Saniya Zanpure

For the first time since January 2020, the Skift Travel Health Index has topped 100, a sign that global tourism is now performing better than it did before the pandemic. Every region in our index showed growth over the last month.

The abundance of hotel booking channels calls for a tech-enabled distribution strategy. Central Reservation Systems help manage rates and availability across multiple booking channels and have the potential to become a $1.3 billion tech category.

India has all the cards to become the next mega source market for international travel, although major barriers still need to be overcome. The country has been performing extremely well in our Skift Travel Health Index.

With a growing share of hotel bookings made online, many hoteliers are reliant on third-party travel websites for booking volumes, and global visibility. Booking engines, website builders, and direct-booking tools can help these hotels find a better balance between first- and third-party bookings.

The Asia Pacific region, aided by the reopening of China and the Lunar New Year is on the path to rapid recovery. While China gets ready to travel again, the global tourism industry needs to catch up with the growing demand.

The vast majority of hoteliers still rely on manual checklists, Excel workbooks, and phone calls for managing staff operations. However, if tech vendors can convince hoteliers to adapt, a new tech category has the potential to generate $1.3 billion annually.

Although not fully recovered completely, the travel industry gained substantial momentum at the start of the year. All regions have almost recovered from the pandemic blues, Asia Pacific being the only exception. With loosening travel restrictions and China reopening, we expect a stronger travel industry to be less uneven this year.

The explosive popularity of online guest reviews on numerous review platforms has made it imperative for hotels to adopt reputation and review management software to benchmark guest satisfaction. This tech category has observed growth in the last decade and has the potential to generate $1.3 billion in annual revenues.

Guest-facing tech has gained popularity over the last few years, especially due to its contactless capabilities. While there is a lot of investment in this landscape and growing interest from hoteliers and guests, it is still largely in its infancy with a lot of potential to grow.