Luke Bujarski

Travel is in our DNA. It's an emotional journey and story that has played out since the dawn of humankind. Getting to the root of this travel instinct can help us build better brands and lasting relationships with our customers. Luckily there's a framework for that.

Humans still have a future in travel, but we need to get increasingly specialized and savvy about how we connect with the smartphone-enabled consumer. We must look to the in-roads between high tech and high touch and how these two factors work together to create truly unique travel experiences.

Expedia has a lot going for it in the short to mid term but shifts in technology and consumer tastes have disrupted the travel space before, and will do so again. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and team will need to stay vigilant in addressing certain vulnerabilities, especially as they go up against the big platforms including Google, Facebook, Amazon and others.

Agility and speed in adapting to a rapidly changing digital world will define tomorrow's competitive landscape in travel. Take our survey to understand the big questions now facing the industry.

The U.S. alternative accommodations market remains a one-horse race with Airbnb leading its rivals, but the brand's smart first-mover advantage has also turned it into the whipping boy for local tax authorities and hotel lobbies. This turbulent landscape leaves plenty of room for new consumer-facing brands but also opportunities across the broader alternative accommodations ecosystem.

In Mexico, Latin America's largest hotel market is expected to keep on growing, thanks in part to the country being boosted by the U.S. economy.

Latin America's lodging industry remains very interesting to local and global investors alike. Economic headwinds and political upheavals have slowed but not stalled some of the world's largest hotels groups from capitalizing on opportunity in the region.

Get in early, understand how the Gen Z generation consumes media and the platforms that they engage with; understand what they want out of their travel experience; gain a better sense of their relationship to mobile technologies. What you find will surprise you.

The linear belief that youth is synonymous with incremental technology adoption doesn't necessarily hold true when it comes to travel. Travel marketers should keep this in mind as they look to the next generation of traveler; instead focusing deeper on channel preferences and content consumption patterns for those now coming of age in this digitally oriented world.

The opportunities in virtual reality for applications in travel marketing are very real. But targeting audiences and creating effective content for this nascent technology requires bold creativity and a deeper understanding of its limitations, channels, and learning from the mistakes of others.