Leading innovators in real-time ticket inventory management

The travel & tourism industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by a greater desire from consumers for personalised offerings that heighten the traveller experience, as well as an increased focus on value among an increasingly constrained traveller base.

The growing importance of technologies such as machine learning, big data analytics, cloud solutions, and cybersecurity is evident. In the last three years alone, there have been over 15,000 patents filed and granted in the travel & tourism industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Innovation in Travel: real-time ticket inventory management.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the travel & tourism industry using innovation intensity models built on over 21,000 patents, there are 20+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, travel plan optimised charging and robo taxis are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely.

Real-time ticket inventory management, LBS social networking, and smart itinerary planners are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing.

Among maturing innovation areas are virtual touring interfaces, which are now well established in the industry.

Real-time inventory management is an automated process of recording sales, purchases and inventory through the use of various technologies that help process that data in real-time to provide an up-to-the-minute picture of inventory levels. In travel & tourism, this technology is used by hotels, airlines, but also by sites and attractions to effectively manage visitor volumes and improve the guest experience.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 50+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established travel & tourism companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of real-time ticket inventory management.

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Car manufacturer Toyota is the leading patent filer in this area as its technologies help companies operating fleets to track available inventory versus what is out on the road. For similar reasons, ride hailing provider Uber is also a leading assignee.

Entertainment company Live Nation is also very active as one of the world’s leading event organisers and consequently ticket sellers. This technology is notable for the lack of travel & tourism companies filing for patents. In addition to the above companies, specialist tech firms such as Oracle, Alphabet, and SITA are active, suggesting that this is an area in which travel & tourism operators would prefer to partner with a specialist vendor rather than develop solutions in-house.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the travel & tourism industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Key Themes in Travel and Tourism for 2022.