Social Media Altered How People Book Vacations, Says Kayak Israel Director

Social media has affected how people book vacations and how they measure the success of their trip, according to Ayal Segal, business development director at the Israeli arm of KAYAK Software Corp. Segal spoke on Tuesday at Calcalist’s travel conference held at Labs TLV, a coworking and events space in central Tel Aviv.

For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.

Social media and wide internet usage have led to travelers splitting into subgroups and communities, Segal said. Nowadays, it is easy to find other travelers who share the same needs, for example, women who travel on their own, and people go online to forums and get their travel questions answered instantly, Segal said.

Social media is one of three trends that Segal identified that are affecting the travel industry. Another is the evolution of travel apps. According to Segal, certain apps in South East Asia help travelers book everything they could possibly need on vacation, from babysitters to takeout food and movie tickets.

The third trend highlighted by Segal is that of new, innovative hotel chains that are popping up all over the world to challenge legacy hotel brands.