Internet boom. 9/11. The financial crisis. The COVID pandemic. ChatGPT. The list goes on.

The last 30 years have been full of course-changing events and technological innovations since Philip Wolf founded Phocuswright in 1994. The world has become digitalized with travel shifting largely online and expected to account for nearly 65% of all bookings by 2026, according to Phocuswright's Global Travel Market report.

And some industry leaders have had a front row seat to those changes while pushing travel towards the future.

Bob Diener, president and co-founder of the Travel Funders Network and co-founder of Hotels.com, is among that group, as is Melissa Maher, founder and CEO of the Pinnacle Enterprises Group and a former Expedia Group executive and Rod Cuthbert, founder of Viator, who was inducted into the Phocuswright Hall of Fame last month.

As Phocuswright celebrates its 30-year anniversary, the trio took some time to look back and look ahead at the world of travel in a discussion with senior reporter Morgan Hines in the PhocusWire studio at The Phocuswright Conference.