Travel is changing. A new wave of millennial travelers is seeking new experiences, particularly aspirational travel - travel that is local and authentic. Activities are the third largest segment of travel at $129B and are growing faster than the total travel market. It will reach $174B globally by 2020.

Despite this, Tours and activities still have to emerge from the Stone Age. Phocuswright shares how 55% of tour and activity suppliers do not have a third-party reservation system, and of those who don’t, 67% use email or calendar to manage their bookings.

The current travel marketplace makes it difficult to find the kind of aspirational travel experiences sought by millennials. The problem lies with the way major travel platforms operate.

With a monopolistic take, major platforms do not give an opportunity for smaller providers to reach their desired target audience. For the ones that do make it, they are often crowded and overbooked, losing much of the essence that is desired with aspirational travel.

This has created a massive gap for the longtail travel operators and travelers themselves. In Asia, the growth of Chinese travel has spun a wave of innovation to try and solve this issue.

WEGOGO presents a solution through WeGold: a blockchain-based aspirational travel discovery platform for Chinese users to find their next travel experience.

First, travel will need to incentivize all parties in the travel value proposition. For WeGold, this means incentivizing content creators, operators, and everyone in between to form a fair-share travel ecosystem.

Second, the longtail of travel will need to be digitalized. 61% of suppliers in a recent study claim they will have a mobile site with live booking by the end of this year. WEGOGO for example already has a live beta with over 5,000 transactions completed.

Third, the Chinese market, which is the largest in the world, is changing. Chinese travelers want to experience rather than shop or consume. With massive spending power, travel providers should recognize this opportunity.

As travel changes, innovative companies will continue to push the boundaries and cater to the changing demands of travelers. If you want to be at the forefront of experience, look for really local solutions that are aspirational.