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The Future of
Travel and Hospitality

Silicon Valley Online program for executives

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Flexible Dates For Teams

What Is The Program About?

The digital transformation of the travel and hospitality sector is driven by artificial intelligence, internet of things, virtual reality and other emerging technologies. In partnerships with startups using these technologies to build innovative, disruptive products and services, legacy companies are seeking themselves to transform into customer-centric, data-driven enterprises capable of meeting rising customer expectations.
Our immersion program will educate you in these trends, connect you with the companies pioneering groundbreaking solutions and inspire you to turn your own company into a leading innovator capable of long-term growth.

Travel startup innovation map

What Will I Learn?

Our immersion program will show you how, why and by whom the travel and hospitality industry is being disrupted. It will also teach you how to capitalize on the trends and technologies driving this digital transformation so that you can achieve innovation within your own organization. We cover topics such as:

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Program Agenda

Get the direct access to the most transformative technologies that will help you lead your organization through turbulent time:

Theme 1

TRAVEL TECH: MAJOR TRENDS

Session 1: The Platformification of Travel

Platforms have penetrated a majority of economic sectors, with travel and hospitality no exception. This digital business model has proven its worth to both consumers and producers, helping to drive greater convenience, increase asset utilization and provide users with unique experiences otherwise unavailable to them. In this session we analyze how and where platforms have appeared in the travel industry thus far, while also looking ahead to the spaces they have yet to penetrate. Participants connect with a leading travel industry platform business.

Session 2: Beyond Airbnb: Innovation in Vacation Rentals

It began with Airbnb more than a decade ago but since then the market for vacation rentals has grown substantially. Today, we see companies using automation and AI to provide travellers with an ever more streamlined, personalized experience. In this session, participants will learn about the continuing digitization of the vacation rentals sector and connect with a company driving innovation in the space.

Session 3: Travel E-Commerce and M-Commerce

Purchasing travel through the internet is nothing new, especially in mature markets such as North America and Western Europe. But in emerging markets internet penetration and credit card adoption are still rising, meaning there is plenty of room for growth in online sales. In this session we analyze how customers buy travel products through the web today and look at how this process will change in the coming years. Participants meet a company leading the way in travel e-commerce.

Session 4: The Digital Transformation of Corporate Travel

The business travel marketplace is quickly becoming a hotbed of innovation as entrepreneurs seek to streamline the experience. While some have built platforms to offer all-in-one solutions others are concentrating on a niche such as business accommodation or air and land travel for enterprise clients. In this session participants will meet a company leading innovation in corporate travel to find out what the future of the sector will look like.

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Theme 2

TRANSFORMING URBAN SPACES

Session 1: The Future of Smart, Sustainable Cities

The cities that we travel to are changing: driverless taxis, smart streetlights and an abundance of electric car charging points are just a few of the features envisioned for the smart cities of the future. These urban environments will prize sustainability as they seek carbon neutrality through use of renewable energy. A major trend for many years to come, smart cities has important implications for the way we live and travel. This session explores those implications as participants meet with a leading smart cities innovator.

Session 2: The Shared Mobility Revolution

When we reach a new, unexplored destination, how do we get around to see everything it has to offer? In the past we might have relied on public transport, taxis or car rental. Those options are all still available but now there are alternatives. Shared mobility in the form of cars and scooters is rapidly spreading across our cities and, looking further ahead, autonomous vehicles will be even more disruptive to the transport market. In this session participants will meet and hear from a company at the forefront of the revolution in transportation.

Session 3: Transforming In-Store Retail

All seasoned travellers know that shopping is a major part of any trip and, even though e-commerce is still growing, that does not mean browsing in brick-and-mortar stores is dead. Far from it, in fact, with physical retail still the leading location for purchases. What’s more, digitally native brands continue to open physical locations. That’s why many tech companies are concentrating on optimizing the in-store experience through AI, computer vision and advanced analytics. In this session participants will meet a company reimagining physical retail in order to gain insight into what the future of brick-and-mortar shopping will look like.

Session 4: The Rise of Location-based Services

The growing penetration of GPS-enabled smartphones means location-based services are becoming ever-more relevant to travellers everywhere. In this session, participants meet a tech company using big data analytics in innovative ways to offer unique location-based services that have the potential to reinvent the experience of visiting a new destination.

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Theme 3

The Future of Transportation

Session 1: Innovation in the Skies

The way we fly has remained unchanged for decades but a new wave of innovation is just on the horizon. Airlines are typically slow-moving and risk-averse but that mindset is gradually giving way to a sense of experimentation and a thirst for disruption. In this session participants learn about how aviation is moving into the 21st century with facial recognition at airports, pay-per-hour pricing models and real-time luggage tracking.

Session 2: Self-Driving Vehicles and Logistics Disruption

As Silicon Valley companies vie to become the first to build self-driving cars, the travel and hospitality sector is preparing for this coming world of autonomous mobility. In this session participants will learn what this future of logistics looks like when autonomous cars become commonplace, gaining insights through an interactive session with a company undertaking disruptive work in the market for self-driving.

Session 3: Disrupting Transport with Electric Cars

Although electric vehicles are already a common sight on many roads, entrepreneurs are working to make them even more efficient and accessible. As the number of electric vehicles in operation grows, so too will their impact on the way we live and travel. In this session attendees will connect to a disruptive electric vehicle company to learn how the technology feeds into the innovation taking place today in the travel sector.

Session 4: Digital Supply Chain Management

It was not so long ago that moving raw materials and finished goods between suppliers, manufacturers and retailers was a task characterized by labour-intensive, manual processes. Yet in our current era we have seen a radical shift, as Silicon Valley companies deploy AI, blockchain and other disruptive technologies to recreate supply chains. What does this mean for businesses in the travel and hospitality sector and how can they use these changes to their advantage? Participants will meet a leading supply chain innovator to learn the answer to these questions and many others.

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Theme 4

EXPLORING NEW DESTINATIONS

Session 1: Connecting to the Digital Transformation of In-Destination Activities

For more than a decade we’ve been booking airline tickets and hotel rooms online but that same digital revolution is only now coming to the market for in-destination activities. Local wine tours and cooking classes, extreme sports lessons and special-interest city tours; these are all available worldwide at the click of a button. In this session we explore what this digitization of in-destination activities means for the rest of the travel and hospitality industry and show how stakeholders can get connected to this fast-developing trend.

Session 2: How AI and Predictive Analytics are Disrupting Business Accommodation

The digital transformation of accommodation rental may have started in the tourist travel market but the business travel sector, itself worth billions of dollars, is rapidly catching up. Today we see entrepreneurs building platforms highly customized to the needs of corporates, often including AI and predictive analytics to streamline the accommodation booking process. In this session participants will meet a disruptor in the market for business travel accommodation to find out how the sector is evolving.

Session 3: The Platformification of Dining and Hospitality

Platformification is sweeping across all industries, restaurants and food service included. This means diners can now go online to connect to a huge array of eateries to book tables, deliveries and much more. Other options in the sector include platforms to connect with locals who host you in their homes for authentic home-cooked meals. Software companies have made these experiences possible through the power of platforms. To find out how this trend will grow in the future and what it’s impact will be on restaurants, hospitality and travel, this session connects participants to a leading platform innovator.

Session 4: Transforming the Restaurant Space

The rise of online ordering, delivery services and mobile apps does not mean eating out is dead. Far from it, in fact, with patronizing restaurants among the top sectors for travellers’ disposable income. That’s why amid digital disruption, tech companies are still concentrating on optimizing the dining experience through AI, automation and advanced analytics. In this session participants will meet a company reimagining the physical restaurant in order to gain insight into what the future of eating out will look like.

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Theme 5

ADJACENT INNOVATION

Session 1: Disrupting Insurance with Insurtech

The process of insuring against risk is changing rapidly thanks to insurtechs. These innovative companies are leveraging emerging technologies such as AI and ML to offer a data-driven approach that promises to make insurance a predictive, proactive service. The travel and hospitality sector, no less than any other, will be impacted by this in a big way. That’s why in this session attendees will take a deep dive into the future of insurance as they meet one of the companies disrupting the sector.

Session 2: The Rise of Plant-Based Meat and Diary

Food is central to the way we live and how our cultures operate, yet the way we eat is changing in myriad ways. Prominent among them is the rise of alternatives to traditional meat and dairy products. This comes as entrepreneurs respond to consumer trends such as ethical buying and environmental sustainability. In this session participants will meet an innovator of plant-based meat and dairy to find out what the implications of this trend are for traditional ways of living and eating.

Session 3: Recruiting the Right Tech Talent

Enterprises operating in the travel sector increasingly face the need to become data-driven tech companies. That means they also need to recruit tech talent, such as data scientists and software developers. But many who hold those skills are recruited by big technology leaders. How can the travel industry compete? In this session we answer that question, highlighting how by focusing on gaining a competitive advantage in their own industry, recruiters in travel and hospitality can attract the technology talent they need.

Session 4: The Evolution of Payments and Money Transfer

Thanks to digital innovators, moving money and making payments has never been easier. Today, to action a financial transfer requires just a few clicks of a button or swipes on a smartphone. But entrepreneurs are far from satisfied; they believe there is still much more to come from trends such as mobile payments and open banking. In this session participants will connect to an innovator in payments to learn how the sector will evolve in the coming years and what its impact will be on the travel industry.

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Interested In Online Custom Programs?

For groups of 20+ participants, we can work with you to develop a custom online program around your interests and strategic goals

Personalized and Interactive

Direct Contact with Experts

Access more than 15 hours of live presentation plus additional materials and recordings on your schedule. Drill down with your mentors on things that matter most to you.

Dedicated SVIC Assistant

Silicon Valley Innovation Center provides a personal assistant to participants for the duration of all programs, ensuring a real white-glove experience.

World-Wide
Community

Program participants will uncover new connections and business development opportunities, both within Silicon Valley and globally with fellow course participants.