Digital technology advances in the last 20 years have driven numerous
innovations and disruptions in the travel industry. These technologies and
the companies offering them have rearranged the industry, leaving behind
some players — for example, travel agents — while introducing more
complexity into the value chain between travelers and destinations.
More recently, mobile technologies have taken center stage as consumer
behavior shifts with astonishing speed towards smartphone research and
booking travel. As of October 2015, according to a report by Expedia
Media Solutions / comScore, US customers who book travel online have
consistently spent more time interacting with travel content on their
mobile devices than on their desktops.
Digital technologies are producing huge amounts of data for travel
businesses. For example, Aviation Week recently reported that the geared
turbo-fan engine for Pratt & Whitney contains 5,000 sensors which
collectively generate up to 10 gigabytes of data per second. This means
