The conversations about where the travel industry is headed often converge at Google. Online travel players are always anticipating next moves of the search giant. At the recently concluded Phocuswright India 2017, Rob Torres, Managing Director, Travel at Google engaged in a discussion with Lorraine Sileo, Senior Vice President, Research at Phocuswright about Google’s recent steps in travel and how they will shape up in future.

(L to R) Lorraine Sileo and Rob Torres (Image: Phocuswright)

Over the past year, Trips has been the biggest travel product to come out from the search giant. Rob expressed his happiness on how widely the product has been adopted for the functionality it offers. However, it doesn’t stop here. As many of us have been guessing, Google is looking to add the booking feature for activities available in the app. According to him, it is a natural extension as people love the recommendations they get on the app but have to go elsewhere to book the activities. The partners have also expressed their interest in the same so that they can be a part of it and connect with new customers.

(Also read: Google Trips showcases the true potential of user data)

Along with Trips, Google is also betting big on voice. While Google Home is yet to find its way into many homes, things already look quite positive. Voice activated search will change how we ask questions and it would affect travel as well.

Rob shared that the adoption of voice search is on a constant rise and the younger users are increasingly relying on it as a preferable medium. As machine learning continues to work its magic in the background, the likes of Google Home and Amazon Echo will find more roles to play in the travel industry. From cars to phones, the improved connectivity will allow brands to better understand their customers and thus offer a more personalised experience. However, he also pointed out that there is a long way to go before we reach there. Mobile will be a major driver but before that, a lot of brands, especially in travel, have to catch up on the capabilities of smartphones to offer the users a great experience.

Developments like Hotel Ads and Flights have always been debatable topic in the industry. Responding to queries about the same, Rob claimed that the Hotel Ads product isn’t really cannibalising on their partners and is only an extension of what they excel at, search.

“We are still a big search engine helping people find what they want, while also helping our partners. The Hotel Ads product actually does a much better job of passing qualified leads to our partners and these leads convert better because of more information available to the users upfront,” he said.

According to him, ‘Flights’ also serves as a similar bridge between the users and their partners. The original search result of 10 blue links wasn’t getting the job done anymore and they had to evolve from there to make sure they add value to the chain. For the near future, Flights, Hotel Ads and Trips are the major Google product to keep an eye on.

What are your comments on this? Do share with us. Click here for more stories from Phocuswright India 2017.

The post Inside Google’s vision for the future of travel industry appeared first on TravHQ.

ITB Asia 2016 will open its doors to usher in its biggest and best show to date, featuring industry movers and shakers including Google and Priceline Group who will helm the show’s opening keynote. For the first time ever, the keynote sessions will stretch across all three days, exploring pertinent topics such as the impact of mobile and digital disruption in the travel industry. 

In its ninth year, ‘Asia’s Leading Travel Trade Show’ will take place in Singapore from 19 – 21 October 2016 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Marina Bay Sands.

“We have seen strong attendance and received great feedback for our keynote sessions over the last few years. With this in mind, we have extended this year’s programme to cover all three days of the show, providing a platform for like-minded players to learn, network and discuss trends which are key in shaping the future of the travel industry. We are very honoured to have speakers of such high calibre grace our show and are confident that attendees will be able to leave with useful insights,” said Katrina Leung, Executive Director of Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB Asia.

Day 1

In a world where start-ups are seen as digital disruptors, industry heavyweights including Priceline Group’s Senior Vice President, Adrian Currie and Google’s Asia Pacific Head of Hotel and Airline Suppliers, Jenn Villalobos, will take centre stage to share more about the impact of digital disruption and trends driving customer experience in travel. Moderated by renowned BBC World News presenter Sharanjit Leyl, Villalobos will make a case for how hospitality incumbents can remain competitive, while Currie will touch on key trends shaping travellers’ digital experience and how travel organisations can adapt to leverage these trends.

Day 2

With OTA sales in the Asia Pacific region skyrocketing, we will see industry heavyweights like Expedia group, Agoda, Zuji and Ctrip provide in-depth insights into this burgeoning sector. ITB Asia’s first strategic partnership with MasterCard will bring together a thought leadership panel discussion, moderated by Alex Thanopoulos, Vice President MasterCard Enterprise Partnerships Asia Pacific. This panel will welcome the opinions of Greg Schulze, Senior Vice President, Commercial Strategy and Services, Expedia group, Timothy Hughes, Vice President Business Development from Agoda, Chua Hui Wan, CEO, Zuji Singapore and Jenny Wu, Chief Strategy Officer, Ctrip.com.

Day 3

The last keynote session will shine a spotlight on China, a high growth market that saw $11 billion spent in bookings through online travel agencies in 2015, a 70 percent increase from 2014. Shanghai Jin Jiang International E-Commerce Co., Ltd’s Vice President Joseph Xia, Yiqifei Travel’s Founder & CEO, Morton Huang, Dida Travel Technology’s CEO Rikin Wu and Tuniu Corporation’s CEO & Co-founder Dunde Yu will provide their perspectives into current Chinese market conditions and how to leverage opportunities in this growing market.

Last year, ITB Asia attracted close to 760 exhibitors from 73 countries, as well as 880 buyers and more than 10,300 attendees over three days.

You can find more details or sign up for ITB Asia here.

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Some say that Google Now was Google’s answer to Apple’s Siri. Both of them get things done for you by following what you ask them to do, albeit differently. There are never ending debates on which one is better but we think both of them serve very different objectives. Siri has a character and is really good at getting things done that involve device features. Google Now however, edges it when it comes to pulling data from different sources. It gets plenty of support from the search data and other Google services. While there is lot of news about Google adding new travel features and introducing new travel apps, even the Google Now packs quite a few features that do a good job of simplifying travel. Here are some of them

1- Track your flights

Google search and Gmail offer a lot of power to Google Now. If you have booked flight tickets, Google Now will pick the information from your mailbox and display the information related to your flight in your Now cards. It will fetch the details even if the ticket has been forwarded to you and keeps checking the information so that it is updated. On the latest version of Android, you can also search for flight details using Now on Tap.

2- Manage hotel bookings

Similar to how Google Now can keep track of your flights, it can also keep track of your hotel bookings and actually put things in chronological order so that you don’t have to dig through your mailbox when you want to find your booking confirmation. It also pulls up other information related to the hotel to display on the card and offer you navigation options.

3- Track you activities and events

If you are travelling for leisure, it is likely that you would book tickets for activities and events. Now will recognise the booking mails and show you the cards. If you have booked an event ticket, it will even remind you when you should leave to arrive in time and have the navigation option right in front of you when you leave.

4- Navigate with ease

If you are using your car or even a rented one for moving around, Google Now can really simplify your navigation. Just ask Google where you want to go and it will set up your GPS for you. An added extra is that you can also use it to control your music and switch playlists. It will get even better if your car supports Android Auto. (Also read: How Android Auto will improve your road travel experience)

5- Translate

This is one of the best features of Google Now. You can keep the Translate app on your device but you still have to dig through the apps, enter the phrase and select the target language. With Google Now, you can simply go like “say thank you in Hindi” and it will say it for you. So you also know how to say it right.

6- Currency conversion

Google Now also helps you cut down on all those mental calculations where you convert any amount into your home currency. It can also eliminate the need of any third party app for the same. Just ask Google Now to convert any amount into any currency in the world and it will do the job for you. No more remembering the exchange rates.

7- Get recommendations

There are multiple apps that would allow you to find nice restaurants and bars wherever you are but Google Now can eliminate the need. Simply ask Google to look up Pizza shops nearby and it will serve you with the list of restaurants along with ratings and navigation options.

8- Learn more about places

You can also shoot random questions about places and monuments. You can ask Google Now for suggestions on places to visit at your destination. Of course you can also look up the information in search or download one of the many guide apps for the region you are visiting but who really wants to keep an extra app.

9- Show photos

Once you are back from your trip, you will tell people about it. Show pictures to your friends, colleagues and all the other people who you want to share them with. Google Photos already knows how to manage your photographs well and coupled with Google Now, it can get even smarter. So you can simply ask Now to pull up photos from Hong Kong and it will filter them for you.

What else would you like to add to the list? Do share with us.

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