A Guided Tour of the Next Ten Years

conducted by

David Pearce Snyder

For decades, experts have forecast that, as the world became increasingly "wired," video-phones, tele-conferencing, inter-active 3-D TV and other telecommunication miracles would eventually reduce the need for people to travel. Today, as the Internet has grown to become a global "I-Way" linking all nations, the American Express Company reports that tele-conferencing has, in fact, been reducing business travel in the U.S. by 1% per year since the early 1990’s. However, projected global economic growth will vastly exceed the effects of cyber-travel, and will sustain travel and tourism as the world’s largest industry well into the 21st Century.

Meanwhile, the penetration of commerce and economic development into the most remote localities of the world will also vastly increase the diversity of choice and the complexity of detail confronting business and recreational travelers alike. As more and more companies and communities around the world compete for trade and tourism, the crucial campaigns in the "place-wars" of the 21st Century will be fought in cyber-space, and the winners will be those who use the new info-structure to build close, collaborative relationships among consumers and suppliers. In this illustrated presentation, Futurist David Pearce Snyder will take the audience on a guided tour of the principal innovations by which the travel and tourism industries will, over the next 10 years, improve the value of their products and services.

©2000 David Pearce Snyder

The Snyder Family Enterprise

8628 Garfield Street

Bethesda, MD 20817-6704

phone: 301-530-5807

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