Booking Platforms & Aggregators
Leaders identified a critical risk: as digital discovery migrates from search engines to social feeds, creator content, and AIgenerated itineraries, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and meta-search platforms risk losing their grip on the top of the funnel. As 37% of travelers finalise itineraries directly on digital platforms, OTAs must integrate discovery directly into the planning and booking journey, capturing intent where it actually originates.
INTEGRATED USER EXPERIENCE
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With 52% of travelers crediting creators for their most recent trip and 38% messaging them directly for advice, the ‘influencer’ is the new trusted travel agent. A key insight flagged during the discussion was that if travellers arrive at OTAs only after they have already made up their minds elsewhere, these platforms risk becoming low-margin transaction utilities. In response, one CEO shared a key strategic initiative in partnering with countries’ tourism boards to help them build experiential calendars to proactively drive destination demand.
Business implication:
OTAs and meta-search platforms should design journeys in which content, experience suggestions, recommendations, itinerary building, and booking are seamlessly linked on a single platform, including simple payment and customer support.
INTEREST-BASED PERSONALIZATION
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Digitally fluent segments often discover destinations through social trends, niche interests, and community recommendations, then expect digital interfaces to reflect these preferences.
Business implication:
OTAs must move from generic “family”, “business”, or “luxury” labels toward interest-led profiles that cluster behaviour and preferences, then personalise search results, bundles, and recommendations accordingly.
SUPPORTING EMERGING DESTINATIONS THROUGH DISCOVERY & DESIGN
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The CEOs also agreed that local authorities should position cities as unique, local, contextual and non-conforming experiences that make their digital discoverability effortless by designing visually compelling and culturally meaningful spaces. This includes investing in local creators and businesses that co-produce the experiences driving tourism growth and tourist satisfaction. Local authorities should design “experience supply chains” that integrate retail, culture, hospitality, public events, heritage, and creative industries.