> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://adjacent.media/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Why Travel's Middlemen Keep Shape-Shifting Instead of Disappearing
- URL: https://adjacent.media/signals/why-travels-middlemen-keep-shape-shifting-instead-of-disappearing/
- Published: 2026-10-03T16:15:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-03T16:15:42.000Z
- Description: The tech-enabled disintermediation narrative assumes middlemen vanish when friction drops, but travel’s stubborn economics keep reinventing them in new forms—regional hubs give way to point-to-point logistics, which spawn their own coordinators.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #signal, theme-consumer, platform dynamics, attention economy, creator economy mechanics

Source: [Mauricio](https://open.substack.com/pub/traveltechessentialist/p/210-middlemen)

The tech-enabled disintermediation narrative assumes middlemen vanish when friction drops, but travel's stubborn economics keep reinventing them in new forms—regional hubs give way to point-to-point logistics, which spawn their own coordinators. This pattern matters because "cutting out the middleman" often means optimizing which middleman extracts value, not removing intermediation layers. That distinction determines whether platforms genuinely reduce consumer costs or merely redistribute them.