided the downtime and funds for our airports to get badly needed investment, enabling them to m

We’ve talked a lot on the pod about the mythical Connected Trip concept, and the vision for a unified travel experience across all the different touchpoint throughout the journey. One that is personalized and understands the context of the trip — is it for work or for fun, with family or solo, international or local — and what type of support we might need throughout the jour

Last season we took a deep dive into the venture investing scene here in the US, including the different approaches taken by corporate ventures teams and institutional funds, and the growth of new platforms like studios and accelerators. Now it’s Europe’s turn. We’ll take a look at the European venture scene and what investors are seeing on that side of the pond. Valuations,

Ancillaries! It’s such a nebulous term for the travel industry that it’s incredibly hard to figure out exactly how big the market is — but we know it’s massive and getting bigger by the day. In some cases, what we refer to as ancillary products are actually the primary reason for the trip to begin with! Think Disney park tickets or the surfing lessons you booked for that ma

Corporate travel has been ripe for disruption for quite some time, so why is it taking so long? Road warriors hate the tools they are compelled to use (and frequently bypass), travel managers hate the cat-and-mouse games they have to play to enforce policy on their employees and to police rates and configuration rules with their TMC partners. Suppliers hate the complexity involved