Amadeus has been surveying the travel landscape post-pandemic and
suggests that the industry is on the cusp of its most significant
changes ever.
“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,” said Daniel Batchelor, vice president, global corporate
marketing & communications at Amadeus.
Music concerts,
influencers becoming travel agents, flying taxis and changes at the
pointy end of the plane are among innovations and cultural shifts
explored in Amadeus’ annual Travel Trends research.
“Travellers never stand still for long. 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,”
Batchelor added.
Music tourism
A boom in concerts and festivals has this year tapped into a desire for post-pandemic connection.
Fans of UK rock band Coldplay and music star Taylor Swift follow them across the world and have a significant impact on search and booking volumes
in the countries where they appear. According to a recent media alert
from Amadeus, which has analysed flight searches around Taylor Swift
performance dates in the Asia Pacific region, there is a correlation
between bookings and the dates of her concerts.
Agents of influence
Instead of influencers solely being the source of vacation
inspiration for their communities, they are now facilitators of direct
bookings through their varying channels. The rise of so-called “Agents
of Influence” is being facilitated by e-commerce marketplaces such as
Thatch, Luxury Travel Hackers and TrovaTrip. This technology allows
influencers using Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, for example, to share a
booking link directly on their profile page and process payments.
Intelligent concierge
Generative artificial intelligence is adding tremendous value to the online travel planning experience
for consumers, as search and advice become hyper personalised and more
intuitive. Instead of selecting filters to fine-tune a search on a
metasearch site or online travel agency, travellers can simply provide a
brief to a chatbot in the same way you would a human advisor.
Business luxe-lite
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.
With the trend gathering momentum, Zipair of Japan and Finnair began
offering basic business tickets in 2021, while Air France and KLM added
Business Class Light fares in 2023.
At the other end of the scale, airlines are also installing more
spacious “luxe” business class seats in Row 1 that are only available to
a limited few.
Electric skyways
Skyways are emerging 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.
German aircraft manufacturer Volocopter is planning to provide a
fleet of electric VoloCity eVTOL for the Paris Olympics in 2024, making
it one of the first electric air taxi networks, while Toff Mobility, the
first electric air company in Asia, is working toward debuting electric
aircraft in 2024 in South Korea.