Marketing Review — Fall 2008 - (Page 18)

FORECASTING TRENDS ON TO THE FUTURE ACCORDING TO FORECASTING INTERNATIONAL 10) In-air Internet, cell phones, and text messaging Airlines remain the last bastion of privacy in an increasingly connected world, thanks largely to the fear that radio transmitters such as wireless modems and cell phones could wreak havoc with aircraft navigation systems. That is changing fast. American Airlines has announced plans to offer onboard Internet access—for a modest fee, of course—while Virgin America and Jet Blue have been testing free e-mail and instant messaging. By 2018, privacy in the air will be just a memory. Whether it is a good one or bad depends on how much you miss instant access to friends, colleagues, and the world’s online information. 9) The continuing decline of travel agents For now, the cruise industry is just about the last refuge of travel agents, thanks to cruise line executives who believe their product is too complex and costly to market effectively over the Internet—and fear that online sales would hurt their image of luxurious exclusivity. Now even that safe harbor is vanishing as large-scale cruise marketers are booking berths over the Net. Ten years from now, even high-end cruise lines will have given in and replaced travel agents with comprehensive videos of their accommodations and itineraries and online booking systems. Travel agents will arrange only the most exclusive cruises and complex custom tours, and today’s much-shrunken population of agents will be smaller still. 8) Airport information kiosks Automated ticketing kiosks are just the beginning. Soon, digital access points modeled on them will dispense information from Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel, the CIA World Factbook, and a host of other sources. Other services will be added quickly: insurance sales, information packages customized for your planned itinerary downloaded to data cards or flash drives 18 #2 Aging Boomers 200391294-001/digital vision/getty images for your laptop computer, and even electronic books for your MP3 player or Amazon Kindle. 7) Universal Easy Pass Today, a wireless credit card on a key fob can get you through highway toll gates or let you pay for gas with a wave of your hand. Visa’s PayWave touchless credit cards already are accepted at some 32,000 retailers, while MasterCard and American Express have rolled out similar services. Ten years down the road, any of these cards, and probably others, will pay your way in or out of any major hotel, restaurant, or tourist attraction with a casual wave of the hand. That should help to cut the waiting lines at the oh-so-exotic Starbucks and McDonalds in Beijing. HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • FALL 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review — Fall 2008

Marketing Review – Fall 2008 Contents The Online Marketer Success Stories Forecasting Trends Ian Schrager: The Revolutionary Man Leaving No Stone Unturned: The Quest for Ancillary Revenue Gaga Gadgets for Execs on the Go: Functional New Portable Technology to Make Life and Work on the Road More Hospitable Effectively Weathering the Ups and Downs of the Economic Cycle Experiments in Podcasting Higher Transportation Costs and a Slowing Economy Shift Hotel Room Demand

Marketing Review — Fall 2008

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