The travel industry is changing. In general, expect it to get more crowded, more expensive, but at the same time simpler. Here are some of the major trends.

Five of the major airlines in bankruptcy at the same time
Delta, Northwest, United, US
Airways and ATA were all in bankruptcy last year, putting five of the eight major U.S. airlines
in Chapter 11 protection simultaneously. As a result, the vast majority of all domestic flights were flown by a
bankrupt airline.

Loyalty programs become a one-way street
You can
faithfully fly your preferred airline, buy into credit card offers,
stockpile miles, and often still get stonewalled when you try to cash
in for a free ticket or upgrade. With the supply of award seats and
upgrades at an all-time low, and demand increasing with every holiday
gift credit card purchase, redeeming miles is harder than ever.

The year of the aggregators
A
few years back, the booking engine sites (Expedia / Travelocity /
Orbitz) were the hot new entrants; then it was the bid and
name-your-price sites. In 2005, the aggregator sites rose to the top,
and assumed the mantle. These sites are getting better all the time. No longer do you have to download their software.

Companies are making deals with travel
providers all the time, firing up RSS feeds and personalized
notification services. Recently, Kayak.com added a multi-city flight
search function to its list of capabilities. Less
than 10 years ago, pricing for travel services was a complete and utter
mystery; now it is one of the most transparent markets in the world.

The return of the holiday traveler
The
summer of 2000 was a terrible season for travel; the economy
was still booming, airfares were at rock bottom, and millions of people
took to the air every day. The holidays were astounding and brutal
times to travel; every holiday brought new record volume, and the
airlines never seemed up to the challenge. September 11, 2001
changed all that.
Over the past 14 months the annual "record-setting holiday weekend" has returned to the news after a solid three year hiatus.

The people are weighing in
The Amazon
user-review model has finally caught on in the travel market. By
posting largely unedited customer product reviews, Amazon.com tapped
deeply into the many-to-many potential of the Web for consumer items.
The travel industry is slowly getting into the act as hotel, cruise,
and service reviews begin to populate booking sites. Reviews can vary depending on several slippery factors, but overall
it has never been easier to know what to expect upon arriving at your
destination.

Wifi popularity grows
A few days ago, JiWire.com
announced their current list of 92,474 hotspots worldwide. Wireless
access is becoming almost routinely available in hotels, airports,
cafes, cruise ships, and more, and this is just the beginning. Both the
public and private sectors enterprise are angling to "unwire" entire
neighborhoods, cities and regions with both paid and free wireless
broadband access. This trend is only likely to accelerate; soon the
Internet will be an "anywhere, anytime" presence in our traveling world.

Air rage returns
Bankrupt airlines, employees getting major pay cuts, and too many crowded flights means it is getting ugly up there – again. The most recent DOT Air Travel Consumer Report reports that airline complaints are up 29% this year,
outrunning fuel prices as a growth industry. It may get worse. Just
wait until you have to sit through a sales call going down 18" from
your ear when cellphones are permitted on planes.

Travel prices climbing higher
As a result of
shrinking route maps, recovering consumer demand, high fuel prices, and
the troubled financial state of the airlines, which inspires them to
wring every dollar they can from every seat sold, airfare prices are up
11% this year. You’ll find the same when checking hotel
prices; AAA’s Leisure Travel index finds that holiday hotel rates are
up 14%. And of course the cost of fuel to drive anywhere is way up
(average gas prices are up 31 cents nationally compared to last year at
this time). One bright spot on pricing; rental car rates are down on
average about 2 percent from their peak prices last Christmas.

Natural disasters increasing
Never
before have so many high-profile tourist areas been devastated by
severe weather. Beginning with the tsunami in Southeast Asia (and
arguably before with the Florida hurricanes), tourist destinations in
particular places have endured an astonishing string of natural disasters. From
a series of earthquakes to the savage Category 5 Hurricane Katrina,
which all but obliterated one of our famous and historical cities, the
weather has been a major factor in the travel industry last year. This trend will likely continue as climate changes continue to affect the earth in unusual ways.

Changes in the coming years will come very rapidly.  As income levels rise for the rest of the global population, expect more and more people traveling.  Airports today will seem like ghost towns compared to the airports of the future.  Just hang onto your hats, its going to be a wild ride.