User Experience for Travel Websites

I’ve visited 40+ countries, and one shift feels impossible to miss: Travel is no longer being planned around places. It’s being planned around outcomes. Not “Where should I go?” But “What do I want to feel, do, learn, or experience?” That is a much bigger shift than it looks. Because when travel becomes experience-led, the destination stops being the product. It becomes the setting. You can see it in the data: 63% of travelers are willing to pay more for room upgrades or special extras, 42% say AI helps save time planning, 37% use it for personalized recommendations, and 36% use it to find new destinations. At the same time, word of mouth remains the most influential travel research source at 36%, while user-generated video follows at 26%. That tells us something important: Travel discovery is becoming more personalized, but trust is still deeply human. People are using AI, reels, creator content, Reddit, and recommendations together, not separately. Amadeus calls this “Travel Mixology”, a multi-source planning behavior that blends machine speed with human authenticity. And on the experience side, the shift is just as clear. American Express found that 79% of Millennials and Gen Z are likely to seek out local workshops or destination-specific activities, 76% of global respondents say skills gained on a trip stay with them longer than material souvenirs, and 83% of Millennial and Gen Z travelers prioritize unique, authentic experiences over popular tourist attractions. So the real trend is not just “personalized travel.” It is the redefinition of travel value. Earlier, value meant, more landmarks, better hotels, tighter itineraries. Now, value increasingly means, better stories, local immersion, memorable skills, and trips that feel personally designed. 📍That is why smaller destinations can win. 📍That is why curated itineraries are growing. 📍That is why social discovery matters more. 📍And that is why AI will shape planning, but probably won’t replace human taste. My view: The next phase of travel will belong to brands, creators, and platforms that understand one thing well: People are not buying a destination. They are buying a version of themselves in that destination. What kind of travel do you think is growing faster now, destination-led or experience-led? #TravelTrends #TravelIndustry #ConsumerBehavior #ExperienceEconomy #TrendAnalysis #BusinessInsights #TravelPlanning #AI #DigitalConsumer #TourismTrends #ResearchInsights

My #WiT2025 takeaways (1/10): Hospitality Show-off Luxury is dead. Long live Meaning. The new battleground in Asia Pacific hospitality is not distribution or price. It's Experience Orchestration. If your tech stack creates friction, you're losing the most valuable guest. 1. The Luxury Pivot: From Having to Becoming Luxury is shifting from material expense ("bling") to profound personal connection and purpose. Top-tier clients are moving from having (material goods) to becoming (experiences), favoring experiences that emphasize social impact or personal immersion. Some panelists therefore mentioned that the core metric for success is moving beyond RevPAR and occupancy to the Return on Emotional Investment (ROE). Loyalty is no longer just driven by points, but in some cases by co-creation and "money-can't-buy experiences", such as COMO Hotels and Resorts collaborating with NASA, as mentioned by Puneet Mahindroo during WiT (Web in Travel). 2. The Crisis of Data Orchestration While distribution channels are largely "solved" (or at least manageable at scale today), the biggest challenge is Experience Orchestration. Systematic data fragmentation still prevents a unified view of the guest, meaning technology operates in silos (pre-stay versus in-stay, F&B, spa, rooms) while the guest interacts with the hotel as a single entity. This causes visible friction: even guests who pre-check-in online frequently waste time at the front desk being asked for information they have already provided. This friction is most acute during the transition from the platform (mostly OTA but also direct) to the physical check-in. This aspect is key as a better in-stay experience may increase the probability for a guest to return by 3.8x according to panelists. 3. OTAs as Experience Partners, Not Gatekeepers In the long standing “love-hate” relationships between OTAs and Hotels, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are pushing to redefine their role, shifting from being mere "gatekeepers" to genuine experience partners. For example, according to Xing Xiong, COO of Trip.com, more than 50% of guest queries on platforms like Trip.com occur before the booking is finalized. By providing AI-enabled tools and pre-sale support, OTAs aim to reduce customer friction and increase conversion. 4. Scaling Independent Hospitality Independent hotel groups, such as Worldwide Hotels (WWH), benefit from flexibility and agility. As Carolyn Choo, her CEO, pointed out, the democratization of technology, especially AI, acts as an "equalizer," enabling independent operators to adopt powerful, non-proprietary revenue management and guest experience tools. In highly fragmented sectors, like luxury villas and rentals, scaling is best achieved through an M&A roll-up strategy as mentioned by Stephanie Chai from The Luxe Nomad: acquiring specialized property management companies to gain scale and market expertise. #HospitalityTech #CustomerExperience #LuxuryTravel #AI #TravelStrategy #TheWayForward

Travelers don’t care about your brand. They care about what works. Right now, OTAs are winning. Everyone in travel is obsessed with who owns the customer? Hotels think they do. OTAs really think they do. But does this matter if the customer doesn’t care? They don’t care about your brand loyalty program. They don’t care if you’re “direct.” They care about three things: Price. Flexibility. Whether your site doesn’t make them want to throw their laptop out the window. This is where OTAs have quietly eaten everyone’s lunch. They don’t pretend to be anyone’s favorite brand. They just work. Wide selection, smart filters, easy changes, and yes, still better prices than most hotel websites, even in 2025. Hotels, to their credit, are trying. But adding more flags to your brand portfolio won’t magically turn Bonvoy into an OTA. You’re not going to out-tech Expedia. And guests aren’t waking up thinking, “I hope I get elite status after night 43 this year.” Now enter AI. We’re about to move from “who has the slickest booking interface” to “who understands the traveler before they even search.” AI agents won’t care about loyalty points. They’ll care about context, price, availability, and whether your platform makes it easy to book and rebook with zero friction. The next generation of travel platforms won’t win because they shout louder. They’ll win because they’re smarter. So the real question isn’t “will AI reshape travel?” It already has. The question is: when the AI agent books the room, will it book yours? #VentureCapital #AI #Traveltech

India's travel market is projected to cross $125 billion by 2027. At the same time: - More than 70% of travel discovery now starts online - AI powered trip planning is becoming mainstream globally - Travelers are spending more time researching than booking Which means travel is quietly becoming an intelligence problem. But most travel companies are still competing like it's 2015. Right now, India's travel ecosystem is dominated by platforms like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip.com, Cleartrip and ixigo. And to their credit, they're already using AI. We're seeing personalized recommendations, dynamic pricing engines and AI customer support ixigo has invested heavily in AI driven fare prediction. MakeMyTrip is introducing conversational planning experiences. Global players like Booking.com and Expedia are building AI trip assistants that help users navigate millions of travel combinations. But most of these systems still optimize transactions, not decisions. And that's where the next opportunity is emerging. Because travel isn't actually difficult because of booking, it's difficult because of uncertainty. People don't know: 1. Which destination fits their budget this month 2. When prices are likely to rise 3. How weather affects the experience 4. Whether their itinerary is actually realistic 5. What to do when plans suddenly change That uncertainty creates friction long before a booking happens. And AI is finally becoming capable of solving it. 📌 Adaptive Trip Planning Today's itinerary generators create a plan. Tomorrow's systems will continuously redesign it. Flight delayed? Weather changes? Attraction closed? The itinerary updates automatically. The trip becomes dynamic instead of static. 📌 Budget Intelligence Most travelers start with a destination but many should start with a budget. AI can reverse the process - "Here is where ₹50,000 gets you the best experience this month." That is often a more useful decision than searching destinations manually. 📌 Hyper Personalized Travel Most recommendation engines still think in categories. But real travel intent is far more nuanced. Someone might want Remote work + beach, Adventure + luxury and Wellness + short travel time The platforms that understand intent instead of demographics will create stronger user loyalty. 📌 Real Time Travel Copilots This is the opportunity I find most interesting. Not planning Not booking But execution Imagine an AI layer that tracks disruptions, suggests alternatives, rebooks activities, adjusts schedules and optimizes spending during the trip Travel becomes an active system instead of a static purchase. And this is where newcomers should pay attention. Because competing with giants on inventory is almost impossible but competing on decision intelligence is not. So let’s talk if you want to know how you can implement these for your Traveltech brand.

At some point, every successful brand faces the same challenge!💭 ‘How do we grow once customers have already adopted our core product?’ In 2024, Airbnb was pondering the same and that’s when it made an interesting shift. Airbnb stopped thinking of itself as just a platform for booking stays. 🌎 With Airbnb Experiences and later, Airbnb Icons, the company expanded beyond accommodation into culture, entertainment, fandom, and once-in-a-lifetime access. 🔃 From cooking with local chefs… … To staying in the Up house from Pixar… … To sleeping inside a Ferrari museum. These aren’t just travel bookings anymore. They’re participation-driven experiences designed to keep people engaged inside the Airbnb ecosystem. 🌍 Why does this strategy work? 📌 It increases engagement beyond transactions - Customers now have more reasons to open the Airbnb app, browse, share, and interact, even when they’re not actively planning a trip. 📌 It expands the brand’s role in their customers’ life - Airbnb is no longer just solving for accommodation. It’s becoming a part of entertainment, identity, culture, and life itself! 📌 It creates emotional differentiation - Hotels can compete on rooms and pricing. But highly curated, fandom-driven experiences are much harder to replicate. And strategically, this is the bigger lesson! 🎯 The strongest ecosystems are built when brands move from selling a product … to owning a larger part of the customer experience around that product. So, how can you apply this to your business? Start by asking: → What adjacent experiences naturally connect to your core offering? → What communities, interests, or behaviors already overlap with your audience? → And how can you create engagement outside the moment of purchase? Because long-term growth doesn’t always come from selling more of the same thing. Sometimes, it comes from expanding the role your brand plays in people’s lives. That’s exactly what Airbnb is doing. #appstle #subscriptions #memberships #loyalty #bundles #pickupanddelivery #shopify #shopifyplus

Elements that seem to *almost always* increase bookings when I test them: 👉 Professional property photos that showcase the experience. Not just room shots – I'm talking about sunset views from the deck, cozy morning coffee spots, and those "I can see myself here" moments. 👉 Virtual property tours that bring spaces to life. Every time we A/B test 3D walkthrough content against static images, the immersive experience wins. Guests want to explore before they book. 👉 Expandable amenity lists that delight. Keep the page clean while letting interested guests discover every detail, from the wine fridge to the beach equipment. 👉 Season-specific CTAs that speak to the experience. Forget "Book Now" – try "Secure Your Perfect Summer Getaway" or "Lock in Your Ski Season Escape." 👉 Transparent booking and payment policies. Displaying clear cancellation terms, payment schedules, and trusted payment methods reduces booking anxiety significantly. 👉 Clear property unique features. Why this beach house over others nearby? Answer this in seconds with standout amenities or location perks. 👉 Detailed property pages that answer every vacation question. Comprehensive pages covering local attractions, check-in details, and house rules outperform brief listings. What conversion-boosting elements do you use in your vacation rental marketing? #VacationRental #HospitalityMarketing #TravelIndustry #PropertyManagement #BookingOptimization

Want more bookings? Study user psychology. Here’s what separates good booking experiences from great ones: 1. No-friction moment. Unlike browsing, booking is a commitment. Commitment triggers fear: “What if I can’t cancel?” “Is this the best price?” “What happens after I pay?” Unresolved doubts = abandoned carts. 2. Transparent pricing. Hidden fees or unclear terms kill trust. Clear, upfront pricing: ✦ Low bounce rate on the payment step. ✦ Reduces refund requests and support tickets. ✦ Builds long-term trust for repeat bookings. We’ve seen 30–40% drop in checkout abandonment just by surfacing “total cost” earlier. 3. Reassurance elements. Cancellation policies and refund clarity: ✦ Reduce last-moment hesitation. ✦ Increase conversion rates. ✦ Position your brand as trustworthy. 4. Urgency without manipulation. Use scarcity wisely: ✦ Highlight real-time availability (“Only 3 spots left!”) ✦ Show time-sensitive offers (“Book before midnight for 10% off”) ✦ Don’t fake it, users notice. 5. Final step feels like a win. The last click should feel rewarding, not risky. ✦ Use positive confirmation language: “You’re all set!” vs. “Submit”. ✦ Show a summary of what they’ve booked. ✦ Add a personal touch: “We’ll email your confirmation shortly!” This final moment shapes the user’s first impression of your brand and sets the tone for future interactions. A great booking experience doesn’t just help users complete a transaction. It helps them feel good about doing it. Because when people feel confident, they don’t just book once. They come back. They refer others. They become advocates. So, if you're building a booking flow, ask yourself: Does this feel safe? Does this feel easy? Does this feel fair? If the answer is yes to all three, you're not just designing a form. You're designing trust. ♻️ Share this to help others design a better booking experience. 🔔 Follow Artem Borysenko for more updates!

TikTok has officially launched TikTok GO allowing users to discover and book hotels, tours and experiences directly inside the app. And honestly? This is already exactly how people are planning travel. A few months ago, I sent a TikTok about Bodrum to a friend. Within minutes the response was: “Shall we weekend?” 😂 Three weeks later, we were in Bodrum doing the exact same beach clubs, restaurants and experiences we’d seen in the reel. That’s how quickly travel inspiration now turns into intent. And it’s why TikTok GO feels like such a significant shift for the travel industry. The traditional customer journey used to look something like this: Inspire → Research → Book Now? A single video can do all three. People aren’t just consuming travel content anymore. They’re saving it, sharing it in group chats, building itineraries from it and booking directly from the same platform they discovered it on. And now there are even AI-powered apps emerging that can identify and save locations directly from TikToks, Reels and videos people share. The customer journey is becoming shorter, faster and far more socially influenced than ever before. Which means the travel brands winning attention now aren’t necessarily the loudest… They’re the ones creating content people can actually picture themselves inside. 👉 Would someone send this to a friend? 👉 Save it for later? 👉 Instantly picture themselves there? This shift is something I explore in my book Strategic Branding in Tourism particularly around content strategy, media partnerships, creator marketing and the growing role influencers now play in shaping tourism demand and booking behaviour. Because increasingly, travel decisions are no longer being driven by traditional advertising first. They’re being driven by culture, creators and community. Really interesting read below on TikTok GO and what this could mean for the future of travel 👇 https://lnkd.in/eRSERAtX #TravelMarketing #TikTok #TourismMarketing #TravelIndustry #SocialCommerce #BrandStrategy #DigitalMarketing #TravelTrends

If I were a tour operator… I wouldn’t be creating pages like: “African Safari” or “Solo Safari”. I’d be creating experience-led pages instead. Pages like: 👉 African safari for a first-time solo traveller to Africa 👉 Luxury safari for empty nesters celebrating an anniversary 👉 Family safari for parents travelling with teenagers Why? Because that’s how people actually search now. Search behaviour has become far more specific, driven by intent, experience level, fears, and motivations, not just destinations. There’s a real opportunity to create hyper-personalised content that: ✅ Answers unspoken questions ✅ Reduces uncertainty ✅ Builds trust before the enquiry form is even touched The strategy - If you’re a family travel specialist, don’t try to create content for every traveller type. Go deep on family variations instead: 👉 Families travelling with teenagers 👉 Multi-generation trips with elderly grandparents 👉 Single parents travelling with children 👉 Families travelling with children with special needs That’s where relevance lives. Yes, you could try to cover everything, but that’s when content becomes thin and unfocused. If you know your niche (family, luxury, educational, first-time travellers), you can go much more granular and attract the right enquiries. Not more pages. Better pages. Built around real people, not just keywords. If someone searched for their exact travel scenario, would your website have a page for it? #travelseo #touroperator

This is making serious noise right now. A report is calling out one of India’s largest travel platform MakeMyTrip alleging questionable pricing practices, lack of transparency, and customer-unfriendly tactics. Now whether every claim holds up or not… that’s for regulators and the company to address. But here’s what shouldn’t be ignored: Most users have already felt this. Prices changing within minutes. Different fares on different devices. The constant feeling that you might be overpaying. And the real pain starts after you book. No matter what you do, you end up talking to a bot. Endless loops. No clear answers. And almost no way to reach a real human when you actually need help. That gap between what users experience and what platforms claim is where trust starts breaking. And once trust goes… scale doesn’t save you. In the long run, the companies that win won’t just optimize revenue. They’ll optimize for transparency, fairness, and user confidence. Because in a market this competitive, trust is the only real moat.