Semantic Tech: A Cure for Commoditization?

Content is King! The Customer is King! Over the past several years, the travel industry has enthusiastically touted the need to adopt a traveler-centric approach. Yet most travel booking websites look a lot like they did five years ago, providing one-size-fits-all search capabilities geared to travelers who already know their dates and destination. Trip planning is ripe for re-imagination, and semantic technologies hold the key, according to a recent PhoCusWright report, Semantic Technology in Travel: Powering the Next Leap Forward. "Today's online travelers submit a search query, click through pages of results, and often end up settling for the cheapest commoditized travel product that meets a minimum standard," said Lorraine Sileo, vice president, research. "Semantic technologies have the potential to completely transform the shopping process, replacing these stock search results with expert recommendations personalized based on each traveler's specific preferences and...