ᐅ Overview from Booking.com Click 2021 Global Partner Summit

Click. is the annual global partner summit from Booking Holdings. Click 2021 summit aims to inspire and inform hosts about the industry and certainly about Booking.com yearly initiatives.

As expected, this year’s event took place online and considering 2020 was the most challenging year in the history of the travel industry, the hot topic was obviously the pandemic but also how hosts can make the most of 2021.

From payments to pricing, traveller insights to upcoming marketing initiatives, below you can find an overview of this year’s summit and why 2021 is all about opportunity.

The scale of the travel industry in 2019

Before we dive into details, it’s imperative to remember the impact of the travel industry before the pandemic hit. In a nutshell, in 2019 the travel industry was worth around 3 trillion dollars. This resembled about 10% of the global GPD and counted for 10% of the global workforce.

Accommodations were the largest travel segment in 2019

The accommodation market was the largest travel segment back in 2019 and was worth around 800 billion dollars. Also very interesting here to note is, 48% of the growth in 2019 came from online channels.

And then the pandemic hit in 2020

The keyword here is simple. Devastation. As suspected, travel was indeed the most impacted industry on a global scale.

The shockwave of the first months under COVID-19

When we look at the global occupancy rates in 2020, exponential drop is the best analogy we can think of.

From all we have been experiencing in over the last months, I guess this data isn’t a surprise. But it does help to pain a picture to the massive impact COVID-19 had over our lives and over our businesses.

Now, the real question is, how can we move forward in 2021? What are the travel trends?

Booking.com is very optimistic and the message they aimed to pass to hosts is about rebuilding together in 2021 and that they look towards the future with hope.

As people around the world start to plan their next trips, hosts can turn to the Recovery Toolkit for insights and advice for attracting growing demand. There you will find research from tens of thousands of travellers, statistics from trusted partners like Google, and insights from Booking.com own booking tool and search data.

With no further ado, below you can find a selection of the best videos from this year’s summit.

Click 2021 – Market insights and consumer travel trends

Speakers: Karolina Tutaj, Director Market Research & Insights; Veronica Ravaglia, Qualitative Research & Insights Specialist; Eline Metske, Junior Market Research & Insights Specialist.

Click 2021 – Payments evolutions

Speakers: Daniel Marovitz, Vice President Global Payments.

Click 2021 – Price strategies

Speakers: Lodewijk Van Wersch, Senior Director of Product; Hielke van Trommel, Director Product Marketing.

Click 2021 – Sustainability

Speakers: Marianne Gybels, Director Global Sustainability; Bea de Andres, Head of Sustainability – Core Business; Eline Metske, Junior Market Research & Insights Specialist; with Nico Evers, General Manager, Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam.

Click 2021 – How Booking.com marketeers market

Speakers: Justin Rao, Senior Director Meta & Messaging; John Lynch, Director Measurement & Strategy. Interviewer: Amon Versteeg, Director of Marketing.

Click 2021 – Genius extended

Speakers: Andrea Carini, Vice President of Product; Hein van Thiel, Senior Product Marketing Manager. Interviewer: Carmen Hui, Commercial Director, Owner Partnerships.