Jeremy Kressmann

Wearable technology offers plenty of upsides for travel brands. But it also involves lots of complex, behind-the-scenes moving pieces to make it run smoothly. Assuming they can pull off the logistics, Carnival's Ocean Medallion program seems like a good move both for passengers and the company's bottom line.

Given how much time we all spend at airports, it's a sector of the travel industry that's ripe for technology innovation and disruption.

Love it or hate it, the online travel industry would arguably not exist without the promotional firepower generated by paid digital advertising. As more online consumers choose to avoid this advertising using ad blocking tools, it's raising some difficult questions about how travel companies should proceed.

Location-based marketing is the future of the travel industry. The companies (like Google, Apple and Baidu) that control access to location data via map applications will hold a huge competitive advantage over competitors.

The travel industry was among the earliest pioneers of online commerce. As Cyber Monday grows in importance for online retailers, it's only natural that more travel marketers are looking to capitalize on all the deal-making.

For now, Airbnb Trips is mostly a threat to the tours and activities sector. But it's not much of a stretch to imagine the service evolving into a full-blown online travel agency in the near future.

Search advertising continues to dominate travel ad budgets because it's extremely effective at converting shoppers into buyers. But new research on travelers' "path to purchase" suggests travel marketers should question this assumption, finding that earlier stages of the booking process may be equally influential.

"Like" buttons could be the solution for hotels, airlines, and other types of travel companies eager to gather guest feedback during the trip. Consumers are already accustomed to the idea, so it is definitely worth further testing.

Whether we're discussing Instagram or conversational "chat bots," more travel brands seem to be experimenting with ways to make online commerce more social. The question is, do consumers want that too?

Cross-device marketing remains a complicated, but necessary, task for today's travel marketers. Thankfully, there are more tools and better methods available to do it than ever before.