Justin Dawes

Instead of heeding employee concerns, Southwest focused primarily on tech for customers, leading to a worst-case example of what can happen when modernizing operations is not a priority. May other airlines learn from Southwest’s mistake.

Everyone in the travel industry, especially airlines, is talking about sustainability right now. But investments are also being made in innovations that could form the industry decades from now.

Despite an increasingly negative economic forecast, travel tech startups raised billions of dollars in 2022.

Even after the pandemic decimated the hotel industry, operators are still shy about adopting new technologies — and they’re inevitably losing precious dollars because of it.

The taxi drivers of Welcome Pickups double as tour guides, while Cabana is offering vacation rentals in high-tech camper vans and Customcells wants to create a next-generation battery for airplanes.

Independent short-term rental software startups have done well during the post-pandemic travel boom, but the market is starting to get tougher, so they would do well to tighten their business plans and expand their assets.

Raising $185 million in hotel tech at all, especially in this economic climate, is an endorsement of the product Mews has built — but more importantly shows the potential investors see in modernizing the market at this precise time.

Celebrity Cruises is taking a risk by being the first cruise line to offer a ship tour in the metaverse. It's brave to publicly adopt new technology and adapt based on customer feedback. Being a first mover already makes the company a leader in that category.

It seems like there's a short-term rental platform for everyone. Le Collectionist's niche is people who want to rent top-tier houses for tens of thousands of dollars per week.

Hotels are more open to trying new ideas as they recover financially post-pandemic. Enter firms like tech startup ResortPass, which is pitching itself as a new way to juice more revenues.