The transition from travel agencies to online travel shopping has restructured the concept of the modern traveler and the tourism industry as well. Through the online booking the market is regulated and the role of the travel marketer is modernized.

The trends observed in the tourism industry for 2018 are as follows:

• Virtual Reality, VR: Consumers tend to buy products that have a direct contact with. Thus, even in the case of the travel industry, more and more booking sites allow visitors to navigate virtually to the destinations they are planning to visit, as well as to the residences they will spend their time during their visit.
• Travel as a resident, not as a tourist: With the explosive rise of Airbnb, a site offering fully equipped apartments, along with the benefit to get to know the travel destination with the host, booking companies have redefined their services by offering private accommodation, hostels and Bed & Breakfast services. Additionally, travel and tourism services are available through online booking, while hotels try to build brand loyalty with customers by remarketing and promoting packages at regular intervals in an effort to balance competition.
• Digital Nomads and influencers: Perhaps the most recent trend of the past year, digital nomads are masses of new travelers with particular preference for exotic and alternative destinations. For another year it seems that influencers affect the current consumer opinion for destinations and accommodations as well.
• Humanitarian Travel: Difficult weather conditions (earthquakes, hurricanes) as well as the intense migration due to the war that occurred last year have created a strong flow of visits to areas requiring humanitarian aid.
• Mobile search and booking: The constant evolution of cell phones as well as the hectic way of life of the modern consumers have led more and more people to search for travel destinations through their mobile devices, with Chinese being at the top of the rank.

Nowadays, the prospective traveler is looking for the quickest and most economical way to travel and pays more attention to the location, the price as well as the quality of the services, instead of the type of the residence (hotel, home, hostel).