Disruptors Revisited: The Travel Sector’s Long-Anticipated Comeback

Are you planning to take a trip this summer? After two long years of COVID-related complications, Canadians are finally traveling freely again. The cruise sector is back in business, outdoor festivals and other big public events have returned, and of course, air travel is booming, leading to long lines at Canadian airports, thanks to all the pent-up demand from people forced to spend most of the pandemic on the ground. Thankfully, there are technological solutions to some of the headaches associated with booking a trip.

On this encore episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do explore the “new normal” for travel and tourism with Hussein Fazal. Fazal is the CEO of SnapCommerce, whose flagship product, SnapTravel, is an AI-powered half-bot half-human service that helps customers book hotel rooms, flights, and car rentals, either through their website, or through SMS, Messenger and WhatsApp.

But despite the fact services like SnapTravel have been logging record traffic, there may be a dark lining to those silver clouds. Inflation is at a 40-year high, gas prices are soaring, and Europe remains engulfed in geopolitical turmoil. It’s fair to say that for those in the travel industry — or folks hoping to travel — there may still be some turbulent skies ahead.

SHOW NOTES:

To learn more about SnapCommerce and its flagship product, SnapTravel, check out its website here.

In the episode, Theresa mentions new travel statistics and trends from the RBC Consumer Spending Tracker. To read more, follow this link.

Also mentioned is a new RBC report that looks at the importance of boosting women’s pay and participation in the labour force—and presents some possible solutions. The report, called, “Equal Measures: Advancing Canada's working women in a post-pandemic economy,” can be found here.

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