ITB CONVENTION: TRIVAGO CEO PREDICTS THE TRENDS THAT WILL DRIVE THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY FORWARD IN 2023

Trivago CEO, Axel Hefer predicts that the return of city breaks, development of regional leisure destinations and industry flexibility are the trends that we’ll see develop across the global travel industry in 2023.

The travel industry changed dramatically with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, and there have been long-term implications over the way travellers select and book their destination. For Axel Hefer, CEO Trivago, leisure destinations have been prominent on the wish lists of travellers. Speaking exclusively to ITB he said: “We have seen a strong shift since 2020 to beach and mountain destinations as well as to apartments rental. In 2021, these trends continued. There was however a new shift from apartments to hotels. The situation was a bit more stable and it was easier for hotels to add capacities.

“There is a strong desire to experience the world again. At Trivago, we believe city breaks will make a come back this year as the tourism experience will be similar to what it was prior to the pandemic. Hotels will also move closer to the market share they used to have.”

Clouds over far-away destinations for now

Travel patterns have changed however, due to the volatility of recent global affairs. “Flexible cancellation is a feature which is much more important than it used to be,” he adds. “Market volatility also requires us to work at short notice. Marketing plans of destinations that used to be planned yearly need now to be reviewed on a weekly or monthly basis.”

Trivago’s CEO sees the trend of regional destinations to continue due to uncertainty which began to appear during the pandemic. “The confidence that you can travel anywhere, anytime has disappeared and I don’t see this changing quickly,” he concluded. “The more distant the destination, the less you know about it, the greatest the concern will be.”