Travelers never stand still for long. This is an industry of dynamic change, one always evolving and adapting to the latest innovation, fashion, or cultural shift. While it is impossible to know exactly what tomorrow will bring, Amadeus’ position at the heart of the travel ecosystem gives unparalleled insight into the future.
Using the latest propriety data, industry-leading insight, and expert analysis from across the organization, Amadeus here explores what might be in store next year in its annual Travel Trends research. Identified are five developments that aim to create more meaningful travel experiences for the traveler, economy and planet.
Daniel Batchelor, Vice President, Global Corporate Marketing & Communications at Amadeus, says:
“After a period of recalibration and reassessment over the past few years, we are beginning to see a host of new ideas bear fruit across our industry. Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) will continue to exert a growing influence across the sector during 2024, while electric taxis are finally poised for take-off. Doing what we love, be it traveling to see our favorite music acts or using new tools to follow in the footsteps of digital influencers, will also drive bookings next year, while airlines continue to reshape their offering to respond to changing tastes. There is much to look forward to, and Amadeus will be working alongside our partners from across the travel ecosystem to drive change for the traveler, wherever we can.”
Intelligent Concierge
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is adding tremendous value to the online travel planning experience for consumers, as search and advice become hyper personalized and more intuitive. Instead of selecting filters to fine-tune a search on a metasearch site or online travel agency (OTA), travelers can simply provide a brief to a chatbot in the same way you would a human advisor. For example, a new ChatGPT plug-in from Expedia acts like a virtual travel assistant, listening to customer needs and delivering instant hotel and itinerary recommendations, with links to book.
The next generation of GAI-powered customer service will be delivered with greater patience and empathy, reducing the workload of employees to deal with the bulk of after-sales servicing and customer review management, giving them the bandwidth to provide the human touch on more specialist issues.
Agents of Influence
Social media has become a powerful force during the inspiration phase of a trip.
For younger consumers (Gen Z and Millennials), trust in influencers is growing, while trust in friends, family and review sites dip according to research done by Morning Consult. Even Google’s own data points to TikTok and Instagram challenging its dominance of search among Gen Z consumers.
At the same time, a new shift is occurring—with influencers not simply inspiring trips but becoming facilitators of direct bookings through their channels. Influencers, such as Ana Hernández Sárria, travel photographer Rafael Fernandez Caballero, travel blogger the Blonde Abroad, yoga and movement coach Sjana Elise, and full-time traveler and content creator, Alyssa Ramos, are designing and hosting their own group trips.
The rise of so-called “Agents of Influence” is being facilitated by e-commerce marketplaces such as Thatch, Luxury Travel Hackers and TrovaTrip, which Inc ranked number 236 out of 5,000 of the fast-growing companies in the US in 2023. This technology allows influencers using Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, for example, to share a booking link directly on their profile page and process payments.
Business Luxe-Lite
With ever-more travelers wanting to fly at the front of the plane, there is an opportunity to offer more affordable and accessible “unbundled” business class fares.
In 2019, Emirates was one of the first airlines to launch “special” business class tickets, with no lounge access, restricted seat selection and no upgrade abilities. Qatar Airways followed, unveiling a Business Class Lite fare, with passengers asked to pay extra for lounge access and date or route changes, while they also earn fewer Avios/Qmiles.
At the other end of the scale, airlines are also installing more spacious “luxe” business class seats in row one that are only available to a limited few. Examples include JetBlue’s Studio on the A321LR and the new Upper Class Retreat Suite from Virgin Atlantic.
Music Tourism
After the social isolation of the pandemic, when bands and musical artists were grounded for months, a boom in concerts and festivals has this year tapped into a desire for connection. The trend is expected to accelerate as we look toward 2024.
In the summer of 2023, half a million fans flocked to Coachella in California, which brought in $1.5 billion to the local economy. General admission passes for the festival will start at $499 in 2024.
Taylor Swift will also continue touring in 2024—and continues to influence global travel. According to a recent media alert from Amadeus, which has analyzed flight searches around performance dates in the Asia Pacific region, there is a correlation between bookings and the dates of her concerts. Amadeus research shows that with the return of live concerts approaching pre-pandemic levels, Australia is gearing up for a tourism boom. Shows in Melbourne and Sydney in February 2024 have had a “very significant impact” on booking volumes to Australia, with an average week-over-week growth of 446%.
Electric Skyways
As cities are more congested and air pollution is more prevalent, a potential solution to fossil-fuel-powered transportation will be the emergence of skyways that allow flying taxis, electric vertical take-off, and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other kinds of electric aircraft to provide lower emission air travel options, both within urban areas, to satellite airports, cross-country and between islands.
It may seem very futuristic but in the US, Joby Aviation intends to start commercial eVTOL flights from 2025 and has signed agreements to work with Delta Air Lines and Japanese airline ANA, which wants to operate e-taxi flights Expo 2025 in Osaka. Also, Volocopter recently collaborated with Tampa International Airport to have the first urban air mobility test at a large U.S. airport of an eVTOL and is planning to hold air taxi flights in the state of Florida.
To learn more about Amadeus and how we, alongside our customers and partners, put travelers first, check out this page: https://amadeus.com/en/about.
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