Investors Bet on ‘OTA 2.0’ — But Some Builders Aren’t There Yet

Roger Sharp has watched travel distribution get rewired before.

When online travel agencies emerged in the early 2000s, they rerouted billions in hotel and airline revenue through a handful of new platforms. At Skift Forum Asia in Bangkok this week, speaking on a panel alongside founders and investors, Sharp, chair of Web Travel Group and North Ridge Partners, said artificial intelligence is about to do it again.

He called it “OTA mark two,” describing the rise of a new generation of online travel agencies.

Incumbents won’t disappear, he said. They have the capital and institutional knowledge to adapt. But in his view, the direction of disruption is set.

Capital may be flowing toward that new-distributor vision, but founders like Ritwik Khare of India-based luxury vacation rental platform Elivaas are making a