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OTA vs. Metasearch: A Quick Vocabulary Lesson!

Erin Miller

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Table of Contents

Online travel agency, metasearch engine, final thoughts.

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Let’s delve into a brief lesson on the basic concept of OTAs vs. metasearch engines.

Previously, these terms were fairly straightforward to define, but technology has progressed and there are now many ways in which these services overlap. We’ll do our best to make a decent distinction between them here, but we’ll warn you…it’s not always that simple!

Online Travel Agency : a website that traditionally offers both search and booking capabilities.  OTA services usually include flights, hotels, and rental cars, with some also offering vacation rentals, cruises, and events/activities. OTAs often offer bundles to secure greater discounts when booking multiple services together.

An OTA is a sort of “middle-man” between the user and the airline/hotel/etc. While they no longer make commissions on flights, OTAs may take a cut of 15%-20% of your booking fee from the hotel.

Additionally, OTAs also often have toll-free phone numbers for personal assistance with booking/re-booking reservations.

Big players you’ve likely heard of in the OTA industry include Expedia , Hotels.com , Travelocity , Orbitz , Priceline , and Booking.com , among others.

Metasearch Engine : one overarching search engine that aggregates data from various sources (including other third-party search engines, OTAs, hotel websites, etc.) to provide a more comprehensive results page. This tool basically does what you’d do yourself by checking multiple different websites to compare airfares; it just checks more sites much faster… and no offense, but it’s probably smarter!

In the past, metasearch engines only offered the capability to search, directing the user to a third party OTA or individual airline to book and charging a small fee for their services. That’s no longer always the case, as we’re seeing some metasearch engines emerge with the capability to book directly through their websites.

Similar to OTAs, metasearch engine services usually include flights, hotels, and car rentals; some even provide packages to rival OTA’s discounted prices when booking services together.

Big players you’ve likely heard of in the metasearch industry include Google Flights , Kayak , Momondo , and Hipmunk, among others.

Here’s where it gets confusing. Most OTAs now offer price comparison features that essentially stack their results up against other search results, providing a more metasearch-like result.  However, this option usually allows users a max of 3-4 comparison sites, whereas metasearch engines compare many more.

In addition, some metasearch engines like Hipmunk now offer assistance with travel planning, booking, canceling, etc., whereas before this was strictly OTA territory.

Things get even more convoluted when an OTA (ex: Expedia) buys a metasearch site like Kayak. Or when a metasearch site like Hipmunk uses an OTA (Travelocity, owned by parent company Expedia ) to power their hotel bookings. Or when a metasearch site like Skyscanner offers various OTAs (Kiwi.com, lastminute.com, etc.) through which to book your flight.

Lastly, we all know OTAs rank their results. How do they do that? Is it fair? Our friends at Duetto Research provide an eye opening report into the ins and outs of OTA search results.

The list goes on, but by now your head may be swimming!

The point is, whether you choose to use multiple OTAs or a certain metasearch engine is really personal preference, and truly depends on how much digging you want to do yourself.

We list both types in our travel resource post on flight searches  and go into our thoughts on the best of the best in a separate post.

Additionally, we’ve got an entire article dedicated to the best websites for booking hotels at the cheapest prices. 

After all, it is an extensive look into travel resources, and we wouldn’t be Upgraded Points if we didn’t go in-depth!

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Online travel agencies vs. "meta search" airfare sites

See recent posts by George Hobica

What's the difference between an "online travel agency" (OTA) such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity vs.  so-called "meta search" travel site such as TripAdvisor Flights ? For one thing, online travel agencies have toll-free numbers with agents standing by to help you book or re-book a flight; meta search sites such as Kayak don't, because they don't sell airfares; they send you directly to airlines or to online travel agencies to book. Both an online travel agency and a meta search site will let you know if the best deal is on a combination of airlines (say, going out on US Airways and coming back on United).

But neither type of site will show you fares on all airlines (Southwest and Allegiant are excluded) and neither will always have fares that the airlines are keeping for their own websites (airlines sometimes hold back fares and inventory for their own sites in order to entice users to book direct).

But, unlike airline sites which try to keep you on the airline's own network, OTAs and meta search websites do show you the widest range of schedules and fares. Occasionally, an online travel agency such as Expedia or Travelocity will have fares that meta search sites don't. For example, over the summer American Airlines had business class fares to Europe for peak summer travel at prices lower than economy class for the same dates; Travelocity had these deals, Kayak didn't. In general, however, meta search sites do a better job of finding "airline-site-only" fares than do online travel agencies. On the other hand, online agencies offer air plus hotel packages that can sometimes save you serious cash, whereas meta search sites don't.

Bottom line: you need to consult meta search sites, online travel agencies, and airline sites if you really want to find the best deal.

Follow Airfarewatchdog on Twitter @airfarewatchdog to track unadvertised airfare sales that sometimes last only a few hours.

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Top 50 SEO Keywords for Travel Agents

Ready to start ranking on search engines? Click on the button below to generate a free SEO report and insight into your top 3 competitors online. 

The Top SEO Keywords for Travel Agents

 There is no getting around it, any SEO campaign you run for your travel agent, no matter how brilliantly executed, stands or falls based on your target keywords. If your company has selected the right keywords, you will get more and more organic website traffic from Google as time goes on. Choose the wrong keywords, and your competition will surpass you. But there is plenty to be excited about! Did you know that there are over 74,000 U.S. based online searches for travel agents each month? By optimizing your website with the Top SEO keywords for travel agents you are providing yourself with inbound leads that will only serve to complement the ones you generate through referrals and traditional advertising methods. Here are the Top SEO Keywords for travel agents in the United States courtesy of the Google Keyword Planner . 

Ready to Improve Your Search Visibility Online? Get Your Free SEO Report!

Each report is hand-crafted by a team member at MarketKeep and comes with a customized video that walks you through your report visually. That way we can help you understand how your business is performing online, and what you can do better in order to connect with your customers in the moments that matter to them. 

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The 50 Best SEO Keywords for travel agents (2023)

The 50 best seo keywords for travel agents (2022), ready to get started, learn about our small business seo services, & seo  packages and how your site can rank higher., utilizing the top seo keywords for travel agents.

The key to ranking well when it comes to the top SEO keywords for travel agents it falls within 7 key components.

1. Making sure that your website is mobile-friendly, fast, and secure.

2. Incorporating your SEO keyword into top search results related to travel agents

3. Optimizing your website’s content, title tags, headings, and meta descriptions for your keyword.

4. Claiming and optimizing your Google My Business Profile completely.

5. Claiming and filling out your local directly listings with the same consistent NAP (Name, Address Phone Number).

6. Creating a key-phrase-optimized blog that contains high-quality content that is updated regularly.

7. Using photos and videos in your text that have been properly optimized with your SEO keywords for travel agents

The Three Steps You Need to Take to Rank Well 

Ranking your website to be the #1 search result in your area involves a number of key components, and executing those strategies correctly each and every time. As small business owners, we understand that our websites need to be optimized and indexed correctly, but here are the three main factors to consider.

Local SEO –   Your website needs to be optimized for local searches. Local SEO helps you to target customers searching within a specific geographic location. This is important because  33% of all clicks,  go to the top 3 search results on the 1st page of Google. So if you have optimized your website for local SEO, you will automatically guarantee yourself a share of 33% of all online searches for keywords relating to your company. Here at MarketKeep, we will do the work necessary to boost your ranking online in 4 steps.

• Find high ranking search terms/queries your target audience is using
• Build high-quality content that will attract website visitors
• Optimize your   Google Business Profile  to take advantage of local searches
• Optimize your SEO strategy through your Google Analytics Account

On-Page SEO –  

A big part of our SEO services for travel agents  centers around on-page SEO. On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing each page of your website in order to rank higher in search results and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. That means optimizing each service you offer so that you can rank in the top search results not only for your company’s name but important searches related to the services you offer as well. We will also work on optimizing your meta tag titles and meta tag descriptions so that they successfully articulate what your agency does. 

Off-Page SEO –

 Have you ever noticed that when you search for your company in one location versus another you might rank differently? That is directly related to what is called, your Domain Rating. That is how strong of a website you have organically. Our off-page SEO services for travel agents  focus on finding high-quality websites to help link back towards your website. This link building strategy helps to ensure that no matter where you are searching from geographically, your website can be found in the top places.

About MarketKeep

MarketKeep is a digital marketing agency for small businesses and start-ups based in Towson, Md. Our goal is to help small business owners plan, place, and optimize their digital marketing strategies. MarketKeep is proud to offer our clients the following services:

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Local SEO –   So many of us rely on our phones to find businesses and products that are close by. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to connect with customers in your backyard. As a Local SEO agency MarketKeep helps to position your business online to acquire Local SEO searches. Learn more by contacting our Local SEO Agency Team . 

How To Build Travel Meta Search Engine: A Step-By-Step Guide

Are you looking to enter the lucrative travel industry by building a state-of-the-art travel meta search engine or expanding your existing business with a custom travel search engine?

This step-by-step guide is your key to navigating the complex world of online travel search.

From gathering initial requirements to deploying and maintaining your custom platform, we’ll walk you through the essential stages of creating a search engine that stands out in the competitive travel market.

Whether you’re looking to aggregate real-time customer data or create a customized search experience for specific travel needs, this guide provides practical insights and industry best practices to bring your vision to life.

Boost your travel business with the right technology

You will learn:, state of travel industry in 2024, key travel trends and technologies, customer experience with ai and ar, automation and efficiency in travel business, strategic technology investments, what are travel meta search engines, benefits of custom travel search engines, building a custom travel search engine – step-by-step process, importance of working with experts in custom software development projects, most popular travel meta search engines on the market in 2023.

A travel meta search engine is a digital platform that aggregates and compares travel-related information, such as flights, hotels, and car rentals, from different websites to help users find the best options based on their preferences and budget.

Imagine you’re planning a vacation and want to find cheap flights, nice hotels, or car rentals. Instead of going to lots of different websites, a travel meta search engine does it for you. It searches many travel sites at once and gives you a list of options with prices. That way, you can easily compare and choose what best suits your budget and needs.

According to a recent Eye for Travel survey, 94 percent of travelers use metasearch engines to compare hotel rates . In fact, 60 percent of independent hoteliers consider metasearch the most effective marketing channel. Meta search advertising has generated $6 billion in economic value over the past decade.

In the rapidly evolving travel industry, not only are meta search engines critical for travel companies, but custom travel search engines also play a pivotal role.

These custom engines significantly improve direct bookings by providing a more tailored and user-friendly experience. They cater to the specific needs and preferences of travelers, providing a range of choices and streamlined booking processes.

[Read also: A Step-by-Step Guide: How to Start an Online Travel Agency (OTA) ]

In the dynamic world of travel and hospitality, custom travel search and meta search engines are game-changing technology.

Let’s take a look at the key benefits these solutions bring to online travel agencies, travelers, and business owners:

Increased Market Exposure

For both travel meta search engines and custom travel search engines, increased market exposure is a key benefit.

Meta search engines increase visibility by aggregating listings from multiple sources and presenting users with a wide range of options in one place. Increased visibility in a consolidated platform can lead to increased brand awareness and customer reach, which are critical for market growth and brand establishment.

Custom travel search engines, on the other hand, provide a specialized platform that highlights specific services or destinations. Both types help travel companies reach a broader audience and make their products and services more visible to potential customers.

Enhanced Customer Acquisition

Travel search engines are powerful tools for attracting new customers.

Travel meta search engines attract users with the promise of comprehensive price comparisons and a wide range of options. By aggregating various travel options, meta search engines serve as an effective customer acquisition tool.

They provide travel companies with access to a large pool of potential customers actively searching for travel services. This direct exposure to a targeted audience looking to make a purchase can lead to higher conversion rates and more bookings, which are essential for business growth and revenue generation.

Custom travel search engines, on the other hand, attract users seeking a more personalized travel planning experience by offering tailored and often niche-specific information. In both cases, these platforms serve as gateways, connecting users directly with travel suppliers.

Competitive Market Insights

These engines provide invaluable market insights and consumer data that enable companies to understand market trends, customer preferences, and competitive dynamics.

Access to this data enables companies to make informed decisions about pricing strategies, service improvements, property management , and marketing tactics. By analyzing trends and customer behavior, companies can adapt and innovate to meet market demands and stay ahead of the competition.

Real-time Pricing and Availability Updates

The travel search engine’s website provides users with real-time pricing and availability information, which is a significant benefit for travel and hospitality companies.

This feature ensures that potential customers are always presented with the most up-to-date information, reducing the risk of overbooking and price discrepancies. It also allows businesses to adjust their offerings to meet market demand, helping to optimize hotel revenue management and improve hotel inventory management .

Direct Booking Opportunities

Some meta search engines offer direct booking functionality, which can be a lucrative feature for travel companies.

This capability allows customers to make reservations directly through the meta search platform, simplifying the booking process and potentially reducing reliance on traditional hotel channel managers , which often carry higher commissions. Direct bookings can improve margins and streamline the reservation process.

Customer Insights and Feedback

Travel meta search engines often feature customer reviews and ratings, providing businesses with valuable feedback on their services.

This customer-generated content can help businesses identify areas for improvement, increase customer satisfaction, and build trust with potential customers. Positive reviews and high ratings can significantly influence consumer decisions, leading to increased bookings and a stronger reputation in the competitive travel marketplace.

[Read also: How to build a search engine: step by step ]

As you can imagine, building a custom travel search engine is no easy feat.

As with any custom software development project or enterprise software application, there are many moving parts. All aspects of such search engines such as database integration, software performance, and intuitive user interface must work together to achieve the desired results.

So how does one go about building a custom travel search engine website?

How do you even begin?

In this section, we will show you exactly what it takes to build a travel search engine from scratch – step by step.

This section is designed to guide you through the journey of developing a custom travel search engine, from initial concept to final launch.

So without further ado, let’s get started!

Step 1: Requirement Analysis

The first step in building a custom search engine is to thoroughly understand and analyze the requirements.

This involves working with stakeholders to gather their needs and expectations. The team defines the scope, goals, and specific functionality that the search engine must provide. It’s also critical to identify the target audience and understand their search habits and preferences, as this will guide the development process to create a product that effectively meets user needs.

During the requirements analysis phase of building a custom search engine, a business owner and the development team might ask themselves the following sample questions:

• What are the specific goals and objectives of this search engine?
• Who is the target audience, and what are their search habits and preferences?
• What unique features should our search engine have to stand out from existing ones?
• What are the technical and resource constraints we need to consider?

These questions are critical for the development team because they establish a fundamental understanding of the project. Clarifying the search engine’s goals and objectives aligns the team’s efforts with the organization’s vision and ensures feature prioritization that meets those goals.

Assessing technical and resource constraints ensures realistic planning and execution, setting clear boundaries for what can be achieved within the project’s scope, budget, and timeline.

Together, these questions guide informed decision-making and focus the development process on creating an effective and user-centric search engine.

Step 2: Planning and Design

Once the requirements are clear, the next step is to plan and design the search engine.

This includes creating a detailed project plan with timelines, resource allocation, and budget considerations. The design phase focuses on the architecture of the search engine, including the choice of data structures, search algorithms, and user interface design. Selecting the appropriate technology stack, including programming languages, frameworks, and databases, is also a critical part of this phase.

In this step, both management and the development team must agree on 5 key aspects of the custom travel search engine:

• Software Planning Phase : This involves creating a comprehensive project plan that outlines timelines, resource allocations, and budgeting. Tools like Gantt charts, project management software (e.g., JIRA, Asana, Trello), and resource management tools are often used here. The plan should include milestones, deliverables, and a clear timeline for each phase of the project.
• Software Design Phase : The technical architecture of the search engine is designed in this stage. This includes deciding on the programming languages, frameworks, and databases to be used. The development team usually draws robust and complicated diagrams of the software’s architecture that can be helpful in visualizing the system’s structure.
• User Interface (UI) Design: The design of the user interface is crucial as it impacts user experience. Wireframing and prototyping tools like Adobe XD, Sketch, or Figma are commonly used to create initial designs and mockups of the search engine’s interface.
• Data Structure and Algorithm Design: Deciding on the data structures and algorithms for data indexing, searching, and ranking is vital. This stage might involve using algorithm simulation tools or flowchart software to map out the logic and flow of these key components.
• Methodology Selection: Choosing the right development methodology is crucial for a smooth and agile development process. Agile methodologies like Scrum or Kanban are popular choices as they allow for flexibility, iterative development, and continuous feedback. These methodologies facilitate quick adjustments based on testing results or changing requirements.

The best approach in the planning phase is to ensure thoroughness in planning while maintaining flexibility.

The Agile methodology aligns well with this approach as it supports iterative development, adaptability to changes, and emphasizes continuous stakeholder feedback. Using a combination of robust project management tools, design software, and Agile practices enables a well-structured yet flexible environment for the development of a custom search engine.

This approach helps in managing complexities effectively, ensuring a smooth development process and timely delivery of the project.

Step 3: Data Collection and Processing

The third step in the development of a custom search engine, data collection and processing, is critical because it involves collecting and organizing the data that the search engine will use. This step differs significantly depending on the type of search engine being developed, especially when comparing meta search engines to custom travel search engines.

Data Collection

Meta Search Engines: These engines typically do not host data themselves, but rather aggregate data from various other search engines or databases. They rely heavily on APIs ( Application Programming Interfaces) to pull real-time data from various sources. For example, a travel metasearch engine would use APIs to pull flight, hotel, and car rental information from various travel sites and airlines.

Custom Travel Search Engines: In contrast, these search engines may have their own databases of travel-related information. Data collection may involve web crawlers that scrape data from various travel-related websites, including airlines, hotels, and review sites. They may also integrate APIs for specific data sources where scraping is not feasible or where real-time data is required. Collected data needs to be easily accesses providing fast response time and that’s why custom search engines often leverage IMDG database solutions like Kafka , Oracle Coherence , and Hazelcast .

Data Processing

Indexing: Once the data is collected, it needs to be indexed. This involves organizing the data in a way that makes it easily searchable. The approach to indexing may differ based on the volume and variety of data.

Normalization and Cleaning: This is crucial for ensuring data quality. It involves removing duplicates, correcting errors, and converting data into a consistent format. For travel search engines, this might include standardizing date formats, location names, and pricing information.

Architectural Designs

Web Crawlers: Both custom and meta search engines might use web crawlers, but their application will vary. In a custom travel search engine, crawlers might be more extensive and complex, designed to extract detailed information from various sources. In meta search engines, crawlers might be used more for updating links or integrating new sources.

APIs: APIs are essential for meta search engines as they rely on them to fetch data from external sources. Custom travel search engines also utilize APIs, especially for components like flight status updates, where real-time data is critical.

Database Design

The choice of database (SQL or NoSQL) and its design will depend on the data’s nature. For instance, a relational database might be more suitable for structured data with clear relationships, while NoSQL could be better for more varied or unstructured data.

Step 4: Software Development

In the development phase of a custom search engine, the key to success is the use of an agile software development methodology characterized by short development sprints and close collaboration between the development team and stakeholders.

This approach breaks the project into small, manageable chunks, allowing for steady progress and early identification of problems.

The agile framework ensures regular stakeholder engagement, providing valuable feedback that keeps the project aligned with user needs and business goals . Its inherent flexibility allows the team to adapt to changing needs and priorities – a critical aspect in the dynamic field of software development. What makes Agile particularly effective is its emphasis on continuous testing and quality assurance, ensuring that each release maintains a high standard.

This methodology not only improves team productivity and morale through its collaborative and self-organizing nature but also significantly reduces risk by addressing problems early in the development process.

The result is a development environment that is adept at responding to emerging technologies, changing user preferences, and unforeseen challenges, ensuring that the final search engine product is both functional and closely aligned with market needs.

Step 5: Software Testing

The testing phase in the development of a custom search engine is critical to ensuring the delivery of high-quality travel agency software to the end customer. During this phase, the functionality, performance, security, and user experience of the search engine are rigorously evaluated and validated.

This phase is critical for evaluating how the search engine handles different types of data, user queries, and traffic loads.

By catching bugs and issues early, testing significantly reduces the risk of post-deployment problems, which can be costly and damaging to a company’s reputation.

Testing also contributes to the overall user experience.

A search engine that has undergone extensive testing is likely to provide a smoother, more reliable user experience, which has a direct impact on user satisfaction and engagement.

In the process of testing a custom search engine, several key types of software testing are typically employed:

• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• System Testing
• Performance Testing
• Usability Testing
• Security Testing
• Compatibility Testing

Step 6: Deployment and Maintenance

The deployment and maintenance phase is the final, ongoing stage in the development of a custom search engine, marking the transition from development to real-world application.

This phase is critical to the long-term success and viability of the search engine.

Deployment begins with the initial go-live, which involves meticulously setting up the infrastructure, whether on-premises or cloud-based, to ensure that all components function seamlessly. This phase is followed by rigorous monitoring and performance tuning to optimize efficiency and address any operational issues.

Maintenance is an ongoing cycle that includes regular updates to keep the search engine relevant and efficient, including refining search algorithms and integrating new features. Equally important are security updates to guard against vulnerabilities and protect user data. In addition, the engine’s performance needs to be continually optimized to handle growing numbers of users and added features.

This comprehensive approach to deployment and maintenance ensures that the search engine remains secure, efficient, and responsive to current and future needs, embodying a dynamic cycle of improvement and adaptation.

[Read also: Best travel management solutions ]

When building a custom travel search engine, it’s really important to work with people who have a lot of experience in the field.

Experienced professionals know a lot about both technology and the travel industry, which helps them build a search engine that works well and does what users need it to do. They can spot problems before they become big problems and know how to fix them quickly. This can save you time and money.

These experts also stay on top of new trends and technologies to keep the search engine modern and competitive.

They’re good at keeping the project on track, and making sure it’s completed on time and within budget.

So working with experienced professionals means you’re more likely to end up with a travel search engine that works great and meets everyone’s needs.

That’s why when a major UK booking aggregator approached us about improving their travel search engine , our developers knew what to do.

The client’s system struggled with scalability limitations due to its architecture, which relied on SQL Server machines and was incapable of efficient horizontal scaling.

To address these issues, Stratoflow implemented a solution that included an i n-memory data grid (IMDG) platform for the availability search function , reducing the reliance on the SQL Server database. This new system allowed the necessary data to be stored in memory, supported by a custom data loading mechanism and a message queue pipeline for incremental intraday data updates.

The results were significant: an 80% reduction in infrastructure costs, improved horizontal scalability with 70% efficiency, and the ability to handle 50% more traffic (over 300 million queries per day).

By now we know how to approach building your own custom travel search engine.

Let’s now see what you are up against since there are many search engines in the travel and hospitality industry out there. Here we’ve listed five of the most popular meta search engines on the market:

Google Hotel Ads

Google Hotel Ads is a met search engine that allows users to compare hotel rates and availability directly in Google search results and on Google Maps.

When a user searches for hotels on Google, Hotel Ads displays a variety of options from different booking engines , allowing the user to find the best deal. It also integrates with Google’s booking system, offering the convenience of booking directly through Google.

Kayak is a travel search engine that aggregates information from multiple online travel agencies and hotel websites, allowing users to find and compare prices for flights, hotels, car rentals and more.

It provides a comprehensive search experience and offers tools such as price forecasting, filters, and maps to help travelers make informed decisions. Kayak also includes user reviews and ratings to help users choose the best travel options.

[Read also: 11 Travel Technology Trends Emerging in the Tourism Industry in 2023 ]

Tripadvisor

TripAdvisor is a travel platform that offers a wide range of user-generated content, including reviews, ratings and photos of hotels, restaurants, attractions and more.

It provides a comprehensive price comparison across multiple booking engines , allowing users to find the best deals on accommodations and flights.

TripAdvisor also offers a wealth of information through its community, including travel forums and advice, to enhance the travel planning experience.

Trivago is a hotel search engine that aggregates and compares room rates from multiple booking sites, allowing users to find the best deals on accommodations.

It offers a user-friendly interface with filters and maps that make it easy to search for hotels based on location, price, amenities, and more.

Skyscanner , is a global travel search site that provides a comprehensive comparison of flight prices from different airlines and travel agents.

It also offers options for finding and booking hotels and car rentals. Skyscanner’s tools, such as price alerts and flexible date search, help travelers find the best deals and travel options.

[Read also: Digital Transformation in the Travel and Tourism Industry ]

In conclusion, building a travel meta search engine is a strategic endeavor that can significantly enhance your presence in the travel industry.

By following the step-by-step process outlined in this article, you can navigate the complexities of this process and develop a tool that not only meets the dynamic needs of travelers, but also stands out in the competitive travel marketplace.

With the right approach, your travel search engine can become a central resource for users and a valuable asset in your business portfolio.

Related Posts

• How to Build a Search Engine: Step by Step Guide
• How to Choose the Best Travel Agency Software to Maximize Your Revenue
• What Are Travel Meta Search Engines?
• Creating the Best Custom Search Engine for Your Website
• Unlocking Strategic Advantage With Custom Site Search in Ecommerce

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The developed software product was built from scratch with solid quality. We have had a long-term engagement with Stratoflow for nearly 10 years. We look at them as partners, rather than contractors. I'm impressed by their team culture and cross-team support.

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Stratoflow was a great partner, challenging as well as supporting our customer projects for the best outcome. They have a great pool of talent within the business - all very capability technologists, as well as being business-savvy and suitable for consultancy engagements.

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The bespoke metal exchange platform works great, it is easily accessible and richly functional. Stratoflow managed deadlines capably, meticulously documented their progress, and delivered a complex project at an affordable cost.

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We are very pleased with our partnership with Stratoflow and, as we continue to grow, we expect to increase the numbers of developers that work with us on our projects. They have proven to be very skilled and flexible. They're extremely reliable, and they have a very good company culture of their own, which gives them a real edge compared to other providers that serve more as production shops rather than thought partners and creative problem solvers.

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Stratoflow successfully customized the system according to the specific functionalities and without bugs reported. The team was commended for their adaptability in the work process and for their responsiveness.

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They provided superb service with seamless communication and a highly professional, technical approach. The team displays impressive technical expertise and are willing to share information and engage in constructive feedback.

Filip Stachnik

Operations Manager, Otwarte Klatki (part of Anima International)

They're very skilled technically and are also able to see the bigger picture. Stratoflow can actually think about solutions, not just the technical task at hand, which they've been assigned.

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Stratoflow delivered the website successfully within the timeframe and budget. They assured that the output met the set requirements. Overall, the team's performance was excellent and recommended for their exceptional technical business expertise. They've been able to deliver all of their work on time and within budget, which has been very impressive.

Lars Andersen

Founder & CEO, My Nametags

Travel sector rebound after the pandemic is complete. We have fantastic global coverage of travel data distribution due to mutual agreements and data exchange between aggregators. Competition for the best price of limited resources degradates margins. How to win? Provide personalized experience and build your own products in the front-office. The missing bits: a traveller golden record collecting past activities and a AI/ML recommendation technology.

Michał Głomba

CEO at Stratoflow

How the strong demand for vacation travel, also makes the metasearch engines boom again. An overview for the travel industry.

Valentina Piol

VP Digital Marketing Artefact Germany

The number of flights per year increased steadily in the years leading up to the pandemic – there were just under 47 million flights in global aviation in 2019. In 2020, however, the number of global flights dropped dramatically to around 22 million due to the impact of the pandemic. By 2022, however, we see the trend reversing again and the number of global flights increasing again, but it is still below pre-pandemic levels at around 32 million. We can look forward to seeing what the values will be for 2023.

This year’s early booking and now last minute season has also come to an end and major airlines have drawn their first conclusions of the 2023 travel year. Lufthansa, for example, announced that it expects a record year in 2023, thanks to increased profits per passenger due to higher ticket costs. Already in April, the portal Idealo had published a price comparison analysis where it was noted that the airfares to numerous popular destinations on the Mediterranean have increased by an average of 32 percent compared to the previous year – and this regardless of the travel time.

Despite the significant slump in recent years, most of the major price comparison websites and online travel agencies (OTAs) have survived these difficult times and have even expanded or are expanding their portfolios. Booking.com should be mentioned here, for example, whose competencies have included flight search since 2022. It is therefore worth taking a look at the exciting market of airfare comparison websites, which is certainly all the more popular with travelers due to the sharp rise in prices in some cases. Which players are there in the market? What is their relevance to the markets in which they´re active as a travel advertiser? How do such comparison sites work, what should you consider for a cooperation?

What are metasearch engines in the travel sector?

Everyone who flies frequently knows them: price comparison sites and online travel agencies to find the cheapest flight. Whether it is a vacation or a business trip, airline passengers want to find and book the best flight for them at the lowest price. Whether it is a price comparison site (metasearch engine) or an OTA (online travel agency), the difference is usually whether only the airfares are displayed and you are redirected to the actual airline site to complete the booking, or whether you complete the booking directly with the online agency and thus do not book the ticket directly with the operating airline. Since the air transport sector is a polypole, i.e. a market driven by competition with many players, it quickly becomes unclear for the individual user which airline even operates on the desired route, let alone which airline offers the best deal.

In order to create the best possible overview, there are price comparison sites (metasearch engines, or MSEs for short). An MSE is not necessarily a pure flight comparison site, but can also be a generic price comparison site in general. The overarching goal of all comparison sites, i.e. all MSEs, is thus to filter out the desired product for the user at the best possible price-performance ratio from the vast number of options.

Prominent examples of such comparison sites in the travel segment are Skyscanner, Kayak, Momondo, Swoodoo and Idealo. Among other things, they all share the aforementioned overarching goal of finding the best possible price-performance ratio for the desired product, in our case airline tickets, and then forwarding the user to the page of the selected airline to ultimately book the ticket there. But they differ in scope and orientation. While Swoodoo, for example, is very focused on flights, Idealo also offers a flight fare comparison, but has a much more generic focus, since in addition to flights and hotels, the shopping area is also a strong focus. Thus, another unifying element is that all the sites mentioned have a flight search engine, but with different focuses or prioritizations.

How has the market evolved around airfare comparison sites?

Over the last few years, the market has consolidated more and more, resulting in the emergence of large groups from individual independent search engines or in the acquisition of holdings. It is not always easy to keep an overview. Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline Group) has bought up many competitors in recent years and now has a large number of search and booking platforms, of which the best known are probably booking.com (OTA) and Kayak (MSE). The Kayak Group, in turn, also includes well-known platforms such as Momondo, Swoodoo and Cheapflights.

Further acquisitions and consolidations also took place from the Asian market. In addition to Trip.com and ctrip.com (themselves an OTA), trip.com Group Limited, formerly Ctrip.com International, also operates one of the most internationally successful flight searches through the acquisition of Skyscanner, which cost around GBP 1.4 billion in 2016.

It can be seen that especially large MSE fall under one holding and thus a large oligopoly has emerged in the market in the background. Apart from the large holdings in the market, Google has also made it much more challenging over the last few years with the integration of flight search for smaller metasearchers to exist in this market at all with just a pure flight search.

The following matrix is intended to provide an overview of the current status quo in the airfare MSE market. On the one hand, it shows which market participants offer a pure flight search or a general price comparison for different industries. In addition, the degree of internationalization is also shown. Is the provider nationally limited or does it possibly even operate globally? In addition, traffic data from Similarweb will also be used to illustrate relevance.

Source: Own representation. Traffic values are based on Similarweb.com values (as of August 2023).

What is the mode of operation of such MSEs?

Basically, an MSE requires all data that is relevant for a flight booking. This includes the available routes of the individual airlines, current ticket prices in real time, and availability in the booking classes. This data must be made available accordingly. Airlines usually offer so-called data APIs for this purpose.

As soon as a user searches in the flight search for a certain route at a certain time, the MSE sends data requests to all APIs to which it has a connection. These APIs contain all flights with the corresponding information. They use the information from the request to search for all matching flights and send this information back to the MSE in a response.

Source: Own representation

The comparison site must then decode the information received and present it clearly so that a user can obtain an uncomplicated overview of prices, availability, flight times and connections for the flight route he or she is requesting (combination of origin, i.e. departure airport, and destination, i.e. destination airport). Since this process usually involves querying not just one API, but a large number of them, it usually takes a few seconds before the user has a complete list of all flights.

Challenges and solutions for the travel industry

Since there are now a large number of comparison sites, it can sometimes be challenging for an airline to muster the necessary resources to give every MSE access to its own API.

Artefact, which has been cooperating closely with the Lufthansa Group for many years and also manages large parts of the metasearch channel for them, also enables smaller MSEs to make their requests bundled via their own intermediate API. Thus, it was no longer necessary for the advertiser to provide each individual MSE with access to its own API. Instead, this is bundled via Artifact’s intermediate solution, which thus acts as a so-called proxy.

In this context, Artefact also filters out those MSE requests that do not result in a response from the API (e.g. because certain routes are not provided for in the flight plan, do not make sense or have been requested several times within a very short time, etc.), thus reducing the volume of requests to the airline’s API and, under certain circumstances, can also deliver faster responses to the MSEs. Even if the advertiser does not have an API, but only a product data feed (CSV, XML), Artefact’s solution can act as an API to the MSEs and thus enable and simplify collaboration.

In addition, Artefact is available to assist each individual metasearcher with any questions regarding the affiliate and metasearch program, thus acting as the link between the advertiser and the individual MSEs to provide the best possible and most efficient service for all parties.

Do you operate a flight search and would like to discuss the possibility of cooperation with us and our travel customers? Or are you an advertiser in the travel segment and need support in working with a MSE? Then please feel free to contact us:

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 @ Artefact  2024

What is a travel metasearch engine, and how can travel brands benefit from it? 

Travel brands are always on the hunt for new ways to attract travelers and direct bookings. They use display ads, search engine ads, native videos, and social media to drive engagement. An ideal marketing strategy would be to use a good mix of all these marketing channels. However, in today’s travel marketing scene, travel metasearch is emerging as a big platform to market. Metasearch advertising generated an economic value worth 6 billion USD in the last decade. As many as 60% of independent hoteliers consider metasearch the most effective marketing channel. 

Here in this article, we dissect travel metasearch for you, what it is, how your brand can benefit from it, and conclude by listing major engines.  

What is a travel metasearch engine?  

For travelers, metasearch is a platform where they can get an aggregated list of available rooms and their respective rates, saving them the trouble of visiting every travel website individually and checking for rates.  

Travel businesses see metasearch as a platform to market their brands and bring direct or sales-qualified leads to their website. Therefore, it also works as an acquisition channel. But please note metasearch is not a booking engine. It is a platform that pulls room rate and availability data from multiple sources on the internet. The bidding metasearch engine works on conventional CPC (Cost per click). You or your marketing representative will bid for your brand, and every redirection to your website will have a cost similar to how Google AdWords works. 

How travel brands can benefit from metasearch engines   

Metasearch can help travel brands in many ways. The brand can lift the conversion numbers without doing anything disruptive. Triptease report says “If your metasearch rates are accurate, your conversion rates can increase up to 300%”. It was about the ultimate outcome, but how do you activate it? As someone who’s just starting to use metasearch, what’s the ideal strategy to go ahead with? We are breaking it down for you in a three-tier approach, which will help you effectively get started with travel metasearch. 

• Set the goals of the campaign  

Implementation of metasearch certainly boosts direct booking numbers, yet to make it a success, you have to set realistic expectations and plan your future budgets accordingly. For instance, if you are 10% direct booking, with metasearch, you can aim around 13-14%, take 5-7x return on ad spend for metasearch. Then, start the campaign. Once your campaign matures, you will have a clearer picture of how to adjust the budget. 

• Maintain rate parity   

Travel metasearch engines optimize the rate to the user’s location and currency. Therefore, the odds of rate differentiation go higher, and if you are not keeping rate parity, you are giving your competition free winning edges. That’s why you must maintain rate parity across your distribution channels. 

• Place rates strategically   

Placements of rates can have significant impacts on conversion. Only the advertisement competitive rates on metasearch will not be enough. When potential travelers land on your page, you must ensure that the first rate they see matches your advertised rate. The pricing technique is also famous with the name BAR (Best available rate) – always show BAR first. 

What are major travel metasearch engines, and who owns them?  

If we talk in terms of crude numbers, there are five major metasearch engines, Google Hotel ads planner, Tripadvisor, Skyscanner, kayak, and Trivago. Let’s look at them objectively one at a time. 

• Google Hotels  

Google Hotels is arguably the market leader. The metasearch engine leverages google maps and Gmail to offer personalized recommendations to travelers. Google Hotels delivers travelers price tracking and deals directly to their inboxes. 

• TripAdvisor  

TripAdvisor is also a well-known travel metasearch engine. You should have your TripAdvisor account up and running as soon as your hotel starts accepting bookings. The existence of your hotel brand on Tripadvisor gives you wider reach and acceptability. TripAdvisor Metasearch offers travelers direct booking and allows comparison shopping.  

• Skyscanner   

Skyscanner is both a metasearch engine and travel agency. The booking tool is quite popular among gen-Z and millennials. Skyscanner offers its users’ destination research and booking travel products like flights, hotels, and cabs. 

• Kayak  

Kayak is also both an online travel agency (OTA) and a metasearch engine. Kayak is a part Booking.com group, the group wholly owns the platform. Therefore, it’s not easy for other hotels to get ad placement on this metasearch engine. Though, hotels can get into partnerships with airlines and place packaged offerings on Kayak to derive the most value out of the metasearch engine. 

• Trivago  

Trivago is a proper metasearch engine that fetches room rates and availability from different booking sites and shows it in one place. It has a revenue model like Google Hotels, booking sites have to pay a fee every time a potential customer clicks on a specific offering.  

Recommended: What Is Hotel Upsell Software? And How To Choose One?

Ownership of metasearch engines matters a lot. Apart from Google Hotel and Tripadvisor the other three engines, Skyscanner, Trivago, and Kayak, are retailer-owned, so they send the major share of direct traffic to their own website. At the same time, media-owned travel meta-search engines are democratic and run transparent bidding systems. 

Metasearch is a powerful medium to get quality direct traffic to your travel website. Ideally, go with media owned metasearch engine and use the implementation strategy we mentioned earlier in this article. You will be all set to benefit from travel metasearch engines. 

About Vervotech:

Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With one of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: [email protected]

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Company Materials. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and solely for the purposes hereof, Company grants to Referral Partner a non-transferable, non-exclusive license, without right of sublicense, to distribute the Company Materials exactly as provided to Referral Partner by Company to perform Referral Partner’s obligations under this Agreement.

Ownership. As between Referral Partner and Company, Company retains all right, title, and interest to (a) the Company Marks, (b) the Services, any of its products, material or pre-existing intellectual property rights (c) the high-level description of the Company Products and the Company Materials, and (d) all Intellectual Property Rights related to any of the foregoing. There are no implied licenses under this Agreement.

No Intellectual Property Rights. Parties agree that no intellectual property rights are conceived or developed under this Agreement. If any intellectual property rights are conceived or developed, the intellectual property rights will vest with Company, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

CONFIDENTIALITY

In connection with this Agreement, “Confidential Information” means all data and information of a confidential nature of Company disclosed by Company to the Referral Partner under this Agreement, as well as information that Referral Partner knows or reasonably should know that the Company regards as confidential, including business practices, software, technical information, future product/services plans, programming/design techniques or plans, know-how, trade secrets, prospects, customers, end users suppliers, development plans or projects, and services. Confidential Information may be communicated orally, in writing, or in any other recorded or tangible form.

Confidentiality. Referral Partner shall maintain in confidence all Confidential Information disclosed to it by the Company. Referral Partner shall not use for any purpose outside the scope of this Agreement, or disclose to any third party such Confidential Information except as expressly authorized by this Agreement. To the extent that disclosure is authorized by this Agreement, the Referral Partner shall obtain prior agreement from its employees, contractors, agents, and consultants to whom disclosure is to be made to hold in confidence and not make use of such information for any purpose other than those permitted by this Agreement. Referral Partner shall use at least the same standard of care as it uses to protect its own most confidential information (and in no event less than reasonable care) to ensure that such employees, contractors, agents, and consultants do not disclose or make any unauthorized use of such Confidential Information. Referral Partner shall promptly notify the other upon discovery of any unauthorized use or disclosure of the Confidential Information. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Agreement to the contrary, the obligations set forth in this section 7 shall survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement for perpetuity.

Exceptions. The obligations of confidentiality contained in this section 7 shall not apply to the extent that it can be established by the Referral Partner by competent proof that such Confidential Information:

was already known to the Referral Partner, other than under an obligation of confidentiality, at the time of disclosure by the Company;

was generally available to the public or was otherwise part of the public domain at the time of its disclosure to the Referral Partner;

became generally available to the public or otherwise became part of the public domain after its disclosure, other than through any act or omission of the Referral Partner in breach of this Agreement; or

was disclosed to the receiving Party, other than under an obligation of confidentiality, by a third party who had no obligation not to disclose such information to others.

Authorized Disclosure. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the Referral Partner may disclose Confidential Information (a) to the extent required by law or any governmental authority, or (b) on a “need to know” basis under an obligation of confidentiality to its legal counsel or accountants, provided, that such Referral Partner shall to the extent practicable (and except to the extent it would jeopardize the filing or prosecution of letters patent) use commercially reasonable efforts to assist the Company in securing confidential treatment of such information required to be disclosed. Prior to disclosing any Confidential Information under this section 7 Referral Partner shall take reasonable steps to give the Company sufficient notice of the disclosure request for the Company to contest the disclosure request.

Referral Partner shall indemnify, defend, and hold Company harmless from and against any and all liabilities, losses, damages, costs, fees, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from or arising out of any Claims based on allegations that (a) Referral Partner breached any obligations including with limitation Confidential Information, representation or warranty contained herein, or has breached any applicable laws, rules and regulations, or (b) Referral Partner made a representation or warranty regarding Company or the Services that is inconsistent with the written high-level description of Services provided to Referral Partner by Company, or is otherwise unauthorized by Company.

Indemnification Procedure. An indemnifying party hereunder shall be liable for any costs and damages to third parties incurred by the other party which are attributable to any such Claims, provided that such other party (i) notifies the indemnifying party promptly in writing of the claim, (ii) gives the indemnifying party the sole authority to defend, compromise or settle the claim, with prior approval of the Company and (iii) provides all available information, assistance, and authority at the indemnifying party’s reasonable request and at the indemnifying party’s reasonable expense to enable the indemnifying party to defend, compromise, or settle such claim. Any indemnifying party hereunder shall diligently pursue any defense required to be rendered hereunder, shall keep the indemnified party informed of all significant developments in any action defended by the indemnified party, and shall not enter into any settlement affecting the indemnified party’s interests without the prior consent of the indemnified party.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

COMPANY SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO REFERRAL PARTNER OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT DAMAGES INCLUDING TOWARDS COSTS OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS, LOST PROFITS OR ANY OTHER SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR INDIRECT DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED, AND WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCTS LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER THEORY OF LIABILITY, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER COMPANY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF COMPANY FOR DIRECT DAMAGES FOR ANY REASON SHALL BE LIMITED TO AMOUNTS PAID BY COMPANY IN RESPECT OF THE QUALIFYING SALE . THESE LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY REMEDY.

NON-SOLICITATION OF PERSONNEL

The Referral Partner shall not engage or hire as an employee or engage as independent contractor, Company’ s employees or independent contractors during the term of this Agreement and for a period of one (1) year following expiration or termination of this Agreement except as may be mutually agreed in writing.

TERM AND TERMINATION:

Term. The term of this Agreement shall be one (1) year from the Effective Date unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of this Section. This Agreement shall renew automatically for additional one-year terms unless one Party provides the other written notice no later than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the then-current term of the Agreement of its intention to allow the Agreement to expire at the end of such term.

Termination for Breach. Either Party may terminate this Agreement for cause resulting from the material breach of this Agreement by the other Party by providing the breaching party written notice of such material breach and the intention to terminate for cause. The Party receiving such notice shall have thirty (30) days to cure such material breach. If at the end of such thirty (30) day period, the breach has not been cured to the reasonable satisfaction of the Party seeking to terminate the Agreement, the Agreement shall terminate.

Termination for Convenience. Either Party may terminate this Agreement for convenience upon ninety (90) days’ written notice.

Effect of Termination; Duties of the Parties Upon Termination. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, Referral Partner shall (a) refrain thereafter from representing itself as a promoter or marketer of Company Products, or as a referral partner of Company, (b) immediately cease all use of any Company Marks, and (c) return to Company the Company materials and Confidential Information and all tangible items in Referral Partner’s possession or under its control containing Confidential Information of Company. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, Company shall return to Referral Partner all tangible items in Company’s possession or under its control containing Referral Partner’s Confidential Information. Upon any termination or expiration of this Agreement, all licenses granted under this Agreement shall terminate.

Survival. Any clauses which by their very nature survive termination of the Agreement, will survive.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Construction. The Parties have participated jointly in the negotiation and drafting of this Agreement. In the event an ambiguity or question of intent or interpretation arises, this Agreement shall be construed as if drafted jointly by the Parties and no presumption or burden of proof shall arise favoring or disfavoring any Party by virtue of the authorship of any of the provisions of this Agreement. As used in this Agreement, the singular shall include the plural and vice versa, and the terms “include” and “including” shall be deemed to be immediately followed by the phrase “without limitation.” The captions and headings in this Agreement are inserted for convenience and reference only and in no way define or limit the scope or content of this Agreement and shall not affect the interpretation of its provisions.

Governing Law and Dispute Resolution: This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the India, without reference to its conflict-of-laws principles. The Parties shall resolve any difference or dispute arises out of this Agreement by way of negotiations. If such negotiation process fails, then all disputes arising from or related to this Agreement shall be resolved before exclusive jurisdiction of courts in Pune, India.

NOTICES: All notices including hereunder shall be given in writing by hand delivery, courier service or email at the addresses set forth below:

If to Company

If to REFERRAL PARTNER

Attention: Sanjay Ghare

Email: [email protected]

Address: 3rd Floor, Amar Tech Centre, Sakore Nagar, Viman Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014

Non-Waiver: A party's failure or delay in enforcing any provision of the Agreement will not be deemed a waiver of that party's rights with respect to that provision or any other provision of the Agreement. A party's waiver of any of its rights under the Agreement is not a waiver of any of its other rights with respect to a prior, contemporaneous or future occurrence, whether similar in nature or not.

Captions: The captions in the Agreement are not part of the Agreement, but are for the convenience of the parties. References to Sections are to sections of this Agreement.

Counterparts. Any documents signed in connection with the Agreement may be signed in multiple counterparts, which taken together will constitute one original.

Severability: In the event any term of the Agreement is held unenforceable by a court having jurisdiction, the remaining portion of the Agreement will remain in full force and effect, provided that the Agreement without the unenforceable provision(s) is consistent with the material economic incentives of the parties leading to the Agreement.

Relationship between the Parties. The relationship of Referral Partner and Company is that of independent contractors. Regardless of the use of the word "partner" in the title of this Agreement, neither Party is, nor shall be deemed to be, a partner, joint venturer, agent, or legal representative of the other Party for any purpose. Neither Party shall be entitled to enter into any contracts in the name of or on behalf of the other Party, and neither Party shall be entitled to pledge the credit of the other Party in any way or hold itself out as having authority to do so. No Party shall incur any debts or make any commitments for the other, except to the extent, if at all, explicitly provided herein.

Assignment. Referral Partner shall not assign or transfer this Agreement, in whole or in part, whether by operation of law or otherwise, or delegate any of its obligations hereunder, without the express written consent of Company. Subject to the foregoing, this Agreement shall be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Parties. Any assignment in violation of the foregoing shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement and shall be null and void.

Force Majeure. Neither Party shall be liable for any failure or delay in fulfilling the terms of this Agreement due to fire, strike, war, civil unrest, terrorist action, government regulations, acts of nature or other causes which are unavoidable and beyond the reasonable control of the Party claiming force majeure.

Entire Agreement. The Agreement constitutes and contains the complete, final and exclusive understanding and agreement of the Parties and cancels and supersedes any and all prior negotiations, correspondence, understandings, and agreements, whether oral or written, between the Parties respecting the subject matter thereof. Parties agree that, their engagement with each other is on non-exclusive basis and either Party is free to appoint any third party for performance of their respective obligations.

Electronic Record. This Agreement is an electronic record in the form of an electronic contract formed under Information Technology Act, 2000 and rules made thereunder and the amended provisions pertaining to electronic documents / records in various statutes as amended by the Information Technology Act, 2000. This Agreement does not require any physical, electronic or digital signature. This Agreement constitutes a legally binding document between the Subscriber and the Company.

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Referer's Information:

Referral information:, referral details:.

Pravin Mahadik

Chief Financial Officer

Pravin Bandu Mahadik is an ICMAI fellow and accomplished Cost and Management Accountant (CMA) with over a decade of experience in accounts and finance.

As a leader, Pravin has worked across various financial domains, including commercial operations, accounts and finance, auditing, taxation, MIS, transfer pricing, and export management.

He consistently introduces and implements systems to fortify financial control and improve Vervotech’s net organizational efficiency.

Marvel Puri

Chief Revenue Officer

As chief revenue officer (CRO), Marvel is responsible for every process at Vervotech that generates revenue. He has been instrumental in connecting different revenue-related functions, from sales, customer success, pricing, and revenue operations. His focus-driven approach to improving sales performance, and creating great product and pricing strategy, and delivering customer satisfaction has helped Vervotech to acquire 100 clients within a short stint of 2 years.    

With the experience of over 15+ years in sales and business development at SaaS-based organizations, Marvel has flourished throughout his career by creating and leading experienced and diverse teams. To Marvel, growth has not only been to hit quotas but is broad and holistic: open new paths to revenue and build the processes to get there.

Ganesh Pawade

Ganesh is a Problem Solver and a Thought Leader. Throughout his 13 yrs professional journey, he helped businesses to identify their platform areas, define solutions and architecture, and make a more technically-informed decision on their current and future business as well as the technology roadmap.

His passion for good code often results in him being engaged in animated discussions with his team of architects and engineers, pushing them to think beyond what is possible. His specialties include Solution Architecture, Full stack specialist, AWS, Azure and Google cloud.

Dharmendra Ladi

Dharmendra Ladi has been instrumental in positioning Vervotech as the “World’s Best Mapping Provider” and is focused on transforming how the industry presents accommodation data to its customers. With his 14+ years of experience in travel and innovative technologies, he is the principal architect behind designing Vervotech’s AI-driven products that are today helping its clients worldwide do business seamlessly.    

He leads new product development. Under his leadership, Vervotech has is credited with going from 0 to 100 customers within 2 years of business establishment. Dharmendra is also an inspiring thought leader, and regularly speaks at large scale events, webinars and has been interviewed by multiple media houses.

Sanjay Ghare

CEO & MD

Sanjay brings over 16+ years of entrepreneurial, general management, and senior executive experience with proven expertise in business development, corporate strategy, and product & program management. Sanjay, being an Industry veteran, and an influencer, leads and drives Vervotech’s vision of “Organizing World’s Accommodation Data.” Before he founded Vervotech, he was a VP of Tavisca Solutions, where he took the started SaaS division and grown with customers in  more than 15 countries.    

With his business acumen, Sanjay is on the trajectory of revolutionizing the accommodation data segment. He’s also a member of the Forbes Technology Council and often puts actionable growth strategies into perspective in his Forbes column.       

Anurag Mittal

Chief Marketing Officer

Anurag Mittal is a seasoned technology executive who has led multiple marketing teams at SaaS-based organizations. At Vervotech, Anurag is responsible for marketing and strategy formulation and setting up a growth-oriented marketing & prospecting team. Anurag comes with an experience working with Organizations like Deloitte and ACCELQ, where he led the marketing initiatives for their SaaS product lines and has worn many hats including devising marketing strategies for business growth, managing GTM with alliances and partners, conceptualizing and orchestrating marketing campaigns, end-to-end event management, and demand generation activities to deliver a qualified sales pipeline.    

He has been strategic face for the launch of Vervotech’s website and digital presence and have led several winning campaigns that has led to successful brand development and customer acquisition.    

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Rohit Shukla

Chief Product Officer

As Vervotech’s Chief Product Officer, Rohit is responsible for the product strategy and teams working to advance Vevotech’s position as a leading accommodation data company for OTAs, bed banks, DMCs, and Tour operators.

Rohit has been in the technology space for the last 15+ years, working with companies at different stages of growth within Travel, E-commerce, and FinTech Industries. In his previous roles, he drove product strategies for start-ups and SMEs and was instrumental in building platforms and product lines that generated $900 million in revenues and half a million paid customers. The products included flights, hotels, car rentals, activities & vacation packages.

Archana Garg

Financial Advisor

Archana has more than 15 years of experience in finance and operations management. Archana is proven leader in building and scaling companies as a result of her focus on financial strategy and operational excellence. She is motivated by understanding the customers she serves, and providing value at all levels of a business while building strong relationships with her colleagues.

She is a Chartered Accountant and is responsible for driving the Vervotech’s overall financial strategy, including the growth plans. Her experience navigating high growth companies, developing new business strategies and overall operational mindset delivers meaningful results for growth stage of Vervotech.

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• Leaders Speak
• Brand Solutions
• The impact of travel meta search engines on travel industry

• Bernard Corraya ,
• ETTravelWorld
• Updated On Nov 14, 2023 at 12:39 PM IST

AI playing pioneering role in reshaping future of hospitality industry: Sabre's Scott Wilson

Wilson explained that over 50 per cent of Sabre's business is outside of North America, with India being a significant part of the company's portfolio. Sabre works with a variety of partners in India and takes an open approach by using open APIs to integrate with providers of travel and tourism services. This approach allows for flexibility in adopting technology solutions, making it accessible to a broad range of hotels.

• By Bernard Corraya ,
• Published On Nov 14, 2023 at 11:25 AM IST

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• Trip Planning
• Budget Travel

Best Online Travel Agencies

Booking.com is our top choice for making your trip arrangements

Ligaya Malones is an editor, blogger, and freelance writer specializing in food and travel. Ligaya's work has appeared in publications including Lonely Planet and BRIDES.

Planning a trip can be easier through an online travel agency than if you handle each aspect of the planning separately. You can book hotels, air travel, rental cars, and more through a single site, and booking everything together sometimes results in discounts. By inputting a destination, a range of dates, and other preferences, you will see a list of options for each aspect of travel.

The best online travel agencies offer options from the largest number of airlines, hotels, car rental agencies, and more. Look for sites that offer discounts for combining reservations for different aspects of your trip. For example, the best sites will have lower rates if you book both plane tickets and a hotel through their services. The best sites also provide reviews from customers who actually have booked through the service. These are our top picks.

• Best Overall: Booking.com
• Best Budget: Skyscanner
• Best Price Predictor: Hopper
• Most Innovative: Kiwi.com
• Best for Eco-Conscious: Kind Traveler
• Best for Social Impact: I Like Local
• Best for Design-Forward Homestays: Plum Guide
• Our Top Picks
• Booking.com

Kind Traveler

I Like Local

• See More (4)

Final Verdict

Frequently asked questions, methodology, best overall : booking.com.

 Booking.com

This industry leader offers one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms on the Internet.

Lots of options to choose from

Interface is easy to use

Numerous filters to customize your search

Tricky to tell whether changes/cancellations can be made with Booking.com or the vendor directly

Booking.com was founded in 1996 and has grown into an industry leader that stands out for being one of the most comprehensive trip planning platforms out there. From one website, you can compare and book accommodations, flights (including one-way and multi-city flights), sightseeing activities, and even airport taxis. The website lists more than 28 million accommodation options, from hotels, hostels, and B&Bs to vacation homes and luxury resorts—you can browse more choices per destination on Booking.com than other online travel agencies. The website also performs well on cost and typically returns lower-than-average prices for flights and hotels. 

Booking.com's interface is also easy to use. On the home page, search for a hotel by entering your chosen destination and dates. Then, use the extensive list of filters—such as price range and distance from the city center—to narrow the results down and find the best fit. You can also search for a specific hotel, or seek inspiration by clicking through options grouped by destination or property type or by topic such as the country’s best Michelin-starred hotel restaurants or the top cities for vegan travelers. The flights, car rental, and other tabs are just as intuitive. 

Best Budget : Skyscanner

 Skyscanner

You can compare prices across airlines, hotels, and car rentals.

Simple interface

Option to toggle searches between specific dates or by monthly calendars

Search Everywhere button is great for spontaneous planners

Extra clicks are required to make a final purchase

Must read fine print for changes/cancellations—may need to deal directly with the vendor

Ads on the sidebar can be distracting

Find deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals with an aggregator site like Skyscanner , which uses a metasearch engine to compare prices from all online travel agencies and the airline, hotel, or car rental company in question. Run searches with fixed dates, opt to compare airfare prices month to month, or click “Cheapest Month.” Searches also include options for nearby airports or non-stop flights only. With hotel searches, you can choose to select only from properties with free cancellation, a cleanliness rating of 4.5/5 or higher, or 3- or 4-starred hotels only. Car rental searches include an option to select “return car to different location.”

Once you’ve found the best rate, click on the link to be redirected to the third-party site to make your booking. Feeling spontaneous? The Search Everywhere button on the homepage offers a list of the cheapest flight deals for destinations both locally and across the world—just plug in your departure airport first.

Best Price Predictor : Hopper

The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting when flights and hotel rates will be cheapest.

Color-coded system makes it easy to determine cheapest days to buy

App is easy to use

Option to track flights and receive alerts when the best time to buy arises

Some have mentioned the app functions better as a research tool than a booking tool

Unclear whether Hopper will price match if you find a cheaper flight elsewhere

Hopper is a travel app available on iOS and Android that aims to help travelers save on airfare by usng historical data and their own algorithm to predict when flights will be cheapest. Just type in where and when you’d like to fly and Hopper will present you with a color-coded pricing calendar indicating how much tickets are likely to cost. (Green is the least expensive, then yellow, orange, and red for most expensive.) Hopper will also recommend you either buy now or wait, or you can choose to watch a trip and receive notifications on the best time to buy. In addition, the app has expanded to offer hotel and car rental price predictions, too.

Some newer features since the app’s inception in 2009 include an option to freeze a price for a limited time—for an extra fee—as well as exclusive app-only discounts. Hopper is free to download, and you can choose to book directly through the app, though some users mentioned they use Hopper as more of a research tool before booking directly with the airline or hotel. The company claims a 95 percent accuracy rate at predicting flight rates up to a year ahead.

Most Innovative : Kiwi.com

This metasearch engine scours the web to piece together the ideal itinerary using planes, trains, buses, and more.

Creative itineraries get you where you need to go, especially if you’ve got a multi-stop trip

Kiwi Guarantee offers rebooking or cancellation protections

Nomad option appeals to travelers with a lot of flexibility

Creative itineraries mean you may not fly out of the same airport you flew into

Kiwi Guarantee has an additional fee

Charges all-in-one fee for booking flights, trains, buses (though you can always purchase a la carte)

Travelers planning multi-city destinations and seeking a bargain, as well as those looking to take planes, trains, and automobiles to get there, might consider Kiwi . Kiwi is a metasearch engine that scours and pieces together itineraries from various airlines (even if they don’t have a codeshare agreement), considers multiple airports (even if your arrival airport is different from departure), and offers booking options, whether you’re looking at very specific dates or more general ones (up to 60 nights).

Some will find the ability to make multiple bookings for a particular trip more convenient than going at it manually several different times, though note that you must opt into the Kiwi Guarantee program to access rebooking and refund protections should your reservation change or be canceled. Kiwi’s Nomad option allows you to plug in a bunch of destinations you’d like to visit and the length of your intended stay, and the website will churn out the most affordable itineraries for review.

Best for Eco-Conscious : Kind Traveler

A give-and-get business model means booking accommodations with exclusive perks, a donation to environmental organizations, and more.

All participating hotels include a local give-back component

Exclusive savings and perks

Participating hotels are located in some of the most beautiful places in the world

Inventory is much smaller compared to other booking platforms

Some of the amenities mentioned are based on availability only

In 2022, Kind Traveler (an online trave agency focused on hotel bookings) announced an increase in environmentally and socially conscious hotels, charity donations, voluntourism opportunities, and additional perks like waived resort fees or a welcome amenity.

Unlock exclusive hotel rates and perks from participating Kind Traveler hotels with a minimum $10/night minimum donation to a local charity. For example, stay at the Six Senses Laamu in the Maldives and receive up to $33 off the nightly rate and perks such as a food and beverage credit and an Earth Lab or Alchemy Bar workshop when you make a donation to Manta Trust. The organization funds coastal research to protect the island nation’s large yet fragile population of reef mantas.

Select from more than 140 participating hotels from the Hawaiian Islands to Bozeman, Montana, and the Maldives. Charities include wildlife, human rights, arts, education, and environmental preservation organizations.

Best for Social Impact : I Like Local

Choose from a host of travel experiences with the peace of mind that 100 percent of the cost goes directly to local partners.

Social impact mission woven into organization’s business model

Immersive experiences led by local guides

Range of experiences offered

May not be best fit for those seeking upscale, luxury experiences and stays

Can’t sort experiences by a list of countries (though an interactive map is available)

No experiences outside of Africa and Asia

For an online travel agency with a booking platform designed to route dollars spent directly to the communities travelers intend to visit, consider I Like Local . Visit the website to browse a host of travel experiences in countries including Indonesia, Kenya, and Cambodia. Experiences include homestays and farmstays as well as wellness and culturally oriented experiences—from cooking and cycling tours to weaving classes.

To search for an experience, select from drop-down items like travel dates and experience categories, or view a global map and click on a country to view experiences that way.

The platform got its start in 2014 and has grown to 4,000 local hosts across nearly 20 countries. As a social impact organization, 100 percent of each booking fee goes to local hosts. To date, 16,000 travelers have booked with I Like Local.

Best for Design-Forward Homestays : Plum Guide

Browse and book seriously vetted, design-forward vacation homes.

Highly curated inventory of vacation rentals across the world

Design-forward

Thorough vetting process

Does not publish guest reviews

Other platforms have homes available across more destinations

When it comes to booking a vacation home, serviced apartment, or condo, travelers are spoiled for choice. Plum Guide is an online travel agency that specializes in accommodations—though not just any home makes its directory. The company claims that each potential home listed on its site must jump through 150 hoops to be included, from internet speed and mattress and pillow quality to the showers’ water pressure and the home’s proximity to dining, shopping, and attractions.

Search by a featured collection on the website such as “ pet-friendly homes ” or “one-of-a-kind homes in Palm Springs.” Scroll to the bottom of its homepage to view its top destinations, as well as a list of all destinations where Plum Guide homes are available, including Barbados, Mexico, Portugal, Switzerland, the U.S., and Turkey. Note: From the top right-hand corner of the site, use the dropdown menu to select currency of choice.

As long as you know what you value most out of your travel experience—such as affordability, social impact, or luxe accommodations—there’s an online travel agency to help plan your next trip. Be sure to read the fine print, as some agencies are third-party websites and not direct vendors. If you're not sure where to start, Booking.com is your best bet for a smooth user experience and hard-to-beat offers on flights, hotels, and other travel arrangements.

What Is the Biggest Travel Agency?

Our choice for best overall, Booking.com, is known as an industry leader with listings for all major hotels, airlines, car rental companies, and more. It boasts more choices for accommodations per destination than any other site, and we found its interface to be user-friendly.

Are Online Travel Agencies Worth It?

This depends on your needs and priorities. The best online travel agencies certainly can save time by booking everything all at once. However, if you're someone who is good at haggling and enjoys the details of planning a trip, you might be able to find better deals by reaching out to hotels or other destinations and speaking to someone personally.

Is It Cheaper to Book Online Than With a Travel Agent?

Not always. A travel agent you know and trust should have the experience and connections to find deals that can match or surpass what you'll find online. Additionally, if something goes wrong, travel agents provide you with an actual person you can use as an advocate to correct the problem . But if you don't have access to a good travel agent, online sites still provide plenty of ways to streamline planning and save money .

We considered dozens of online travel agencies and narrowed down the options based on user experience, volume and quality of inventory, unique offerings and specials, and customer reviews. We also assessed travel companies’ environmentally and socially conscious policies.

Catherine Falls Commercial / Getty Images

Related Articles

Tourism in the metaverse: Can travel go virtual?

Imagine a future where your travel choices have no geographic constraints. Where you can join your friends in the front row of a concert by your favorite star—but the crowd is 300 million strong, your friends are on the other side of the world, and it’s all happening at the Great Pyramid of Giza. Later you’ll do some shopping at the virtual souk and take a digital Nile cruise, before teleporting back home in an instant.

Impossible? Or a tempting package trip that might soon be available from the comfort of your home? With the internet’s rapid evolution, many see this vision of transformed travel on the horizon—in the metaverse. Others caution that this future might take a little longer to arrive, and that travelers resist “metaversification” of key parts of the tourism journey.

The metaverse is seen as the next evolution of the internet—a collective space where physical and digital worlds converge to deliver more immersive, interactive virtual- or augmented-reality (VR/AR) user experiences, often referred to together as extended reality (XR). The underlying technology for this exists and is proving relatively cheap and fast to implement. Driven largely by inspirational advertising and virtual events, the potential rewards for the travel industry are already substantial: more than $20 billion by 2030, by McKinsey estimates.

This has potential to revolutionize the way we explore new worlds: already, you can attend concerts, shop, test products, visit attractions, and take workshops, all without physically traveling anywhere. Currently, the user demographic trends very young, but it’s crucial for the tourism sector to appeal to this segment. 1 Hristina Nikolovska, “Metaverse Statistics to Prepare You for the Future,” February 16, 2023. After all, these are the travelers of the future—and players not keeping pace with their interests will lose out.

But does XR live up to all the hype—with appeal beyond a gamer demographic? A virtual trip can never replace the thrill of certain tangible, real-word experiences, and some traveler touchpoints have proved more ripe for disruption than others.

Despite these hesitations, the XR ecosystem is maturing at pace. Immersive VR/AR devices may well follow the steep adoption curves of laptops and smartphones. Widespread use could lead to a radical extension of the global economy from physical into virtual life, not least in tourism.

So how does a tourism player go about monetizing this virtual paradigm, which is still taking shape and many struggle to define? It’s time for the sector to take a serious look at these complex opportunities—and figure out what best drives traction in the new XR universe.

Touring the metaverse: early trends

The metaverse could enrich the tourism experience in countless unprecedented, innovative ways—but which use cases have the most potential, and which are still deemed risky? Early adopters have already started experimenting, and several trends have emerged. Virtual elements can be layered onto an established business:

• In the wake of the fire that damaged the famous cathedral in 2019, French start-up Histovery produced an augmented exhibition on the history of Notre-Dame de Paris—motivated in part by an increased awareness of the fragility of physical landmarks. To navigate the exhibition, each visitor uses a “HistoPad” touch screen to take an immersive tour that allows interaction with physical elements: giant photographs, 3-D models of statues, replica flooring and stained glass, and audio of Notre-Dame’s organs and bells. Effects include animation and a virtual scavenger hunt for younger visitors. 2 “Notre-Dame de Paris: The Augmented Exhibition,” National Building Museum, April 2022.
• In December 2021, faced with record staff turnover, MGM Resorts International decided to apply a virtual solution. In partnership with immersive platform provider Strivr, MGM developed VR headsets that give aspirant front-of-house staff a realistic sense of what working at MGM casinos and hotels entails. The training package was rolled out at the company’s properties in 2022. It’s designed to speed up onboarding and upskilling, increase employee confidence, and familiarize potential hires with MGM procedures and culture. 3 Grace Dean, “MGM Resorts is letting job seekers try out roles using virtual reality as it looks to reduce employee churn,” Business Insider, December 12, 2021; Phil Albinus, “Rising Star goes all in on VR talent marketplace for MGM Resorts,” Human Resource Executive, June 14, 2022; “4 Examples of Strivr Virtual Reality Training,” Strivr.com.

Other virtual platforms allow visitors to explore major global landmarks, incorporating rich edutainment and retail opportunities. Several such initiatives have been launched:

• Responding to pandemic travel restrictions, ZEPETO World is a smartphone app that allows users to create personal avatars and travel around Korea. For example, the tour includes a highly detailed interactive map of Han River Park; this feature gets almost 257,000 visitors a day. Users are also able to communicate with each other, shop, and watch performances. ZEPETO World has approximately 190 million members. 4 Majid Mushtaq, “Korea Virtual Travel with ZEPETO World,” KoreabyMe, September 6, 2021.
• The BCB Group—a leading crypto banking group—has created a metaverse city that includes representations of some of the most visited destinations in the world, such as the Great Wall of China and the Statue of Liberty. According to BCB, the total cost of flights, transfers, and entry for all these landmarks would come to $7,600—while a virtual trip would cost just over $2. 5 “What impact can the Metaverse have on the travel industry?” Middle East Economy , July 29, 2022.
• Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) recently announced that the ancient city of Hegra had entered the metaverse, in line with a national program to drive technological transformation and innovation. It is the first UNESCO World Heritage Site to be placed in the metaverse, allowing digital tourists to explore the surroundings as well as Hegra’s Tomb of Lihyan son of Kuza. 6 Divsha Bhat, “Saudi’s Royal Commission for AlUla enters the metaverse,” Gulf Business , November 15, 2022; “Vision 2030,” The Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; “Saudi Arabia’s AlUla enters the metaverse,” Arabian Business , November 14, 2022; One Carlo Diaz, “Hegra’s Tomb of Lihyan in AlUla is recreated in the metaverse,” NTravel, November 7, 2022.

Instead of attempting to replicate real-world experiences, entirely novel environments can also be created, convening people in a single immersive space—as in multiplayer online games. (Indeed, many people currently associate the metaverse largely with games.) The travel industry can harness this utility too.

This is particularly relevant to the meeting, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) sector, with virtual gatherings, exhibitions, and trade fairs looking to become mainstream. These allow people to gather and take part in activities in the same immersive space, while connecting from anywhere. This dramatically reduces travel, venue, catering, and other costs, while avoiding setbacks like adverse weather conditions or disease scares. For example, one Japanese start-up recently held a virtual market that attracted a wide response, with around 60 well-known companies participating. 7 “Metaverse x MICE; 3D virtual world that will transform MICE industry in the future,” Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau.

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What areas of tourism show promise.

As innovative formats become more mainstream, new economic models are emerging. The travel experience of the future will not be exclusively online or offline. Instead, we’ll most likely see a proliferation of hybrid offerings, with virtual events, edutainment, and inspiration combined with physical destinations.

One way to grapple with this complexity is to adopt a traveler-first mindset. By putting themselves in the shoes (or bedroom slippers) of their target tourist, travel companies can identify opportunities to embed relevant virtual elements.

Individual touchpoints, not end-to-end offerings

Virtual experiences that show promise are focused on a few specific, discrete steps in the end-to-end traveler journey (exhibit). Which touchpoints can be most effectively disrupted? Which hold the greatest possibilities for integration? Which steps can be elevated by an immersive element, allowing for exhilarating, fantastical or deluxe experiences not available in the physical world? Three touchpoints show great potential: travel inspiration, virtual events and visitor support.

Inspiration and planning: The metaverse creates a $13 billion opportunity for tourism inspiration, mostly driven by digital travel advertising. Virtual spaces—which can be used to showcase hotel amenities, airline classes, or an entire landmark—spark the desire to travel, give a holistic idea of a destination, help in traveler decision-making, showcase broader offerings, and raise awareness of unfamiliar locations. The case studies of AlUla and ZEPETO demonstrate how this can work. Qatar Airways offers another example: a recently launched VR experience called QVerse allows travelers to view cabin interiors, the business-class QSuite, and the VIP check-in area at Hamad International Airport. 8 Rose Dykins, “Qatar Airways creates virtual reality ‘QVerse’ experience,” Globetrender, June 13, 2022.

Leisure and entertainment: Live streaming soared during the pandemic, followed by a wave of interest in virtual concerts—with significant increases in consumer demand, spend, and audience numbers. 9 John Koetsier, “Virtual Events Up 1000% Since COVID-19, With 52,000 On Just One Platform,” May 27, 2020. In 2020, the metaverse accounted for 0.1 percent of live-music revenues—a figure which rose more than tenfold by 2021. By 2030, we estimate that virtual events could account for up to 20 percent of revenues, driven in part by their capacity to accommodate huge audience numbers at reduced cost.

Ariana Grande leads the way into the music future

In August 2021, Epic Games launched its latest Fortnite event, the Rift Tour, starring Grammy-winning artist Ariana Grande. 1 Isamu Nishijima, “Ariana Grande x Fortnite Rift Tour: The Apogee of Pop Culture or Just the Beginning?”, Headline Asia Publication , Aug 30, 2021. It was a match made in heaven: Fortnite, a wildly popular battle-royale game with then around 350 million registered users, and Ariana Grande, a universally adored pop artist. 2 Emi La Capra, “The Metaverse Concerts: Where Online Games and Music Performances Meet,” Alexandria , 2022. One of the first of such Fortnite collaborations, this was particularly significant: the first time Ariana Grande had performed in nearly two years, and the first concert to allow attendees to participate in minigames.

The concert was an acclaimed success. The Rift Tour was viewed by as many as 78 million players (compared to average conventional concert attendance of under 15,000); the number of streams of Grande’s songs rose by up to 123 percent during the concert, and other featured artists also saw a streaming boost. 3 Maggie Klaers, “PCP: Concert attendance,” SLP Echo, April 29, 2022. While a traditional concert by a top North American performer might rake in less than $1 million, it’s estimated that Grande made more than $20 million from her headline performance—which may be remembered as a critical inflection point for the live-entertainment industry. 4 Bob Allen, “Concert Industry Roars Back! Pollstar 2022 Mid-Year Report,” Pollstar, June 24, 2022.

With top artists generating around $20 million per metaverse concert, this industry has an anticipated income potential of upwards of $800 million by 2025, according to McKinsey estimates (see sidebar, “Ariana Grande leads the way into the music future”). Taken together with XR MICE, this sector is a rich opportunity: an expected $7 billion by 2030.

Visitor support: Some destinations have been exploring the idea of virtual concierges to support travelers at every stage of the journey with real-time itineraries, information, troubleshooting, visa issues, and more. Qatar Airways, for example, provides a MetaHuman cabin crew for an interactive customer experience. Immersive use cases already account for over 1 percent of chatbot investment, and this is expected to increase. Still, it may be several years before this touchpoint gains real traction.

Then there are touchpoints where the disruption potential of the metaverse is still debatable, or where opportunities may take longer to mature:

• Shopping: Multiple stores could be built in virtual destinations, adding a revenue stream with the sale of accessories, souvenirs and other items. These might be digital, or goods to be shipped in the real world. Iconic real-life stores might also operate as digital recreations.
• Booking: Customers are already comfortable with online booking, so a shift to XR interactions with virtual travel agents could be seamless. However, this is a relatively small business opportunity, with uncertain added value: the new technology is not expected to change or boost the functionality of current booking processes in any fundamental way.

There is currently limited interest in adding virtual elements to aspects of travel that are necessarily physical, such as mobility, accommodation, the logistics of arrival and departure, and food and drink (F&B).

Mobility is currently expected to have very limited XR use cases: tourists may access a metaverse experience while in a taxi, but are unlikely to replace physical with virtual mobility. The “stay” category is similarly sized. While people may wish to explore virtual stays in hotels or on cruise ships, these will not yet replace actual stays. Hotel developer CitizenM, for example, has announced plans to build a hotel in gaming world The Sandbox, allowing virtual visitors to explore the digital property and raise awareness of its brand. 10 Cajsa Carlson, “CitizenM to become ‘first hospitality company to build in the metaverse’,” dezeen, April 7, 2022.

Similarly, arrival-and-departure use cases are largely limited to customers seeking XR versions of modes of transport, such as business-class flights or special railway routes, without intending to visit. (Such experiences may serve as “portals” to expanded immersive worlds, however.) The F&B industry will likely be among the last to enter the metaverse.

Post trip, the real potential lies in the capacity to inspire further travel. However, actual follow up, currently often achieved via surveys, is unlikely to be deeply impacted.

Travel Disruptors: Sonder’s Francis Davidson on the future of hospitality

“no-regret” metaverse moves.

Taking the above factors into account, there are certain no-regret functions that tourism-industry players can pursue to be at the forefront of disruption. These promising use cases have already gained traction, with fast-moving industry players stepping in early to bet on their viability.

They fall into two categories: virtual event centers, and recreations of memorable landmarks that inspire visits. As we’ve seen, event centers are already showing substantial revenue potential for organizers and destinations through business gatherings and entertainment, with ticket sales, attendance fees, and ancillary retail opportunities.

At XR landmarks, visitors can explore, socialize, shop, and learn—all while gaining awareness of lesser-known destinations. Young people and tourists may flock to these social spaces for immersive fun. There may be edutainment opportunities, including specialized archaeology, geology or architecture classes. These spaces can be built on established or upcoming platforms (such as Metapolis) and operate in collaboration with third-party vendors to increase retail opportunities.

Themed gaming, too, can drive engagement with a location, and caters to a core XR demographic. This includes game developers: Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) is a newly released PC application for designing and publishing games and experiences directly into the online video game Fortnite. 11 The Fortnite Team, “Unreal Editor for Fortnite and Creator Economy 2.0 are here. New worlds await,” Fortnite, March 22, 2023.

There appears to be public appetite for recreations of individual landmarks rather than entire destinations: a metaverse Eiffel Tower rather than a complete metaverse Paris. An example is Dubai’s Burj Khalifa virtual experience, launched by event-management platform Eventcombo, which offers users a focused tour of the world’s tallest building. 12 “Dubai: Take an immersive tour of Burj Khalifa in metaverse,” Khaleej Times, October 8, 2022. For now, there seem to be fewer opportunities to create whole customer journeys (although this may work well for certain cases like theme parks). When it comes to end-to-end tourism experiences, travelers still seem prefer the “real thing.”

Preparing for the future of travel

How can travel companies leverage the metaverse to create more compelling experiences for their customers? Certain challenges must be overcome: these include enabling interoperability between decentralized worlds, protecting data security, and making immersive devices more readily available.

However, it’s prudent for travel players to think proactively about engaging with the metaverse—and perhaps seize a first-mover’s advantage. Early control will help to sidestep thorny issues like third parties claiming virtual rights to a location.

Once travel players have plotted out potential traveler journeys (whether hybrid or fully digital), they can find the right collaborators to bring these experiences to life—such as virtual-universe and retail platforms, communications channels, and designers. As many tech players are still only starting to come to grips with immersive experiences, companies may be able to secure favorable partnership agreements and experiment with different executions.

Four steps for travel players contemplating the metaverse

Step 1: Create a strategy based on individual traveler touchpoints to be disrupted. Develop offers targeted at travelers of the future, considering demographic groups, travel purpose and likely journeys. Imagining specific future touchpoint needs and desires and how these can be satisfied or enhanced in a virtual world will ensure a targeted strategy.

Step 2: Identify the platform you want to play on. There are several options here, depending on factors like the strength of your brand and how much independence you require. With a very strong brand, you might be in a position to create your own platform. If your brand is less widely recognized—as with most tourism destinations—or the advantages of a dedicated platform are not clear, then it might be unwise to go it alone. It may be possible to integrate your experience with another organization’s platform, with the added benefit that their established users can stumble across your product. Or partner with an existing platform, as Saudi Arabia’s RCU have done with browser-based platform Decentraland and Korean tourism with the ZEPETO app.

Step 3: Choose the right talent. Developing any offer will likely require new skills—not just to make your immersive world look good, but to ensure that it’s smooth and exhilarating to use. Excellent “game mechanics” motivate users to come back repeatedly for new experiences. In turn, this requires constant maintenance, operation and innovation, as with any great tourist attraction. Talent for these tasks can be either recruited or outsourced. Hiring a new, dedicated workforce might make sense for a large service that requires intensive modification and security monitoring. For simpler or once-off offerings developed to test the waters, outsourcing will ensure a smoother, faster process.

Step 4: Understand the agreement you have with your partner. Be sure to clarify safeguards related to IP and other potential challenges. Also ensure that virtual experiences cohere with your existing brand identity, as well as the values and cultural context of heritage assets.

The metaverse promises to shake up many sectors of the global economy. Virtual experiences have huge potential for the tourism and travel industries, with the prospect of hybrid and fully immersive digital destinations. But our research indicates that opportunities may, for now, be limited to a few key touchpoints—most prominently, travel inspiration, events, and edutainment. It may take longer for the metaverse to reveal its utility for end-to-end travel experiences, if it ever does.

Nonetheless, there are undeniably travel touchpoints where metaverse integration feels inevitable, profitable and “no regret.” Players in the sector would do well to start planning their metaverse strategy now, focusing on specific touchpoints and destinations, while this rapidly developing arena matures.

Margaux Constantin is a partner in McKinsey’s Dubai office, where Kashiff Munawar is an expert associate partner; Giuseppe Genovese is a consultant in the Dallas office; and Rebecca Stone is a consultant in New York City.

The authors wish to thank Samvit Kanoria, Hamza Khan, and Kevin Neher for their contributions to this article.

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Russian Court Sentences Meta Spokesperson to Six Years in Absentia

FILE PHOTO: Meta logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A military court in Moscow on Monday sentenced Meta Platforms spokesperson Andy Stone to six years in prison for "publicly defending terrorism", a verdict handed down in absentia, RIA news agency reported.

Meta itself is designated an extremist organisation in Russia and its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms have been banned in the country since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Stone, Meta's communications director, could not immediately be reached.

Interfax cited the defendant's lawyer, Valentina Filippenkova, as saying that the sentence would be appealed.

"I asked for an acquittal," she was quoted as saying.

Russia's interior ministry opened a criminal investigationinto Stone late last year, without disclosing specific charges.

RIA cited state investigators as saying Stone had published online comments that defended "aggressive, hostile and violent actions" towards Russian soldiers involved in what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Ros Russell)

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