Creative destruction occurs when something new kills something older, according to Investopedia.com. Some might also refer to it as evolution. I call it necessary.

It’s necessary because it makes markets, businesses and anything commerce-related more efficient and effective. Those who stand in the way end up getting destroyed. Those who are at the forefront of the change benefit because destruction leads to new markets, new business models and a new era of success – at least for those prescient enough to see it before it happens.

Legacy businesses detest creative destruction because they find themselves at the mercy of a tidal wave of change that they didn’t foresee or could not adapt to. They become the road kill, or in the case of the computer world, the mainframe computer in the era of the personal computer.

And as we move to mobile, are we seeing the creative destruction of the personal computer? A business that has been so dominated by Microsoft for decades is now seeing its model on the verge of destruction. Will tablets and mobile phones be the future of our online worlds? Where is Microsoft in this race?

As a seller of travel, what are you seeing in your world? Where is creative destruction taking place right now? Are things going to be the same in the next few years or are they going to be vastly different?

The answer is, of course, they will be different. Indeed, things will be very different, but with a twist. In today’s socially and individually enabled world, the destruction will take place from the bottom up.

Individuals will lead this change in travel distribution as they realize they are no longer bound by imposed limits. Instead they will have the technology in their hands to effect change that matters to them and their business.

Mark Murphy is president and CEO of travAlliancemedia, parent of TravelPulse.com, Agent@Home magazine, Vacation Agent magazine, Travel Agent Academy, Virtual Travel Events and Agent Studio.