EVP, Managing Director APAC, and all-around Travel-Tech expert Mieke De Schepper joined us to talk about predicting traveler's needs, improving operations, and personalizing the travel experience. In the first half of this week’s episode of Slaves to the Algo, Mieke deconstructed the search engines and ad functions on websites such as Expedia and Booking.com.  She highlighted how critical it is for companies to get the top five search results right, as consumers tend not to look beyond the first page.  Drawing on her personal and professional experience, Mieke discussed the countless ways in which travel-related companies use data. From understanding traveler profiles i.e. whether they’re traveling for work or leisure to reducing delays at major airports. We ended this episode by looking into the hospitality industry. While data can play a huge role in hotels serving their customers better, the importance of a “human touch,” will likely never fade away.