*By Samantha Errico*
Your days to travel in 2018 may be numbered, but 2019 beckons. So what's ahead for the travel industry next year? Lola.com CEO Mike Volpe joined Cheddar to present his predictions for travel in 2019.
**Day-Rate Hotels**
"In this world where everyone wants to be faster and more agile, your needs around business are changing," Volpe told Cheddar Friday. Hotels are incorporating flexible check-in times for travelers who take red eyes, and offering hourly rates for visitors who are only in town for the day. Hotels are adapting to the pace of the modern travel and the growing demand of customers.
**Out with Corporate Travel, in with Consumer Travel**
The business travel industry is expected to hit $1.6 trillion by 2020, and more companies are trying to exploit the market. Companies are meeting the growing demands of the market by "taking the consumer speed and agility from the consumer travel world into the corporate travel world," Volpe said. Travel companies are racing to find the easiest booking system possible, Volpe said. "The average corporate travel system takes a person about an hour to book their flight and hotel for an upcoming trip," he added.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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