Travel and the sharing economy
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Rafat Ali
Travellers want the human face back in tourism in a digital age where machines book your hotel room, air ticket and other needs, say experts.
According to Rafat Ali, Founder/ CEO of Skift, a US-based travel industry intelligence and marketing platform, research shows that travellers are yearning for a ‘more human touch’ and less tech. “It should be a mix human contact coupled with digital efficiency,” he said speaking at the at the 2017 annual Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) summit held in Sri Lanka’s west coast town of Negombo.
“It is time that we return to the core of travel – hospitality,” he said adding that while platforms like Airbnb, booking.com and Uber have transformed the travel landscape, mass tourism might be on the way out as millennials prefer quieter cities than overcrowded ones.
The conference drew many references to the way travel is changing under a shared economy where the focus is on access to convenience rather than ownership with millennials leading the way in these progressive changes.
Taking lessons from the sharing economy, hotels are beginning to put kitchens in rooms.
Renting budget tuk-tuks, surf boards or roller skates among many other needs will be the next best thing to happen while borrowing Princess Diana’s wedding dress or an exquisite piece of jewellery for a special occasion is not far off.
According to Lawrence Leong, former Assistant Chief Executive (International Group), Singapore Tourism Board and now an angel investor, there is an app ‘rocksbox.com’ offering jewellery on rent. “Ladies, you can rent the best jewellery in the world for that special occasion,” he said drawing laughter from the audience.
“It’s not about ownership, it’s about access,” he said adding that very soon there would be many other rental options flooding the travel marketplace.
Greg Klassen, formerly from Canadian Tourism Commission and now an international consultant, strongly believes that tourism will move away from the mass market model to a localised Fit model which will generate more revenue and contribute more to communities.