Am heading to ITB next week and as usual, I wonder what is the use of these large trade shows. Are they still relevant? + OTAs and AI, Humanoid robots, Beauty industry and ecommerce, etc.
Hello,
The biggest travel trade show is happening again. Say what we want but there are many people I never get to see all year – except at ITB. And the conversations at the show are rarely technically important. But they matter somehow.
Best, Martin
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Guests vote, but do we listen?
The Shiji Group’s insights into guest experience trends for 2025 reveal that personalization is increasingly important, with mid-tier hotels outperforming luxury properties due to competitive pricing and service enhancements. Was it ever not? Or have we just got into a point where everything is so standard we crave for some form of human recognition. AI-generated reviews are posing challenges to review authenticity (I use AI to write my reviews), and review policies are becoming stricter. As I mentioned last week, I think this whole sector is going to take on a whole new life. Note I work with Shiji Group.
GUEST EXPERIENCE TRENDS
Booking.com, AI, Search
Booking’s CEO says they’re ready to adapt for AI and have been working on it. I think they are. They have all the data and they can offer transactions, a huge advantage. But search is changing so fast we don’t really know where it is going. More and more people are finding that searching on Google is fastidious and not as relevant as before. Searching on OTAs is going to get the same treatment. Do OTAs then become the “databases” of AI search engines? That would commoditize them entirely.
BOOKING.COM AI DISRUPTION
About me: I'm a fractional CMO for large travel technology companies helping turn them into industry leaders. I'm also the co-founder of 10minutes.news a hotel news media that is unsensational, factual and keeps hoteliers updated on the industry. Self-Checkout Fail: A Lesson?
Self-checkout kiosks in grocery stores, once seen as a way to reduce wait times and staffing needs, have not significantly cut costs and are now seeing a reintroduction of human labor in the checkout process due to the technology’s limitations. Hotels went through something similar a decade ago. The lesson I keep learning about this is, if it isn’t making it easier for the customer then it isn’t worth it. The guest doesn’t want a kiosk, the guest isn’t allergic to speaking to humans – they just want to get over the check-in smoothly and relax in their room. The kiosk may, or may not, be the way to do it.
SELF-CHECKOUT CHALLENGES
The New York Times Embraces AI
The New York Times is integrating AI tools into its operations, with an emphasis on an internal tool named Echo for content summarization and SEO headlines amongst other things. There is a fine line here somewhere – writing the story that informs of the situation or writing the story that gets most clicks. It is a complex relationship between integrity and EBIDTA. My view is we need media platforms to be media platforms so the ads and the platforms remain separate in the eyes of the reader.
AI TOOLS JOURNALISM
Beauty industry going on-line
According to this article, the beauty industry is experiencing a significant shift towards e-commerce, with online sales accounting for 25% of the total market and an expected growth of 7% in the next three years. I get it for reorders, but for discovery it is a really tough sell. Try selling a perfume online with no way to try it out before unless you’re willing to pay for 50% returns, it is really a tough sell. Hotels have a great audience, could become showrooms but somehow this hasn’t really worked out. Some ideas here.
AI BEAUTY E-COMMERCE
Humanoid Robots
Meta is also investing into humanoid robots. For hotels, housekeeping robots haven’t been a great investment yet. The tasks they can accomplish are too few compared to the cost and work to keep them going. But maybe humanoid robots can help that. Still this is really a long way down the road. And crossing a robot in the hallway doing rooms is everything but a great experience.
AI-POWERED ROBOTS META
Podcast: I was invited on the Hospitality Daily Podcast and spoke about technology in hospitality, some thoughts on what wont change in hospitality, and why I co-founded 10minutes.news. Best, MartinOpinion
Do Trade Shows Still Matter?
Not long ago, trade shows were the B2B equivalent of an annual shopping mall—where buyers and sellers met, shook hands, and struck deals. But in a world where technology and new product research happen online, do we still need trade shows?
The short answer: yes, but for different reasons.
What Trade Shows Used to Be
In the past, companies unveiled their latest innovations at trade shows because there was no better way to reach the right audience at scale. If you wanted to see the newest tech, check out innovations, evaluate a new supplier, or compare multiple vendors, attending an annual industry event was your best bet.
But the world spins faster now. No one waits a year for the next big event. If we need a new solution, we search online, request a demo, and make a purchase decision—sometimes without ever meeting the vendor in person.
Why Trade Shows Still Matter
If trade shows are no longer the primary discovery and sales channel, why should companies still invest in them? The value has shifted from transactional to relational.
1. Reassurance & Trust
Websites and sales calls can paint a perfect picture, but nothing replaces meeting people face-to-face. Seeing a company’s booth (or lack thereof) speaks volumes about its investment and knowledge of the industry, do they actually understand the industry. Meeting leadership in person provides confidence that the company is real, reliable, and worth doing business with.
2. Other Conversations
Some discussions are best left out of emails and support tickets. At trade shows, partners and vendors have real, unfiltered conversations about challenges, opportunities, and industry shifts, things that help build a real relationship. Nobody is perfect, but where are those flaws and can we work with them?
3. Commitment, Brand Presence & Visibility
How is the stand, how are the people. Are they committed to the industry and do they understand it? Even if few deals are closed at the event, being seen in the right place at the right time has value. Competitors take note, customers are reassured, and prospects remember who showed up and “how much” they showed up.
Is the Investment Justified?
Here’s the real challenge: trade shows often represent the single biggest line item in a B2B marketing budget, yet they’re notoriously difficult to track for direct ROI.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that after attending a trade show, pipeline activity increases—but in ways that are hard to attribute. Someone might remember your company when making a purchasing decision months later. An existing client might solidify their loyalty because of a great in-person meeting. These interactions rarely show up in direct attribution models but have undeniable value.
The Future of Trade Shows
As B2B interactions become more remote, the human element of trade shows becomes even more critical. While we may see smaller, more targeted events, or hybrid digital-physical experiences, the need for face-to-face trust-building isn’t going away. There’s a saying somewhere that humans are social animals.
Trade shows might not be the B2B shopping malls they once were, but they still serve a purpose: reinforcing relationships, validating brands, and bringing back the human side of business.
Is that enough to justify the budget? That depends on how much your industry values relationships. In B2B, where contracts are complex and stakes are high, the answer might still be yes. My take is – pick the right events and pour your budget in making those amazing. Rather than spreading twice the money on a lot of events and have a mediocre presence.
