Travel’s movers, shakers and newsmakers 2022

As 2022 comes to a close, we are reflecting on the past 12 months and thinking ahead to the new year.

Overall there has been a strong current of optimism running through every sector of the industry this year and excitement about innovation is bubbling up, in many cases spurred by the frustrations and weaknesses laid bare during the pandemic.

These are some of the people and topics we have identified as being in the spotlight in the past year and as the ones to watch in the coming months. 

The people

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber

• As the former CEO of Expedia Group, Khosrowshahi has a clear understanding of the travel industry, so it shouldn’t be too surprising he’s leading the ridesharing and delivery giant deeper and deeper into the travel experience for consumers. The company announced several travel-related updates in 2022, and there is certainly more to come. Uber Travel, which launched in May in the United States and Canada and is now available to users worldwide, streamlines the process of requesting rides connected to a trip by importing flight, hotel and restaurant reservations from Gmail, Outlook and Hotmail into the Uber app. In the United Kingdom, Uber is also offering train and bus bookings in its app, with talk of flights and hotels being added in the future. And Uber Explore now includes an integration with Viator, so users can book activities and a ride to the location all within the app. The word super app comes to mind, and Uber may have the foundation to be one of the first U.S.-based brands to get there. 

 József Váradi, co-founder and CEO of Wizz Air

• As co-founder and CEO of Wizz Air, József Váradi steered the Hungary-based low-cost carrier through the pandemic. The carrier said during recent earnings that it plans to exceed pre-pandemic levels of business in the next six months and also continue its growth strategy even with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. For the first half of 2022 Wizz Air carried 26.5 million passengers compared to 12.5 million year-on-year. Váradi also said recently that the airline is planning a 35% increase in capacity for the second half of its 2022 financial year as well as more flights to the Middle East. And, despite its growth, Wizz Air is also managing to reduce carbon emissions per passenger at a time when governments and consumers are watching how the aviation industry tackles the sustainability challenge. In January, Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company that rates companies on their ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance, named Wizz Air Europe's most sustainable airline, and in July CAPA named the carrier its Global Environmental Sustainability Airline Group of the Year.

Marjan Rintel, president and CEO of KLM

• Marjan Rintel took up the reins of KLM in July this year. Having previously spent eight years in a similar role at Dutch Railways (NS), she is no stranger to travel industry challenges. However, no one was prepared for the chaos at Schiphol, and other European airports, this past summer as travelers returned to the skies. Fighting current fires alongside more medium to long term challenges such as sustainable travel and labor shortages will be very much part of her role. In addition, the need to drive the carrier further in its digital journey will likely be high on the agenda especially after more than two years of the pandemic and, Rintel recently stated that the next five to 10 years will be spent getting rid of legacy technology and speeding up the move to more modern ways of selling. 

Matt Goldberg, CEO of Tripadvisor

• Will Tripadvisor sell off Viator? Will its membership program, Tripadvisor Plus, remain in its current form? And what else might change at the 20-plus-year-old company now that founding CEO Steve Kaufer is gone? In his first interview as CEO of Tripadvisor, Matt Goldberg took the stage for the opening session at The Phocuswright Conference in November and shared that the company is “in the messy middle” of identifying which areas to strengthen, which ones to do differently and what to drop completely. Goldberg emphasized the decisions are being driven by “putting the consumer at the heart of everything we do.” In the coming months we expect to hear about what he called a “refreshed approach” to the Tripadvisor core as well as an acceleration of efforts to reinforce the Viator brand as the leader in the experiences space. Goldberg also says the company is considering how content can be provided in new ways to create an “immersive travel experience” and how to make the Tripadvisor app a more valuable tool for consumers. 

Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of Agoda

• Like Goldberg, Omri Morgenshtern stepped into the role of CEO at Agoda on July 1. But unlike Goldberg, Morgenshtern was already an insider, having been chief operating officer at the Booking Holdings-owned online travel agency since 2018 and with the company since 2014. While recovery has been slower across Asia Pacific – and challenges remain according to Phocuswright – Agoda hasn’t let up, building its teams around the world and launching new products, including a “Price Freeze” feature in collaboration with Hopper Cloud. In a discussion at WiT Singapore 2022, Morgenshtern said Agoda is working to create a new UX that connects every element of a trip even when bookings happen at different times – what he calls a “persistent trip.” And he has expressed an ambitious vision for the OTA’s future as a platform that provides “any service you consume while traveling, and everywhere, physical or virtual. When you travel, we want to give you the services, and make sure the more elements you book, the cheaper it becomes for you. If you get the flight, accommodation and attraction through us, quite frankly nobody will be able to compete with the rates I’m going to provide to you.”

Peter Kern, vice chairman and CEO of Expedia Group

• Since joining Expedia Group as CEO and vice chairman in April 2020, Peter Kern has overseen a radical shake up. In recent months alone, the company has unveiled its Open World strategy which includes a new technology platform. Further launches have included One Key, the group’s unified loyalty program and Open World Accelerator, laying the ground for startups and small-to-medium sized businesses to work with Expedia brands. Almost three years into the role, Kern will watch as these initiatives bear fruit but the results will not be immediate. In the interim, many will be asking what’s next, but Kern will have to contend with the impact of recession in many parts of the globe as well as long-standing challenges including the eye-watering marketing dollars handed to Google every year.

Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst

• In September it will be four years since Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, announced the formation of Travalyst as a global coalition of travel and technology companies focused on “improving conservation, environmental protection and expanding local community economic development by encouraging sustainable tourism practices across the travel industry.” While the pandemic slowed Travalyst’s efforts in the last few years, the coalition has continued to add new partners - now numbering nine global brands - and is developing and implementing frameworks to calculate and display climate impacts of travel, starting with aviation and hospitality. We hope to see Travalyst’s work accelerate in the coming year. Davey is a sharp and thoughtful leader, and with the support of brand partners such as Google, Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and more, has the opportunity to lead meaningful developments on this critical topic.

PhocusWire’s Hot 25 founders

• Narrowing down a list of more than 120 startups to 25 is a complex task, and certainly the backgrounds and capabilities of the founding team is an important factor in the consideration. Our selections for 2023 reflect both the strengths of the products and services and the smarts of their founders – more than half that launched their companies since the start of the COVID pandemic. We believe these leaders are poised to continue growing their companies and grabbing headlines in the coming year. We’ll be watching closely, and we believe you should as well.

The topics

eVTOL

• With this being the year that the cartoon character George Jetson is thought to have been born, it’s fitting that electric aircraft would make great strides in 2022. Manufacturers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft scored funding round after funding round - sometime from major airlines. United Airlines, for example, paid $10 million to Archer Aviation for 100 of its eVTOL aircraft. Less than one month later, United invested $15 million in Eve Air Mobility with an agreement to purchase up to 400 of its air taxis. Fueled by an investment from Delta Air Lines, electric aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation and Skyports Infrastructure announced in October they are developing a moveable passenger terminal, called a “Living Lab,” with the aim of delivering a zero-wait check-in experience for customers. The Living Lab will travel throughout the United States in the hopes of winning over regulators, government officials and the public to electric aircraft. Expect to see investments and innovations in this sector to continue to grab headlines in 2023.

Blockchain

• PhocusWire has been covering blockchain and its potential use in travel from our outset – including stories about its role in identity, loyalty, distribution and payments. The pandemic certainly slowed progress, but in the last year we have seen quite a bit of activity from companies around the globe including Arise, Blockskye, Dtravel, Pinktada, Chain4Travel, Winding Tree, Travala and several of our PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startups for 2023 – Neoke, TravelX, Flycoin, Aeropaye and IoMob. As we get more and more examples of real-world implementations – and potentially ones that not only work but that enhance efficiency and even drive revenue for travel companies – will we see wider use of blockchain-powered solutions? We think the answer is yes – and that 2023 may mark that tipping point.

The economy

• It’s been a topic of conversation across the industry in 2022 and will continue to be top of mind in the new year. How will economic challenges impact the travel industry? Inflation, energy costs, mortgage rates, the war in Ukraine – all of these factors play into decisions about travel, both for individuals considering vacations and companies weighing the value of business trips. According to the International Monetary Fund’s latest Global Economic Outlook published in October, “Global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades… Global growth is forecast to slow from 6% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.” In their Q3 earnings calls, travel leaders remained cautiously optimistic. When asked about macroeconomic volatility, Expedia Group CEO Peter Kern said, “Despite some macroeconomic uncertainty and some short-term impact from Hurricane Ian, travel demand has remained strong and ADRs remain substantially elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels… so far, there's really no evidence to suggest there is some bigger macroeconomic thing happening.” And Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel said, “While there continues to be uncertainty around the near-term macroeconomic environment, we are as confident as ever in the long-term growth of travel and in the opportunities ahead for our company.” The Q4 and full year 2022 results coming out early next year will certainly paint a more clear picture of the impact.

New travel sellers

• There have been multiple announcements in the last few years about companies outside of travel either adding or enhancing a travel booking product. Examples include Capital One’s partnership with Hopper – extended with an additional $96 million investment in November - Revolut launching accommodation and rental home bookings, powered by Expedia, JPMorgan Chase announcing plans to create ChaseTravel.com and Citi launching a new travel booking platform in partnership with Booking Holdings’ brands Booking.com and Rocket Travel. As referenced above, Uber is expanding its travel offerings. And Amadeus is working with several apps that are developing travel verticals, including Latin American app Rappi and Thailand-based food delivery app Robinhood, which is creating an OTA product. We expect to see more of this type of activity in the coming year as brands look to tap into consumers’ willingness to prioritize spending on travel and experiences – but also their desire for simple, one-stop-shop digital interfaces that make travel search and booking quick and easy.

Sustainability

• Sustainability became a top concern for the travel and hospitality industry in 2021. And judging by the quantity of news stories devoted to the issue this year, sustainability in travel shows no signs of leaving the global spotlight. Whether driven by consumer demand or government incentives, having a more positive impact based on environmental, social and economic measures is an aim for many - if not all - segments of the industry: travel managers, hoteliers, airlines, tour companies, ground transportation and online travel agencies. And we’re seeing some movement in the right direction. In June of this year, the Swedish airline Braathens held what it claims to be the first regional flight using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in both engines. Vancouver Island has made a bold shift to define itself as a social enterprise, focused on measuring its success through its social impact versus through economic indicators. And earlier this month The Travel Corporation – parent company of 40 brands including Trafalgar Tours, Contiki Tours, Red Carnation Hotels, Uniworld River Cruises and more, with operations in more than 70 countries – announced a new carbon fund to help it reach net zero. But the industry still faces numerous challenges in reaching its sustainability targets, including the European energy crisis, a shortage of SAF and a lack of unity around emissions standards. Stay tuned to PhocusWire’s coverage in 2023 to see how the industry overcomes obstacles to inch closer to its environmental goals.