The most popular articles on PhocusWire in 2022

After two years of unprecedented upheaval and challenges for individuals and businesses around the world, 2022 felt a bit more “normal” – if there is such a thing. 

While not on the scope of a global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the climate and energy crises, inflation and political unrest continue to cause unease.

But in many parts of the world, travel was back in full swing throughout 2022. And while that’s been positive for many travel operators and suppliers, it has also exposed weaknesses (remember the airport chaos last summer?) – and on the positive side, spurred innovation. 

2022 was also a notable year for us at PhocusWire as we marked our fifth anniversary in November.

Throughout the year, we did our best to provide interesting and useful coverage of the industry through in-depth articles, breaking news and opinion pieces from industry leaders – and we look forward to providing more relevant and thought-provoking content to you in 2023. 

Our editorial team is proud to present the top 10 stories that captured the most attention with readers over the last 12 months. And check out our 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018 lists for a quick refresh on what we were talking about in past years.

From 2022, in reverse order...

10. Expedia Group revamps marketplace, tech platform as part of new strategy

The Expedia Group of two years ago is no more, according to company vice chairman and CEO Peter Kern, who came onboard around this time in 2020 to replace former CEO Mark Okerstrom.

At the company’s annual Explore partner event, Expedia Group unveiled a new three-tiered strategy designed to serve its partners, travelers and the industry, including a new technology platform called Expedia Group Open World and a system that rewards hotels for providing a better guest experience.

“This isn’t the Expedia Group we were two years ago, let alone two decades ago,” says Kern.

9. Why a recession would be a boom for vacation rental supply

It is a foregone conclusion that we are heading into a recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which officially declares recessions, defines a recession as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production and whole-retail sales.

As JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon said at a financial conference in May, “You know, I said there’s storm clouds but I’m going to change it… it’s a hurricane. While conditions seem ‘fine’ at the moment, nobody knows if the hurricane is a minor one or Superstorm Sandy…. You’d better brace yourself.”

8. Why it's time for travel to enter the metaverse

In the last year, “metaverse” has become one of the buzziest words – driven in large part by Facebook’s rebranding its parent company with the name Meta in October 2021.

But Facebook is just one of the many major companies keenly interested in the metaverse. McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Gucci are some of the other mainstream brands working to stake a claim in this three-dimensional, virtual space.

And metaverse and Web3 consultant Steve Bambury says now is the time for travel brands to make moves toward creating a presence in the metaverse – or risk getting left behind.

7. Google to phase out Book on Google for flights

After announcing in February it would shutter its Book on Google option for hotels, the search giant has confirmed it will phase out the feature for flights, as well, as consumers preference shifts to booking direct.

According to Google, it will disable Book on Google for non-U.S. users on September 30, 2022, and for U.S. users on or after March 31, 2023.

6. Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport pull fares from Russian carrier Aeroflot following Ukraine invasion

Aeroflot has just found itself with a significant hurdle to overcome if it wants to continue operations - Sabre, Amadeus and Travelport have removed fares from the airline from their systems.

Sabre was the first of the main global distribution systems to issue a statement that it has axed its distribution with the Russian government majority-owned airline.

The decision was made in the wake of the invasion by Russian armed forces of neighboring country Ukraine last week.

5. Four trends shaping travel fintech in 2022

While the travel industry has been gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, new payments trends have been quietly developing behind the scenes. The increasing convergence of fintech and travel is undeniably one of the most significant and interesting changes we’ve seen recently in travel tech.

Whether it is new payment methods being offered by travel providers, advances in how money moves between industry participants or travel companies offering fully fledged fintech products, change is happening at a rapid pace.

4. The state of online travel agencies

The online travel market is expected to grow 18% in 2022 to $76.7 billion, a figure just shy of 2019 gross bookings, new research from Phocuswright reveals.

According to the U.S. Online Travel Agency Market Report 2021-2025, OTA gross bookings are on track to surpass pre-pandemic levels in 2023, though international travel will continue to recover slower than domestic. For 2021, OTAs delivered $65.2 in gross bookings, reaching 82% of pre-pandemic levels. Overall, OTAs accounted for 24% of gross bookings in the United States in 2021, up from a 20% share in 2020.

Phocuswright’s research reveals that for the U.S. core OTA business (excluding Vrbo and Egencia), Expedia and Booking collectively accounted for roughly 93% of the OTA leisure and unmanaged travel business market in 2021.

3. What NFTs and the metaverse mean for airline loyalty programs

If you’ve been even remotely keeping up with emerging tech and trends, you’ve certainly heard about NFTs and the metaverse.

While these terms might sound like the start of a dystopian piece of fiction you have no desire to be a part of, they also offer up some intriguing real-world use cases if used in an applicable manner.

This applies to the airline industry, which has been particularly impacted by emerging technology over the course of the past decade. Specifically, it’s fascinating to see how airline loyalty programs could be reimagined with NFTs and the metaverse.

2. Book on Google for hotels to shut after low take-up

Google will shut down its “Book on Google” option for hotels as of May 25 due to low usage from both partners and consumers.

Google launched the option in 2015 to facilitate transactions for hotels and online travel agencies whose sites were not optimized for mobile web, which at the time was beginning to overtake desktops for internet usage.

Partners that offer the Book on Google link remain the merchant for the booking, but the reservation and payment information is captured in a Google-hosted form and then passed directly to the partner.

1. Presenting the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023

It has long been said that creativity and innovation often arrive in times of crisis. Our selections of the Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023 certainly validate that mantra.

Of the 25 startups on this list, 14 have been founded since the start of 2020 when travel - and much else in the world - came to a halt as people around the world faced the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, nine of the 25 launched in 2021 – and are already showing enough promise to warrant their selection.

It was not an easy task. We began with more than 120 startups to consider. In making our selections, we’ve looked for indicators of innovation and growth potential and focused on startups no more than five years since founding. We have also made an effort to find companies that represent diversity in sector, location and founders.