Phocuswright Research Roundup 1Q25

The New Age(nts): Impact of Generative AI on Company Operations

Mike Coletta, Phocuswright’s Senior Manager of Research and Innovation and Robert Cole, Phocuswright’s Senior Research Analyst for Lodging & Leisure, hosted the first of The New Age(nts) Trend series online events, along with three panelists:

• Anna Jaffe, CEO of Mobi.ai, which delivers advanced AI solutions to travel companies focused on business optimization, personalization and search solutions.
• Bobby Healy, founder and CEO of Manna, which is solving drone delivery, and founder and non-executive director of Meili, an ancillary distribution platform for car rental.
• Tim Hentschel, CEO of HotelPlanner and Meetings.com, which specialize in group travel bookings.

The panelists are all entrepreneurs running travel companies who deeply understand AI and are at the forefront of implementing it in their own organizations. Each offered valuable perspective as to why GenAI and autonomous agents are poised this year to begin revolutionizing how travel companies operate. This short report aims to capture the most important takeaways from the discussion aand subsequent audience questions for Phocuswright subscribers. The full recording is available on YouTube and embedded below.

Travel Innovation and Technology Trends 2025

Philip Wolf founded Phocuswright in 1994 on the premise the travel world was being overhauled due to the rise of a new technology - the internet. Five years later, the first Phocuswright report noted that the biggest industry challenges were "customer acquisition, service and retention, fierce competition, an influx of new players and rising marketing and technology costs." Three decades later, the travel industry stands on the brink of a new era. The rapid emergence of generative AI (GenAI) is poised to bring change on par with or greater than the personal computer or the internet. And very similar predictions and challenges rise to the fore.

Generative AI is reshaping travel, with 39% of U.S. travelers now using it, surpassing technologies like virtual and augmented reality. Nearly half of GenAI users already apply it to travel planning, making leisure travel a top use case and field of growth for the coming year. The next wave of disruption involves autonomous agents capable of booking and managing trips, as major players like Google and OpenAI push forward with AI-powered innovations. The convergence of GenAI with digital identity promises seamless, personalized travel experiences, though challenges like trust, clean data, and infrastructure readiness must be addressed for this vision to fully materialize.

Phocuswright’s Travel Innovation and Technology Trends 2025 aims to provide an in-depth overview of the real-time developments surrounding the travel industry, including key focal points on the impact of generative AI on in-destination experiences, company operations, distribution dynamic and more.

U.S. Short-Term Rentals 2025: Host and Property Manager Trends

The U.S. short-term rental market has undergone a dramatic transformation, shifting from a pandemic-driven boom to an increasingly competitive and complex landscape. With supply growth outpacing demand and consumer preferences evolving, hosts and property managers must navigate rising costs, regulatory uncertainty, and heightened competition from hotels and international rentals. Profit-oriented hosts are proving more resilient, while those with passive management styles face mounting challenges. As the industry seeks equilibrium, success will depend on strategic pricing, operational efficiency, and the ability to deliver consistently high-quality, differentiated guest experiences.

Free research insights report:
Short-term rentals segment: Living on an arc of its own

Phocuswright’s U.S. Short-Term Rentals 2025: Host and Property Manager Trends is part of a comprehensive consumer research study focused on the incredibly dynamic short-term rental travel segment. Key questions answered by this research include:

• How has the U.S. short-term rental market evolved post-pandemic, and what challenges do hosts and property managers face in 2025?
• What distinguishes successful hosts and property managers from those struggling to compete? 
• How are shifting guest preferences and market saturation impacting short-term rental demand?
• What role do regulation and financial management play in the sustainability of STR businesses?

U.S. Short-Term Rentals 2025: B2B Technology and Distribution Landscape

STRs have a burgeoning ecosystem of management technologies and ancillary services that have developed as the sector has blossomed. With a flurry of options available, research examines how hosts are managing their properties and which types of hosts are more likely to embrace technological options or services from ancillary providers. Additionally, it explores distribution plans, including which channels hosts are using and how strategies for incentivizing direct bookings are evolving.

Hosts have more options than ever before to support their everyday management needs. But the current market has pressured profit margins, and there is still potential to introduce more alternative revenue streams to generate additional income, much in the way hotels have embraced their own secondary services. The path to growing alternative revenue is still fraught with technological and distribution challenges, but hosts who focus on bolstering these areas of revenue can diversify their business models and set themselves up for more success.

Phocuswright’s U.S. Short-Term Rentals 2025: B2B Technology and Distribution Landscape is part of a comprehensive consumer research study focused on the incredibly dynamic short-term rental travel segment. Key questions answered by this research include:

• Which technological and ancillary tools are hosts using to manage their rentals?
• What channels are being used for rental distribution?
• To what extent are hosts leveraging direct-booking strategies?
• What opportunities are available for alternative or secondary revenue streams within the short-term rental market?
• What strategies are hosts using to market their rentals?

U.S. Travel Agency Landscape 2024

The U.S. travel agency market is thriving, driven by high-end leisure demand and a sharp rebound in corporate travel. In 2023, agency gross bookings marked 28% growth to $109.7 billion, with strong representation in cruises and tours fueling leisure agency success. The advisor landscape is evolving as new entrants join and more traditional advisors return to office settings, while home-based independents continue to dominate. Overall, U.S. travel agencies are poised to remain key players in an expanding and competitive travel market.

U.S. Travel Agency Landscape 2024 is part of a joint research project with Phocuswright and Travel Weekly, tracking the travel agency distribution landscape and overall market size.

Free research insights report:
U.S. travel agency market: A resilient and thriving segment

Based on a comprehensive market sizing exercise, along with a survey of more than 1,500 U.S. travel advisors, questions answered include:

• How has the U.S. travel agency market recovered post-pandemic, and what is its current size and trajectory?
• What are the key drivers behind the growth of leisure and corporate agency bookings?
• How is the travel advisor landscape evolving in terms of demographics, work location, and business structure?
• What factors do travel advisors view as most impactful for their business growth and client relationships?

Canada Travel Agency Highlights 2025

Canada Travel Agency Highlights 2025 is a curated research snapshot, focusing on the Canadian travel agency distribution landscape and overall market size.

Based on a comprehensive market sizing exercise, along with a survey of Canadian travel advisors, questions answered include:

• What factors do Canadian travel advisors view as most impactful for their business growth and client relationships? 
• What are the primary revenue streams and booking channels for Canadian travel agencies?
• How do agencies attract and retain clients, and what marketing strategies are most effective?
• What challenges and opportunities are shaping the future of Canadian travel agencies? What impact, if any, does Generative AI have on the segment now, and looking forward?

Phocuswright’s Travel Metric of the Month 2025 features fresh travel industry research published throughout the year, showcasing key data across our market sizing, consumer research, and tech and innovation practices. Each month, we will publish a new visualization that highlights a significant research trend, finding or data set, along with links to the source publication for a deeper dive.

Metrics of the Month 2025 include:

• January:       U.S. Travel Agency Bookings, 2020-2026
• February:      U.S. Lodging Trends
• March:          Asia Pacific Travel Rebound (New!)
• April:            Coming Soon!

Free research insights report:
70% of U.S. travelers stayed in hotel, 24% in STR

India’s OTAs: Superapps in the Making?

India’s online travel agencies are rapidly evolving, driven by booming tourism, digital adoption, and increasing competition from direct supplier channels. To stay ahead, OTAs are expanding services, integrating AI, targeting smaller cities and pursuing superapp ambitions – offering everything from flights and accommodations to transportation, financial products, and loyalty programs in a single platform. While classic brands leads in market breadth, competitors are carving out niches in corporate travel, rail, luxury and regional markets. The race toward a true travel superapp is intensifying, but meeting challenges in activity-based offerings and customer engagement may determine which OTAs achieve this vision first.

Free research insights report:
OTAs take the lead in superapp innovation as India’s travel market reaches new heights

Phocuswright’s India’s OTAs: Superapps in the Making? examines the ever-dynamic Indian OTA sector, focusing on growth and transformation by market players. Key questions answered by this research include:

• What are the offerings of major Indian OTAs, and which channels are they present in to serve their diverse customer base?
• How is the potential of the Indian market providing OTAs with opportunities to expand into various segments and channels while doubling down on their core strengths?
• How close are Indian OTAs to realizing their superapp dreams, and which players are leading the charge?
• How do India’s OTAs differ in their approach to becoming superapps?

Japan Travel Market Report 2023-2027

Japan's travel market experienced a remarkable rebound in 2023, with gross bookings soaring 36% to $85.1 billion, far exceeding expectations. This growth, driven by the reopening of international borders, government incentives, and a favorable exchange rate, brought inbound tourism close to pre-pandemic levels while also boosting domestic travel. Looking ahead, Japan aims to solidify its position as a global tourism powerhouse by targeting high-spending visitors, leveraging infrastructure investments, and enhancing rural and luxury travel experiences.

Phocuswright’s Japan Travel Market Report 2023-2027 provides a comprehensive view of the Japanese travel market, including detailed market sizing and projections, distribution trends, analysis of major travel segments, key developments and more.

This report is part of the Asia Pacific Travel Market Report 2023-2027 series, which includes all of the following publications:

• Asia Pacific Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• Australia-New Zealand Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• China Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• India Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• Japan Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• Southeast Asia Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• Northeast Asia Travel Market Report 2023-2027
• Asia Pacific Travel Market Data Sheet 2023-2027