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LATEST INSIGHTS

This Expert Law Firm's Whitepaper on Navigating Corporate Travel Risk is a Critical Read

Matt Griffin, Traxo

Corporate travel is vital for business growth, fostering expansion and collaboration. Yet, it also carries inherent risks, prompting the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to publish ISO 31030 in September 2021. This comprehensive framework addresses travel-related risks and offers standardized risk management practices. Morvillo

Travel Management Fundamentals: What is Travel Data?

Unstructured data, structured data, complete data—these terms can intimidate those who are not accustomed to or well-versed in managing data. While most travel managers wouldn’t consider themselves data experts, they actually acquire and use a massive amount of travel data to do their jobs.

According to a 2021 study by Expedia , 68% of all business travelers book more than half of their travel outside of approved channels. This high level of travel leakage means that travel managers actually need a lot more booking data than they typically have to run efficient programs. 

Data for Travel Management: What is travel data?

In the context of travel management, travel data is the information that pertains to your travelers and their itineraries. This data includes the following:

• Travelers' personal details, including their basics (name, date of birth, emergency contacts, contact details, and home address)
• Travelers' loyalty numbers for travel business programs whereby they are collecting points and maintaining status
• Purchase details, including booking costs, upgrades, taxes and fees (like resort and sustainability fees)
• Travel itinerary details and specifics such as dates and locations of travel plans, booking confirmation numbers, etc.

Gathering and Accessing Travel Data

Travel data can come from many sources, including supplier sites, online travel agencies, travel management companies (TMCs), and aggregation services like Traxo. Oftentimes, data is sent across in reports and spreadsheets or accessed via a direct integration. In the case of Traxo, data is securely consumed in real-time, standardized and stored for easy analysis and portability—which means bookings can be captured quickly and then sent along to travel management partners, like duty of care and price assurance providers.

Data Security: Why It Matters

With personal and travel-specific data, companies need to be mindful of data security —how the data is being collected, maintained, secured, and used in accordance with privacy acts.

More commonly than not, mid-large-scale organizations work with a dedicated travel management company (TMC). The TMC has a secure traveler profile that is used as a depository of traveler-specific details pertinent to booking travel plans on behalf of the respective traveler. Travelers are responsible for setting up and keeping their personal travel profiles to ensure the accuracy of the information being collected and stored.

For start-ups or small-scale companies who may not yet need the services of a TMC, travel managers or administrators really need to consider how their travelers' data is being gathered, stored, and maintained, all the while keeping data security top-of-mind. Utilizing a Google Sheets or Excel Spreadsheet won’t cut it.

If companies are using a travel data aggregation service to capture both TMC and non-TMC itinerary data in one place, they need to ensure that data partner employs high data-security standards. For instance, Traxo employs some of the highest data security standards so clients can rest assured that their employees’ information remains safe.

Travel Data is Essential for Travel Management

Effective travel management has always been contingent on knowing when and where employees are traveling. With modern tools and travel management partners, it’s easier than ever to gain the booking details you need to create travel management programs that optimize costs, keep travelers safer, and make business travel an awesome experience. 

To learn more about accessing complete booking details no matter where travel is booked, fill out the form to schedule a quick call with the Traxo team.

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Leveraging Complete Corporate Travel Data to Reach Business Objectives

Brian Butler

In the dynamic landscape of corporate travel, staying ahead requires more than just managing logistics; it involves understanding and leveraging the wealth of data generated by every trip. At Traxo, we specialize in capturing and analyzing comprehensive travel data, enabling businesses to fine-tune their travel programs for maximum efficiency and

Business Continuity in Corporate Travel: How Traxo Keeps You in the Game

In the ever-complex and unpredictable world of corporate operations, business continuity management (BCM) stands as a cornerstone for ensuring an organization's ongoing stability. Business continuity refers to the planning and preparation undertaken to ensure that an organization can continue to operate in case of serious incidents, disasters, or

Unleashing the Power of ChatGPT for Smarter, Safer Corporate Travel

Lacey Williams

In corporate travel's complex, fast-paced realm, staying ahead of the curve is necessary. Today, the technological revolution spearheaded by artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped the landscape, with tools like ChatGPT becoming game-changers. Designed by OpenAI, ChatGPT leverages advanced language understanding capabilities that could assist

Overcoming Weather Delays and Mass Cancellations with Traxo

Aash Shravah

In corporate travel, weather delays and mass cancellations are significant roadblocks . These unexpected situations can lead to missed meetings, lower productivity, and heightened employee stress; taking a toll on overall business performance. The need for efficient management and control of these unpredictable events has never been more critical.

What Travel Management Teams Need to Know About NDC

The world of corporate travel management is constantly evolving, and one of the most significant developments in recent years is the introduction of New Distribution Capability (NDC). NDC is a new standard for airline distribution that aims to modernize and simplify the booking process for travel agencies, travel management companies, and

How Corporate Travel Data Enables Greater Booking Flexibility

Justin Morris

In today's fast-paced business environment, corporate travel management teams face many challenges, such as ensuring the safety and comfort of their business travelers while keeping costs under control. One of the main challenges is to provide flexible booking options that meet the specific needs of their travelers while retaining full visibility.

How Enterprise-Level Companies Address Personal Trips

With the rise of work-from-home and work-from-anywhere trends, as well as the blending of business and leisure travel (also known as "bleisure" trips ), many corporations have shifted their focus from being responsible for the safety and security of the traveler to being accountable for the safety and security of the employee, regardless of their

Using Data for Better Travel Management: What Does Traxo Do?

You may be wondering, "What does Traxo Do?" Traxo helps organizations audit their corporate travel programs by providing full visibility into travel bookings, regardless of the booking source, well before trips actually happen. By parsing booking details from 100,000+ air, car and hotel suppliers, Traxo provides travel managers with comprehensive

2022 Work Trends: Changes in Business Travel and Daily Operations

While the world faces emerging viral outbreaks, inflation and air travel disruptions, business travel continues to rebound from its mid-pandemic low—though its full recovery timeline has been pushed to 2026.

Until recently, businesses went into fight-or-flight mode each time a new COVID variant surfaced, which caused the height of cancellations,

How Complete Travel Data Supports Corporate Sustainability

As our environment shifts, the importance of corporate sustainability grows stronger. As individual contributors and corporations, the actions and impact that we make together could not be more important than acting to offset our carbon footprint now.

The lasting impact of our actions plays an integral part in the Earth future generations

Traxo Product Update: Automatic Currency Conversion

Traxo has been providing travel managers and organizations across the globe with complete trip visibility, providing consolidated reporting and ease of locating travelers before, during, and after trips. We’ve recently taken Traxo’s reporting to the next level by launching computed prices , a new feature to automatically convert all travel data

6 Tips for Managing Bleisure Travel

Franz Loriega

A bleisure trip is what you get when you blend a business and a leisure trip together — a concept that is no stranger to modern business travelers or travel managers. An example of a bleisure trip would be an employee traveling to San Francisco for a business conference at their company’s expense and then tacking on a couple days for a quick jaunt

Why You Should Use a Travel Aggregator for Business Travel Data

Imagine waking up to news headlines that war has erupted , a political crisis has ensued, or a newly identified virus has begun to rapidly spread. As your organization's appointed travel manager, would you be scratching your head, wondering if you have employees in the affected region, or would a quick check of your travel aggregator let you know

4 Ways to Ensure Business Travel Safety During International Conflict

Many organizations had offices, work-from-home employees, and travelers visiting Ukraine when Russia invaded on February 24th, 2022. Regardless of why employees were in the country, organizations had a legally binding duty of care to their team members. Before they could ensure employees were out of harm's way, they needed to locate them. Today,

3 Aspects of an Effective Price Assurance Strategy

What is price assurance.

Price assurance is a corporate travel savings strategy made of three components — supplier negotiations, rate auditing and re-shopping. Technologies that continually audit rates and re-shop for discounts are crucial to ensuring your suppliers adhere to your contracted discounts and non-negotiated bookings are optimized.

4 Reasons Why Travel Managers Need Access to Detailed Business Travel Analytics

The role of a travel manager often varies with the size and scale of organizations. Global organizations may have large, complex travel programs, typically managed by a team of corporate travel professionals . Whereas small to medium-sized businesses may only have a single point of contact managing the travel program. Regardless of the size of your

The Benefits of Using Traxo to Manage Multiple TMCs

Having multiple travel management companies (TMCs) supporting an organization is common in today’s business sector, especially for those with a global presence. This fragmentation makes leveraging a travel program data aggregation and auditing solution mission-critical.

What Are TMCs (Travel Management Companies)?

TMCs,  travel management companies

Corporate Travel Technology: 3 Travel Management Technologies Every Business Should Implement

New, industry-leading corporate travel t technologies are emerging all the time. We’ve also witnessed businesses   reinventing themselves to stay relevant  as the world changes around us. To continue future-proofing corporate travel programs, there are three key areas where travel managers should focus:

• Ensuring access to complete pre-trip travel

Corporate Travel Program Policy Types

A well-written corporate travel policy provides guidance for business travelers while helping organizations influence behavior, manage spend, utilize preferred suppliers , and keep travelers safe. Despite the numerous benefits a travel policy provides, travel managers still face policy compliance challenges.

How do you move the needle on

Updating Your Travel Program: 5 Corporate Travel Policy Best Practices

Once you’re familiar with the  three corporate travel program policy types – mandated, flexible, and hybrid – it’s time to decide what comes next. Do you need to make changes, and if so, what are the corporate travel policy best practices you should follow?

Before diving headfirst into policy changes, let’s take a step back to evaluate the entire

Full Data Visibility: The New Table Stakes For Corporate Travel

Andres Fabris

As the global economy begins to reopen, corporate travel teams worldwide are planning for how best to restart their company’s business travel activity. Most firms have made it through the initial “triage” stage of the pandemic. Now, teams are taking stock of how their travel programs performed in the midst of the crisis, in order to assess how

Traxo and Your TMC, Ensuring Your Travel Program is Prepared

Uncertain times – I have lost count of how many times I heard the phrase “uncertain times” over the last two months. Since the spread of COVID-19 began, the world has certainly been faced with innumerable challenges on every imaginable level - physically, mentally, spiritually, and more, especially in the realm of business travel. There are many

COVID-19 and Corporate Travel: Steps to Take Now for What Comes Next

Cara Whitehill

Travel managers have been on the front line of corporate travel’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Companies are in varying stages of dealing with the outbreak, but we’ve heard three common themes in how travel teams are approaching this unprecedented new reality.

Three Ways Travel Managers Are Approaching COVID-19

• Employees first – Ensuring

China, Coronavirus, Corporate Travel and Duty of Care

If your CEO or head of risk management walked into your office today and asked you how many employees recently traveled to China, and hence could be at risk for exposure to coronavirus, how confident are you of your answer?

Importance of Data Visibility During the COVID-19 Outbreak

The swift outbreak of the coronavirus (now known as COVID-19)

Traxo and Data Privacy: FAQs

We frequently get questions from prospective clients regarding data privacy and security, and how Traxo's services meet legal requirements for both areas. For corporate travel managers seeking to understand their booking blindspots, we've compiled some of the most common questions and our responses, which can be shared with internal legal and IT

Traxo at ACTE 2018: Off-Channel Spend Takes Center Stage

The Traxo team was in New York City last week for the annual ACTE Global Summit and enjoyed the opportunity to connect with hundreds of corporate travel managers and buyers. Our booth at InterACTE was busy nonstop! Thanks to all who stopped by to say hello -- we hope we helped shed some light on the challenges of managing your off-channel

Traxo Update: SOC 2 Type II Achieved

In an era where data security and privacy are paramount concerns, Traxo has announced its successful completion of the Systems and Organizational Control (SOC) 2 Type II examination. This achievement reinforces Traxo's commitment to maintaining the highest level of security. The in-depth audit, conducted by Dansa D'Arata Soucia LLP , provided an

Mandatory Emissions Reporting: Implications for Global Corporate Travel

Post-pandemic recovery has ushered in an era where the environment and sustainability are paramount. For the travel industry, the spotlight is on new mandatory emissions reporting standards. As the The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) points out , navigating this evolving landscape requires commitment and innovation. Let's delve into how

Travel Data Security: What is Pen Testing?

You’ve likely experienced a cyber attack at some point during your career or personal life. For example, you may have had an account hacked into or received an alarming message from a service provider that there has been a systems data breach and your personal details were compromised. With larger-scale cyberattacks, these often go unnoticed or

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Data insights.

Below is U.S. Travel’s latest travel industry research, including insights into emerging trends, factors driving travel’s growth, as well as data to convey the importance of the travel industry and influence business leaders and legislation to strengthen travel for the future.

Please note that some of our research products are exclusively available to U.S. Travel members. Learn more about becoming a member or email [email protected] .

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Latest Travel Data Newsletter

Our monthly data newsletter features a forward-looking outlook of the travel industry, including a summary of the latest economic, consumer and travel indicators, trends and analysis as well as key highlights from the Recovery and Growth Insights Dashboard. Member log-in required.

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Travel Price Index (TPI)

Developed by U.S. Travel, the Travel Price Index (TPI) measures both the one-month change and 12-month change in the cost of travel away from home in the United States on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The TPI is released monthly and is directly comparable to the Consumer Price Index. Member log-in required .

View the Travel Price Index ›

Quarterly Consumer Insights

Bringing together results from our Business Travel Tracker and Ipsos Consumer Survey, these quarterly consumer insights provide a more in-depth look at current traveler behavior and shifts in traveler trends, all within the context of an evolving macroeconomic environment.

View Quarterly Consumer Insights ›

The U.S. Travel Insights Dashboard

The U.S. Travel Insights Dashboard is the most comprehensive and centralized source for high-frequency intelligence on the U.S. travel industry and broader economy. The dashboard is updated the last week of every month. Member log-in required.

View The U.S. Travel Insights Dashboard ›

Trending Research

THE ITINERARY Q3 Insights Reveal Holiday Travel Expectations and the Economic Cost of Not Addressing Traveler Pain Points

THE ITINERARY Business Travel Accelerating

THE ITINERARY The Economic Rollercoaster

Business Travel Analytics: A Comprehensive Guide To Travel Data

Home » B2B » Business Travel Analytics: A Comprehensive Guide To Travel Data

Everyone knows and appreciates the value of data in the age of digital technologies. Organizations leverage data to analyze trends and design strategies for the future. With comprehensive data, they can find new opportunities, assess business policies, and project business trends. Companies can implement corrective measures by evaluating policies whenever necessary. Though there is remarkable growth in adopting digital technologies in business travel, most companies cannot leverage the data to make informed decisions. In such cases, travel managers should access the relevant data and use comprehensive business travel analytics to prepare future investment plans to enhance the ROI for business travel.

What is business travel analytics?

Business travel analytics integrate practices, technology, and skills to collect, organize, and analyze the travel data of an enterprise. It aims to achieve meaningful insights into the travel trends of the organization for enhancing business travel policy .

The following are a few aspects of business travel analytics:

• Business travel data collection and processing
• Discover trends and patterns through the data analysis
• Arrive at decisions to optimize business travel

Companies should leverage diverse analytical practices to gain insights and optimize the business travel program. The process should involve an analysis of key performance indicators to discover cost leaks and find opportunities for better cost efficiency of the business travel program.

Types of business travel analytics

Business travel can be analyzed in many ways. The use of analytics helps travel managers derive travel data and provide the best solutions for the employee’s business travel needs .

1. Descriptive travel analytics

Using simple formats to present historical and current travel data is the basis of descriptive analytics. You may use spreadsheets, descriptive stats, or data visualization to perform descriptive analytics. It is the most basic form of business travel data analytics. Travel managers get information about past and present trends across departments and employee levels through descriptive analytics. There is inadequate information to know the reasons and arrive at a specific course of action.

2. Diagnostic travel analytics

Diagnostic travel analytics help find the reason behind the travel trends in descriptive analytics. It enables you to discover how some factors impact business travel performance. It establishes the cause for higher spending in a department by establishing a relationship between spending levels and policy deviations. This type require data mining and correlations to reveal a cause-effect association.

3. Predictive travel analytics

The complexity of data demands the use of advanced data analytics, such as predictive analytics, to arrive at actionable decisions. The type leverages ML and deep learning algorithms to identify patterns to predict future trends. It is helpful for travel policy optimization, as one can arrive at a concrete strategy to improve policy compliance through a better travel experience.

Why do you need business travel analytics?

Business travel analytics play a crucial role in travel policy optimization. These are a few reasons to adopt business analytics in corporate travel.

• Travel policy compliance: Violations of travel policy result in overspending. Travel managers can access booking data and detect trends of policy violations to take corrective actions.
• Cost savings: Diagnostic travel analytics help identify the reasons behind trip cancellations and last-minute bookings that cause an increase in travel costs.
• Practical budgeting: Data-based decisions improve policy compliance and enhance the accuracy of forecasts. Better policy compliance assures better ROI.
• Employee satisfaction: Predictive travel analytics provide insights into employee preferences. Access to travel booking data and constant tracking of booking patterns help travel managers create lists of individual employee preferences and increase satisfaction.
• Preferred vendor lists: Business travel analytics provide deeper insights into vendors offering maximum discounts. It helps travel managers create an inventory of preferred vendors to boost cost efficiency.

How to use business travel analytics?

Optimization of travel policy is the most prominent advantage of business travel analytics. Access to SaaS-based travel management platforms like Paxes enables optimum utilization of data analytics. The automated travel management solutions provide the following benefits:

• Access to custom reports to generate relevant travel and expense data
• A centralized dashboard to generate a summary of data metrics for specific periods
• Real-time BI reporting dashboard to access in-depth spend analysis and computation of ROI

Suggested Read: A Guide To Prevent And Detect Business Travel Expense Frauds

Business travel is a rich data resource if your organization uses an advanced travel management platform like Paxes. The vast data helps companies make effective decisions involving travel preferences and future spending. Business travel analytics are crucial to improve travel policy compliance.

Business Travel Analytics FAQs

What is the process of business travel analytics.

The process involves collecting, organizing, and transforming travel data into meaningful insights for making data-driven decisions to optimize travel policy.

What tools help gain insights from data?

Data collection, data visualization, data mining, and forecasting simulation are a few tools for gaining insights from data.

How does an organization benefit from business analytics?

Business analytics help organizations discover trends and patterns for monitoring Key Performance Indicators. Organizations can make data-driven decisions by using insights.

How are the three components of data analytics helpful in a business setup?

The three types are descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive analytics. These improve the decision-making process by enabling information about what already happened besides what may happen and what should happen.

Business travel analytics integrate technology, skills, and practices to collect, organize, and assess travel data.

Pratyush is a traveling enthusiast who always looks for innovations in business travel management. He has 5 years of experience writing content on corporate travel management and working closely with expert business travel facilitators.

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Daily Travel

How many people are staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic? How far are people traveling when they don’t stay home? Which states and counties have more people taking trips?

Start exploring our Daily Travel data to answer those questions.

In which States and Counties are people staying at home? Which ones show the most activity?

Dive into the map below to see what percentage of the population is staying at home in your state or county. You can also use the Select A Metric drop-down to see state or county-level measures for the average number of daily trips people are taking and more.

Map of Activity by State or County

How much are people traveling as the pandemic continues.

Use the line graph below to see how the the number of trips has changed over time. Then, use the Select A Metric drop-down to view changes in other measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mobility Over Time: National or by State

When they leave the home, how far are people traveling.

Are people going farther on each trip, or are they sticking close to home? Use the date selector to learn how patterns have changed.

Distribution of Trips by Distance: National, State, and County level

Explore the trips by distance data on your own.

Click on the image below to see the metadata for the Daily Travel data in our Data Inventory . There, you can download the data or use the inventory platform to create your own visualizations and share them with others.

Methodology

The methodology used to develop these data can be found at this link .

The Daily Travel data and number of people staying home and not staying home are estimated for the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by the Maryland Transportation Institute and Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory at the University of Maryland.

The daily travel estimates are from a mobile device data panel from merged multiple data sources that address the geographic and temporal sample variation issues often observed in a single data source. The merged data panel only includes mobile devices whose anonymized location data meet a set of data quality standards, which further ensures the overall data quality and consistency. The data quality standards consider both temporal frequency and spatial accuracy of anonymized location point observations, temporal coverage and representativeness at the device level, spatial representativeness at the sample and county level, etc. A multi-level weighting method that employs both device and trip-level weights expands the sample to the underlying population at the county and state levels, before travel statistics are computed.

These data are experimental and may not meet all of our quality standards.  Experimental data products are created using new data sources or methodologies that benefit data users in the absence of other relevant products. We are seeking feedback from data users and stakeholders on the quality and usefulness of these new products. Experimental data products that meet our quality standards and demonstrate sufficient user demand may enter regular production if resources permit.

Data in the charts and graphs above is updated weekly on Tuesdays at 10am Eastern Time. The data lags approximately one week behind the current date.

Data analysis is conducted at the aggregate national, state, and county levels.  To assure confidentiality and support data quality, no data are reported for a county if it has fewer than 50 devices in the sample on any given day.

Trips are defined as movements that include a stay of longer than 10 minutes at an anonymized location away from home. A movement with multiple stays of longer than 10 minutes before returning home is counted as multiple trips.

The Ultimate Guide for Travel Data Management: Best Practices & More

Types of travel data

Best practices for organizing and tracking travel-related data, data management systems, data security and privacy, travel industry experts, case studies.

As data becomes increasingly important across verticals, it’s essential to understand its role in the travel industry. Most importantly, understand how to leverage it to make informed business decisions and improve your internal processes and travel experience . After all, data will play a pivotal role in helping the tourism sector’s market volume reach $992.10bn by 2026 .

It all starts with effective travel data management, which refers to your process of tracking, recording, storing, and organizing the data created and collected by your travel business. 

The benefits of excelling at travel data management include i mproved business decision-making, efficient marketing campaigns, reduced operating costs and improved expense management, better-optimized processes, and ultimately increased profits. 

Let’s see how you can unlock all these benefits learned from the best travel data management case studies in the tourism industry. However, before we go to case studies, let’s learn about the different types of travel data your organization collects and how you can improve your data collection and organization efforts. 

Talking about travel data management without pinpointing travel data types provides little to no value. You must be able to identify the travel data types you want to manage efficiently and decide how you want to use each one of them . 

One of the main challenges of travel data management is that the travel industry collects massive amounts of data . It also comes from a variety of sources and through different data pipelines. The Big Data in the travel sector typically includes:

• Booking data – While booking data is a vast concept and rather hard to define, it generally refers to all the travelers’ data contained in the CRS. It can include a guest name, billing information, address, travel agent, rates, arrival & departure info, and stay information;
• Itinerary data – An itinerary data set can contain automated and manual data entries, including air and hotel data, dining reservations, ground transportation, planned routes, tasks for a trip, events, and to what extent each item across itineraries is popular (booking frequency);
• Expense data – Expense data includes all the expenses of doing business as a travel business. It can consist of all commission rates by each one of your suppliers, office costs, costs associated with maintaining your digital platforms and communication channels, and payroll expenses;
• Flights data – Flights data includes all flights provided by your selected airline suppliers. It can contain schedule data and other flight content such as departure and arrivals, patterns in booked flights, and missed flights;
• Destinations data – Destinations data contains essential information on destinations in your current offer. It can have destination performance data to help you pinpoint the most popular destinations and destinations where tourists spend more time, destination weather data, and currency fluctuations data;
• Transportation data – Transportation data includes all the information your business accumulated on all transportation options in your offer – their performance, popularity, missed flights data, costs, and so on;
• Customer data – your customer dataset includes a wide range of data entries usually stored in your CRM. It can include customer names, addresses, demographics, transportation, package & amenities preferences, past travel history with your brand, and so on.

Some of this data can be unstructured in free form or structured and ready to use in relevant fields and records. Travel data management can help you better structure your data, screen it for errors, and get it ready for use for analytics. 

When it comes to best practices for organizing and tracking travel-related data, the best thing you can do for your travel business is to standardize these procedures. Here are a couple of things that you should standardize first:

• Data quality – which criteria your data needs to meet before you can use it to fuel business decisions or offer personalization;
• Data quantity – the more data you have, the better. You should set a minimum threshold for your data quantity so you can make sound business decisions;
• Real-time access – you need access to your data on demand as it can help you identify trends and opportunities so you can fuel your immediate business decisions;
• Data warehouse – you also need to dedicate one central storage for your data to avoid breaking data in silos;
• Data monitoring – finally, you need to be able to monitor your data around the clock to measure your KPIs and make changes as you go.

Here are some of the approaches to tracking travel-related data.

You can put all data management systems in the travel sector into three categories – manual, spreadsheet-based, and specialized software systems. Let’s quickly take a look at each one of them. 

Manual systems

It’s not uncommon to see small travel agencies and novice travel agents using manual systems to track and record travel-related data. These systems can include tables in Word, email correspondence, and 

storing important data on local drives and thumb drives .

• An efficient way to track data
• Minimal costs
• Storing data is convenient
• Lack of structure
• Becomes obsolete as the data scales up

Spreadsheet-based systems

Spreadsheet-based systems are more advanced than manual systems. They refer to any type of Excel-like software used in travel-related data tracking and organizing. You can use these systems on-premises or in the cloud thanks to solutions such as Google Sheets and Office 365.

• Provide a better overview of the data
• Can easily structure data across records
• Support for basic analytics with built-in support for mathematical operations
• Scalability can be an issue with the number of suppliers and clients increasing
• Can result in duplicates and errors

Specialized travel management software

Finally, we have specialized travel management software built to facilitate and automate several processes that travel agencies manage on a day-to-day basis . These platforms can be set up to automatically track and organize travel-related data.

• Automated data tracking and storing
• Can track various types of data, including expenses, market information, and so on
• Helps centralize key data
• Can be costly
• Sometimes onboarding and training are required

Modern travelers are aware of the risks of sharing their sensitive data. In fact, 81% of them believe the potential risks of sharing their data outweigh the benefits it unlocks for them . As a travel business that collects and processes travel data, you need to address issues related to data security. 

More importantly, you must communicate your practices and security measures to potential customers to instill trust and generate business. There are many things you can do, including using state-of-the-art firewalls and antivirus, training your employees on best cyber security practices, encrypting data, and never sharing it with 3rd party companies .

Furthermore, you must ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations, such as GDPR in the EU and CCPA in the US . 

Whenever in doubt, you should broaden your perspective on the subject of travel data management – and what better way to do it than to tune in and find out what experts think about it? Below you can find out what the most prominent names in the travel sector have to say about the key data management trends and most common issues. 

Francisco Reverte at Salesforce

Francisco Reverte is a Senior Account Executive for the Tourism industry at Salesforce, actively working on solutions to enable travel companies to efficiently address customer demands. He outlined the abundance of data as the main challenge of good data management in the sector.

Francisco is confident that the solution lies in solutions that can go through the data at scale faster than human workers. “New technologies like Big Data or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the future of the platforms used for travel data management. Solutions powered by emerging technologies can help travel brands get to know their customers better, boost customer loyalty, and increase profitability,” Reverte explained.

Ignacio Ochoa at Iberostar Group Hotels & Resorts

Ignacio Ochoa is currently eCommerce and Online Marketing Director at Iberostar Group Hotels & Resorts. Iberostar currently manages the hotel chain consisting of 114 properties around the globe. According to him, the biggest challenge of travel data management is leveraging all visitors’ touch points with the brand to create personalized customer experiences.

“We seek a fully-optimized experience for every customer on every device, whether it be on a website adapted to desktop and mobile, as well as assisted sales services and the contact center,” Ochoa elaborated. In his efforts to help the chain improve visitors’ experience, Ochoa suggested they start using Google’s G Suite as it not only streamlines data management but also enables the brand to step up its ongoing digitization process. 

Stephen Lan at Amperity

Stephen Lan is a Director of Product Marketing at Amperity, a customer data platform. His years-long experience in the field makes him firmly believe that the biggest challenge of bullet-proof travel data management is working with data in silos instead of having a single data warehouse. It can lead to errors as data in silos can contain duplicates, incomplete profiles, and outdated information.

“It’s important to have an accurate customer data foundation that will allow you to identify and segment the right customer audiences,” said Stephen. “You’re not going to know the right audience to target until you have a complete customer profile, so it’s important to start by asking questions about what data and sources you need to drive your strategy and business objectives forward.”

That’s why Amperity focuses on developing a customer data platform on Machine Learning and AI able to score data, identify duplicates, and output actionable reports travel companies can use to develop better personalization. 

Víctor Mayans at ARTIEM Hotels

Víctor Mayans is Marketing Director of ARTIEM Hotels. He has been working with the brand long enough to highlight the main challenge of travel data management – all your efforts must contribute to collecting high-quality data. Only high-quality data can help a brand stay authentic and consistent across all digital channels and still be able to offer a personalized experience.

“Executing without measuring and improving doesn’t do very much. That’s why integrating measurement tools like Analytics or DataStudio, along with PowerBI that help you control KPIs while integrating them with customer satisfaction and sales metrics, is fundamental,” said Víctor. 

According to him, the best way to manage travel data is to invest in a robust CRM that has the capability to collect quality and actionable data. 

Besides learning from the tourism industry experts and discovering how some brands leverage Big Data and data management to achieve better results, you have other options as well. You can look for travel data management case studies . Or, in other words, see for yourself the exact moves travel businesses make to stay on top of their data management practices and what results they achieve . 

With this in mind, we give you four case studies highlighting different travel data management strategies and their outcomes.

Issta’s flight inventory management done right

As one of the prominent OTAs in Israel, Issta had to make its offer comprehensive and diverse. The firm caters to the needs of B2C and B2B companies. Given that the agency has a significant number of subdivisions and interacts with various clients, the information it communicates needs to be on point. 

The challenge of doing flight inventory right came from the fact that each of Issta’s divisions had its own list of suppliers. Managing the data in silos that consistently keeps changing is indeed quite a challenge. To overcome it, the company worked with a 3rd party company and had a custom management platform built . 

Thanks to the centralized inventory hub and connections with multiple suppliers, Issta drove more direct sales and satisfied quality standards. 

Faith Motors replaced papers with a new system

Faith Motors is a booking service provider with a focus on transportation services. However, the company ended up stuck with legacy methods of handling data. The workforce collected and processed data manually, and it was mainly stored in files and stored in cabinets. The company decided to completely digitize its travel data management practices. 

By replacing its manual system with the digital one , Faith Motors managed to completely transform its business and how they handle data. They collected data across various channels, structured it, and stored it for later use. The brand delighted clients by providing up-to-date and accurate data. The new system enabled data transparency and helped the company leverage data to deliver personalized offers.

Travelport Digital’s transition to real-time data analytics

To do real-time data analytics, you need to have pristine data management practices. In the travel niche, it means that all data has to meet the standards for structure, be error-free, and be regularly scanned for duplicates and inconsistencies. Achieving all this at scale is particularly challenging because there are many data pipelines to manage. 

Travelport Digital, as one of the world’s largest mobile travel technology providers, experienced all of the above challenges on its road to enabling real-time data analytics. They needed a comprehensive platform for travel data management. One that can track and record all travelers’ touch points with the brand, including various travelers’ actions and patterns such as research and booking, ancillary purchases, and itinerary management. 

Travelport had a custom solution made. The results are outstanding. Travelport app users can now receive personalized updates and recommendations thanks to real-time clickstream data analysis.

Waterloo travel agency is switching to an internal online travel data management platform

The following case study is of an online travel agency based in Waterloo, Australia. The agency offers various travel packages, including activities, hotels, and flights. The company wanted to have a platform able to process all the contracts with suppliers while storing data on inventory. The only way to achieve this goal was to align with a software company.

The travel agency had a travel data management platform built with extensive inventory management capabilities. Thanks to these capabilities, the agents were able to get access to the accurate and most recent data so they could create travel packages from scratch and use API to publish them across different platforms. As a result, the agency was able to seamlessly stream and manage travel data across 350,000 properties from 12,000 destinations . 

Uniglobe’s alliance with Amadeus

One of the benefits of good travel data management is the ability to delight customers with accurate data almost immediately after they take an interest in a travel package or complete booking. However, to do it, you need access to a comprehensive travel management platform with automation capabilities . To achieve it, Uniglobe decided to align with Amadeus, a leading IT provider in the travel industry .

Uniglobe started using Amadeus’s m-Power technology . Thanks to new tech, most data management practices were automated, including informing travelers about trip details the moment they complete the booking. The system automatically registers changes and notifies clients about significant changes to their schedules, thus preventing inconveniences and bringing the travel experience to the next level.

Travel data management is a huge deal in the travel sector. If you do it right, you can leverage the data your business and consumers generate to make smarter business decisions, improve your travel experience, and stand out from the crowd.

When it comes to travel data management, the go-to solutions for many travel companies are data management platforms (DMP) and travel management platforms (TMP) . Given that every travel business is unique, you should define your business goals, identify the data that can help you reach them, and custom-tailor your data management practices to bring you closer to those goals. 

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Cristóbal Reali, VP of Global Sales at Mize, with over 20 years of experience, has led high-performance teams in major companies in the tourism industry, as well as in the public sector. He has successfully undertaken ventures, including a DMO and technology transformation consulting. In his role at Mize, he stands out not only for his analytical and strategic ability but also for effective leadership. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. He holds a degree in Economics from UBA, complementing his professional training at Harvard Business School Online.

Mize is the leading hotel booking optimization solution in the world. With over 170 partners using our fintech products, Mize creates new extra profit for the hotel booking industry using its fully automated proprietary technology and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue across its suite of products for its partners. Mize was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices worldwide.

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Kate cancer latest: Video statement was 'unprecedented'; celebrities apologise and share words of support

The Princess of Wales's revelation she is undergoing treatment for cancer has sparked an outpouring of support and well-wishes from around the world. Read the latest, with analysis from royal correspondents Rhiannon Mills and Laura Bundock, below.

Monday 25 March 2024 00:41, UK

• Princess of Wales
• Royal Family

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• Kate reveals cancer diagnosis
• World leaders send messages of support for Kate
• Kate's public message about health 'almost unprecedented'
• Celebrities deleting posts after princess reveals 'sobering truth' | Blake Lively sorry for 'silly post'
• 'Unbelievably upsetting': Public react in Windsor
• Explainer : What is preventative chemotherapy and when is it used?
• Rhiannon Mills analysis : This is not a knee-jerk reaction to media coverage
• Thomas Moore analysis : Chemo can be brutal - but outlook is better than ever
• Live reporting by Emily Mee and, earlier,  Katie Williams and  Bhvishya Patel

We will be back with more updates tomorrow. In the meantime, you can scroll back to read today's coverage. 

By Rhiannon Mills, royal correspondent

As a family they've been used to having to step into the spotlight. This is a moment when all the Princess of Wales wants to do is protect her children from it. 

As the world processes the news of her cancer diagnosis, her message about the importance of family couldn't have been stronger. And is why we're all being asked to stop speculating about where they now are and leave them alone.

It can't have been easy for her to record it but the more you watch her message and other parts stand out, showing a different, more self assured side of Kate - who usually loathes public speaking. 

Talking directly to others with cancer, she says: "Everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone."

There is a strength and poignancy to that final phrase that draws comparison with Queen Elizabeth II's rallying words to the nation during COVID, where she said "We'll meet again".

From this future Queen there is no sense of resentment after what must have been a gruelling few weeks. Since her announcement, the social media speculation of #kategate has been replaced by an outpouring of love and sympathy.

With messages from around the globe from some of the world's most famous and influential individuals, this is an acknowledgement of her incredible international status and how highly respected she is.

Throughout her surgery, diagnosis and further treatment, Prince William has been by Kate's side. And his wife is clearly in his thoughts as he's tried to keep going with his public engagements, regularly talking about her whether it was at a homelessness event in Sheffield or decorating biscuits at a youth club in London. 

Going solo is something he's going to have to get used to for some time to come, with no clear idea of when we'll see the princess back on royal duties. 

Tessy Ojo was with William for the Diana Award event less than a couple of weeks ago. The charity's chief executive, she's known him for the past 24 years and says his resilience is remarkable. 

"I suppose we, with the benefit of hindsight, now knowing what was going on, it's huge, you know. It gives you a sense of how much they continue to honour service, what it means to them," she says. 

"How he shows up, how they show up, despite all of the stuff that's happening.

She added: "I cannot emphasise enough how much we need to take a step back and allow this family to recover in peace."

He may be heir to the throne but like any partner trying to help their loved one through something like this, he will no doubt feel slightly helpless. A lot of what lies ahead is in the hands of the doctors, but from what I understand he does feel what he can do is really double down on his deep desire to protect his family's privacy.

It is Kate's response and her decision to tell us herself that has been particularly striking. She is a devoted mother, wanting to do the best for her family, and her inner strength is really coming to the fore.

The King is hoping to make an appearance at the traditional Easter Matins service next weekend, according to The Telegraph. 

A Buckingham Palace source told the paper he would attend the annual service at St George's Chapel in Windsor if his health allows. 

The monarch stepped back from public duties following his cancer diagnosis. 

It's thought he was given medical advice to avoid the risks associated with large crowds. 

"The King and Queen are hoping to attend some form of Easter service in Windsor," a palace source reportedly said. 

"However, it will not be the large family gathering that we might expect to see in different circumstances."

By Jason Farrell, home editor

At Windsor this morning crowds lined the streets to watch the Irish Guards pipe and drum their way into the castle grounds to change duties with the Welsh guards. It was business as usual. The palace says constitutionally the same is true for the senior royals, even if there is a temporary changing of the guard.

The King is still holding audiences with dignitaries, but he has stepped back from public facing engagements and there is a sense of frailty in the royal household.

Former press secretary to the late Queen, Ailsa Anderson, says: "This is not a crisis, it's a bump in the road."

But she added: "It's very, very difficult obviously, and unsettling, because this is an institution based on stability and continuity, and you have two key players who are going to be out of action for some time."

The late Queen had to step up her duties when her father got cancer in the late 1940s. The disease accelerated her accession to the throne when he died aged just 56.

Queen Elizabeth II famously said: "I need to be seen to be believed."

How true that was of the Princess of Wales - whose disappearance from the public eye sparked a frenzy of conspiracy theories. Although she's addressed those with her sobering reality, she won't be back in the public gaze until medics say she's fit to go.

For now, she can expect public curiosity has been replaced with sympathy but clearly there is a lot on Prince William's shoulders.

He will want to spend as much time as possible with Kate and his three children, and will be with them at least for the Easter break. But with his brother abroad and to some degree estranged, and his uncle Prince Andrew relieved of duties, there's a dwindling pool of royal big-hitters available to hold the fort.

Constitutional expert Craig Prescott said: "There has been a sliming down. There has been more emphasis on a small number of royals. So when two are out of action that is perhaps a bigger issue."

Queen Camilla has become a key player. She delivered a speech written by the King on his behalf, on the Isle of Man this week, and next week she'll play his role at the Maunday Easter service in Worcester; a key royal fixture.

The remaining support team, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, are likely to have more focus on them too. Even Prince Andrew was leading the family at a recent memorial service in Windsor when William needed to be with Catherine.

This isn't quite a crisis, but it is a test of resilience for the royals. They hope this is only a temporary situation, but what we've learned in recent weeks is that while they crave privacy in illness, the public craves information. Finding that balance is just one of many challenges ahead.

News of the Princess of Wales's cancer treatment came after weeks of speculation about her whereabouts. In her video message yesterday, she explained she had been taking the time to explain her diagnosis to her children.

If you're going through something similar, Macmillan Cancer Support offers this advice on how to talk to children about it... 

The charity says while it can feel like telling your children will "bring home the reality of the situation", not explaining what is happening to them "may make them feel more vulnerable". 

"Children often know when something serious is affecting the family and people they are close to. It is important to give them the chance to talk openly about their fears and worries," it said. 

The benefits of letting them know can also include showing you trust them, helping you all to feel closer, and helping them cope better with difficult situations in life. 

Macmillan says you will likely need time to cope with your own feelings first, so it can be helpful to speak to a nurse specialist, psychologist or counsellor.

When you are going to have the talk, it says to be as prepared as you can and make sure you have all the information you need. 

"You may want to think about the questions a child might ask and the words you will use to explain things," it says.

Macmillan also encourages to think about where you will have the conversation - it should be somewhere your children are able to express their feelings. 

"If you have more than one child, it is best to tell them together if you can," it says. 

"This prevents them feeling like their siblings know more than them. If you are telling them separately, do it as close together as possible. Some children may wonder why they were told last."

It also advises to avoid only telling the older children as this can place a burden on them. 

As a parent, you will likely know best how to approach and talk to your child, but it can be helpful to think about these things:

• See the first conversation as a starting point – it is the beginning of an ongoing process of gradually giving your children small, relevant pieces of information and reassurance.
• Allow the conversation to be directed by your children’s reactions and the questions they ask.
• Listen and keep it as open as you can.
• Try asking questions that encourage them to express what they are thinking, rather than a one word or two-word reply.

Macmillan says it is better to be honest and not to make things sound less serious than they are. 

It is also fine to say if you don't know the answer to all of their questions. 

Our correspondent Rachael Venables is in Windsor, which she describes as being a "beacon for royal watchers".

Although it's expected Windsor would have had a high level of support for the Princess of Wales, she says it has been "staggering" to see the amount of empathy for Kate. 

Venables says she's heard well-wishes for the princess from "every single person I have spoken to", some of whom had gathered for the Changing of the Guard but others who came holding bunches of flowers for Kate. 

Many say it has been a "real shame" how she was treated online. 

Fellow mothers have commented on how they can understand the difficulty of explaining her cancer diagnosis to her children, Venables says.

Kate's message to the public about her surgery and cancer diagnosis was "almost unprecedented", a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II has said.

Ailsa Anderson said it was a "great idea" by whoever was advising the princess for her to film the statement.

"I do think that the princess actually delivering the message herself... you could see all her vulnerability, but also her strength in doing that. It was almost unprecedented I think," she told Sky News.

Asked if she believed Kate's cancer diagnosis, as well as that of her father-in-law the King, was a crisis for the Royal Family, Ms Anderson replied: "I think it is a bump the road rather than an earthquake. 

"We have seen crises - we've seen abdications, we've seen executions, we've seen a civil war... this is not a crisis in my view."

Supporters of the Princess of Wales have been leaving flowers outside the gates of Windsor Castle today.

Sky News has been speaking to well-wishers at the castle today.

One woman told us she was "very shocked" but thought Kate "spoke brilliantly" about her situation.

Another said the princess has been "terribly open" and deserves privacy to recover.

We are a "long way" from a constitutional crisis in the UK despite the monarch and a senior royal figure both taking time off for health reasons, an expert has said.

Dr Craig Prescott, a specialist in UK constitutional law, said the King is still managing to carry out some of his duties "without any sort of delay or hazard".

The Princess of Wales, meanwhile, has less of a constitutional role and represents the King "more broadly through her work", he explained.

Her husband is a counsellor of state who could step in for the King to fulfil his functions if needed, he added.

Dr Prescott said: "If Prince William wasn't around, then maybe Princess Anne or Prince Edward could do it themselves. So I think we're a very long way from a constitutional crisis... a very long way from that indeed."

Following weeks of intense speculation, not just on social media but by some news outlets, too, there has been a change in tone from the US in its coverage of the Princess of Wales's health.

As in the UK, Kate's cancer diagnosis dominated the major broadcasters and newspapers on Friday.

It is a definite shift from the coverage that has played out in recent weeks, as jokes were made - some by major celebrities - and conspiracy theories spread following the release of the now infamous doctored Mother's Day photo from Kensington Palace.

The tone in America has now changed, with an outpouring of support and well-wishes being shared from around the world.

Read more here ...

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Rocket launch marks big step in building china’s lunar infrastructure, queqiao-2 will relay data between earth and chinese spacecraft on the far side of the moon..

Stephen Clark - Updated Mar 20, 2024 3:06 pm UTC

The next phase of China's Moon program began with the launch of a new data relay satellite Monday to link lunar landers and rovers on the far side of the Moon with ground controllers back on Earth.

This launch sent China's Queqiao-2 relay spacecraft toward the Moon, where it will enter an elliptical orbit and position itself for the arrival of China's next robotic lunar lander, Chang'e 6, later this year.

A medium-lift Long March 8 rocket carried the Queqiao-2 spacecraft aloft from the Wenchang launch base, located on Hainan Island in southern China. This was the third flight of the kerosene-fueled Long March 8, one of a new generation of Chinese rockets designed to replace older Long March launcher designs burning toxic propellant.

The Long March 8's upper stage deployed the Queqiao-2 spacecraft less than 30 minutes after liftoff at 8:31 pm EDT (00:31 UTC). Queqiao-2 was expected to unfurl solar panels and carry out a series of thruster firings to guide itself into orbit around the Moon.

Queqiao-2 will maneuver into a stable "frozen" orbit at the Moon, minimizing fuel consumption over the course of its mission. The orientation of Queqiao-2's elongated orbit will allow the spacecraft to loiter for hours over the landing sites Chinese officials have selected for the country's next series of robotic Moon missions.

Two smaller satellites also hitched a ride to the Moon on the Long March 8 rocket. One of these spacecraft is about the size of a kitchen oven, the other roughly the size of a small suitcase. Together, the Tiandu-1 and Tiandu-2 satellites will conduct inter-satellite ranging tests to validate orbit determination techniques. The results from these tests will inform Chinese engineers designing a constellation of data relay and navigation satellites that could be in place in the next decade, sort of like a lunar GPS.

Far-side operations

Scheduled for launch on a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket in May, Chang'e 6 will be the first Chinese lunar lander to rely on the new data relay satellite. Chang'e 6 will target a landing on the Moon, collect samples, and return them to Earth, repeating the feat China accomplished with the Chang'e 5 sample return mission in 2020.

However, Chang'e 5 landed on the near side of the Moon, with direct line-of-sight communications back to Earth. China's goal for Chang'e 6 is to gather the first rocks from the far side of the Moon and bring them back for detailed examination in labs on Earth. If successful, Chang'e 6 will be the first sample-return mission from the lunar far side, adding a new class of specimens to humanity's inventory of Moon rocks.

In 2019, China accomplished the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon with the Chang'e 4 mission, itself a near-duplicate of Chang'e 3, which landed on the near side of the Moon in 2013. China built the Chang'e 6 spacecraft as a backup for Chang'e 5.

When it landed in 2019, China's Chang'e 4 mission used a previous data relay satellite, Queqiao-1, which launched in May 2018. Weighing more than 2,600 pounds (1.2 metric tons) fully fueled for launch, Queqiao-2 is a larger spacecraft, more than twice the mass of China's first lunar communications relay station.

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More From Forbes

10 travel myths debunked by a travel pro.

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Travel can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences in life. Whether it’s a road trip to a national park or a trip around the world, seeing new things and getting out of your day-to-day grind can be invigorating.

There are a lot of myths that go along with travel . However, many of these are a sort of “received wisdom” by family and friends… who heard it from their family and friends who heard it from someone else. Some of these myths are fairly harmless, but others could impact where you travel and how much you spend.

I’ve traveled a lot. Over 60 countries so far and every US state. I’ve made some mistakes along the way but I’ve also made great memories that I’ll cherish forever. Here’s a look at some myths I’ve heard I’d like to debunk.

If you’re interested in more of my travel babblings, my book Budget Travel for Dummies is available everywhere including Amazon and Barnes & Noble .

Myth 1) All travel is expensive

Well, yes and no. Travel is basically never free. However, there are lots of ways to spend far less on travel than most people expect. I’ve seen plenty of posts and comments by people who think 2 weeks in Europe couldn’t possibly cost less than $4,000 plus airfare, or that certain countries are impossible to travel to because of the cost. The truth is, there are lots of ways to spend very little on travel. I’ve lived well on less than $50 a day in some of the most expensive cities in the world.

Lake Manley in Death Valley National Park (from my Instagram)

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Ios 17 4 1 update now warning issued to all iphone users, isis claims responsibility for moscow shooting that left 40 dead, myth 2) travel is dangerous.

Compared to what? Humans, as a species, are pretty bad at judging risk. Looking at the statistics, driving anywhere is vastly more dangerous than any airline flight. Are some places more dangerous than others? Sure, but there are plenty of places that are probably safer than where you live now. Take some basic precautions and you’ll almost certainly be fine.

Myth 3) You need to speak the language

Being able to speak the language of the country you’re visiting is great! It certainly opens the doors to experiences and friendships/relationships that might not have been possible otherwise. That said, in most places it’s fairly easy to get by with just a few words (“please”, “thank you”, and “bathroom” are ideal). Beyond that, a friendly attitude and a translation app on your phone work wonders. In many places accustomed to tourists people often speak English to some degree as a second (or third or fourth) language. Best not to assume they do, but it is fairly common.

Kehlsteinhaus, aka the Eagle's Nest.

Myth 4) Hotels are the only places to stay

This myth is less common since the rise of AirBnB, Vrbo and the like. However, many people still feel that hotels are the only possible accommodations. While homeshares aren’t nearly the deal they were when they first started, they still offer a wide variety of places to stay in many cities.

Another alternative is hostels, which are hugely misunderstood by most Americans. Hostels are a great way to save money while traveling, and in most cities there are gorgeous, clean, and safe hostels available for adults of all ages.

Myth 5) There’s a special day/time/trick to cheap airfare

Nope, sorry. File this one under “received wisdom.” There are certain things you can do to reduce the cost of your tickets or find lower cost airfare, but none of it involves special secret tricks. It’s mostly research on your end and “best practices.”

Hallstatt, Austria

Myth 6) Roaming data charges cost a fortune

It is true that if you have AT&T or Verizon, the standard roaming rates for data while you’re traveling are outrageous. Other cellular providers, like T-Mobile and Google Fi, have plans that let you roam the world and use data for free. Other options, like travel eSIMs and local SIMS, all make using your phone abroad so inexpensive the price is trivial.

Myth 7) You need a camera to document your adventure

I am a photographer (all the photos in this story are mine), and I carry multiple cameras with me everywhere. I love it as part of my profession and as a hobby. I’m also the first person to tell you that you probably don’t need to buy a camera. Learning how your phone’s camera works will yield you far better results than a big, heavy, expensive camera that you don’t know how to use. If you want to take photography up as a hobby, great! But it’s that level of interest that justifies the purchase, not the event. An action camera, like a GoPro or Insta360, is somewhere in the middle, letting you get great photos and videos in situations where your phone might be in unnecessary peril.

Lucerne, Switzerland

Myth 8) You need lots of (or big) luggage

The vast majority of people pack WAY too much. The truth is, you basically never need more than a carry-on’s worth of clothes. The only exceptions are if you’re headed somewhere cold and you need lots of layers or bulky items, or your trip involves multiple climates or specialized gear. If you’re just headed to one spot for 2 weeks, a carry-on is more than enough.

Personally I travel for months with just a travel backpack. I’ve met men and women who travel indefinitely with even smaller bags. Smaller, lighter luggage makes all travel easier and cheaper.

Myth 9) Popular places are “bad”

There’s a weird mindset I’ve seen online and heard in person that popular, or trendy places are somehow “bad” or should be avoided. As if someone’s lifelong dream of standing atop the Eiffel Tower is “cringe.” This is insane. Don’t let people gatekeep travel in any way. As long as you have fun and respect the people and location, it’s all good and all an adventure.

White Sands National Park

Myth 10) There’s a best time for travel

The best time is now. The second best is whenever you can afford the time and/or money. Go for it.

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AI execs who urgently need more energy to power their tech revolution are turning to fossil fuels

• AI is driving a massive demand for electricity .
• Despite earlier commitments, some executives now say clean energy may not meet AI's growing needs.
• That could force AI companies to rely more on fossil fuels than they hoped.

AI is driving a dramatic new need for electricity, and while tech execs have long trumpeted their commitment to a green energy future , the urgency of that need presents them with a difficult path forward.

Questions about fueling the AI boom took center stage earlier this month at the CERAWeek by S&P Global, The Wall Street Journal reported . The annual energy conference draws thousands of executives to Houston to discuss topics ranging from geopolitics to the energy transition.

No one knows how much electricity will be needed to power the AI boom. AI requires massive computing power and energy loads and has triggered an explosion of data centers . Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates said at the conference that the amount of power AI is bound to consume is mind-blowing.

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"You go, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be incredible,'" Gates reportedly said. ChatGPT alone uses more than 17,000 times more electricity than the average US household daily.

The concern among tech execs is that the energy demands of AI will surpass the capacities of clean sources. Wind and solar power aren't reliable because they're subject to changes in weather. While nuclear facilities take years to build, so they aren't a viable option when companies need power immediately.

"Tech is not going to wait 7 to 10 years to get this infrastructure built," Toby Rice, the CEO of natural gas producer EQT, said in an interview with the Journal. "That leaves you with natural gas." At the conference, Rice said he was repeatedly asked two questions: "How fast can you guys move? How much gas can we get?"

The problem is all the more pressing given the Biden administration's goals for lowering carbon emissions — a byproduct of burning coal and natural gas that exacerbate the climate crisis . Last April, Biden set an ambitious target for the power sector to be carbon-neutral by 2035 and for the US economy to be net-zero by 2050.

Some executives were adamant that the dramatic growth in AI wouldn't impede the clean energy transition . "We're going to be net-zero by 2050. We still absolutely believe that," said Robert Blue, the CEO of Dominion Energy, the Journal reported. "But the demand growth now makes that more complicated."

Blue said his company was building at least one new natural gas plant to meet demand for data centers.

Watch: Watch an in-depth interview with Elon Musk on Putin, nuclear power and love

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Miami Beach doesn't want spring breakers, but they don't want Miami Beach either. Here are the new top 3 spring break destinations.

• Miami Beach announced it's "breaking up" with spring break tourism.
• But data shows that Miami Beach wasn't among the three trending destinations this March anyway.
• Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando snagged the highest spots. 

Miami Beach is done with spring break tourists. But those tourists were already looking elsewhere.

The City of Miami Beach announced that it's "breaking up" with spring breakers after "unruly crowds, lawless behavior, and a string of violent acts in recent years," a press release in February said.

Young revelers typically flock to Miami Beach in March for weeklong vacations. Some residents have complained about the behavior of those tourists . As a result, this year, local officials implemented "tough" new measures, including bag checks, DUI checkpoints, restricted beach access, license plate readers, and a heightened police force to dissuade rowdy conduct.

But Miami Beach wasn't at the top of tourists' minds this year anyway, according to travel company Booking Holdings.

Data shared by Booking Holdings showed the top 10 trending travel destinations for Americans from March 2 to March 30. Here's the breakdown.

Las Vegas scored the No. 1 spot for most of March, followed by Orlando and New York City

The Nevada city — known for its lavish tourism sector — ranked No. 1 for three out of the four weeks, specifically between March 2 and 23.

The only time Las Vegas slipped to the No. 2 spot was from March 23 to March 30.

Las Vegas might be attracting travelers' attention for several reasons, including the Sphere concert venue and the return of F1 racing to the city late last year . There are also celebrity residencies , casinos , lush resorts , and other attractions.

Orlando, located in central Florida, snagged the No. 2 spot from March 2 to March 23. It sailed into the top trending destination spot from March 23 to March 30.

Like Las Vegas, Orlando is a popular American tourist spot for several reasons. The city is near amusement parks like Disney World and Universal Studios, as well as other attractions like the John F. Kennedy Space Center . Although Orlando is not coastal, it's a skip away from beaches like Daytona Beach and Cocoa Beach.

New York City consistently ranked No. 3 throughout March.

New York City is a beacon for American tourists and tourists across the globe. Local sites like Central Park and the Statue of Liberty are popular stops, while the collection of art museums and famed restaurants often draw attention. Depending on the season, there are also several sports teams to watch.

Miami Beach never ranked above No. 4

Based on Booking Holdings' data, Miami Beach peaked at No. 4 among trending destinations from March 2 to March 23. The city then dropped behind South Carolina's Myrtle Beach and Cancún, Mexico, to the sixth spot from March 23 to March 30.

The City of Miami didn't fare much better, ranking sixth for the first two weeks of March before peaking at No. 5 from the 16th to the 23rd.

Miami fell to the 11th most trending destination between March 23 and March 30.

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