What’s the future of travel

Many people spend hours consulting search engines and browsing websites for their ideal travel destination. “Smart speakers” are assisting them on their quest, with more and more travellers finding their ideal destination and suitable air tickets using voice technology.

The survey shows that half of Gen Z and millennials consider how ‘Instagrammable’ their destination will be when booking. How many “likes” will it generate? The guarantee of taking beautiful holiday snaps is a prerequisite for 25.8 per cent of them. The photos have to be authentic and taken by them personally.

Travellers increasingly prefer to stay off their mobile phones while on holiday, or at least to use it less. On the other hand, they can’t go without a phone altogether. Around 50 per cent of passengers would prefer to use their phones as little as possible on holiday, but also indicate that this is not always possible. Almost a third of passengers would like to travel without a phone but are afraid they will find this impossible.

Instagram is expected to keep growing as a significant source of travel inspiration. The role of influencers and celebrities as a source of holiday inspiration is declining more and more (14.5 per cent). Also, more than 50 per cent of travellers don’t trust photos of holiday destinations shared by influencers. Travellers mainly look at posts from friends and family (65.3 per cent) or click on hashtags to seek inspiration from strangers (45.9 per cent).

Sustainability is important and travellers are taking it into account when booking. This is why travel operators are joining forces wherever possible to offer rail tickets for shorter distances as an alternative to flying. The guiding principle being that the combination of air and rail travel can be planned and booked easily.

Queues will be shorter at the airport thanks to facial recognition technology. Earlier this year, an international carrier conducted tests where passengers passed through checkpoints at security, lounges and boarding by showing a selfie in the airline app on their phones, instead of presenting their passports. The app shows passengers at which airport this technology may be used. More and more passengers will encounter this technology in 2020 when new tests begin. Naturally, it is up to the passenger to decide whether they want to try this digital innovation or not.

Unforeseen circumstances, such as thunderstorms, can lead to flight delays. Artificial Intelligence (AI) helps reduce inconvenience to passengers by rapidly calculating how best to deploy available crews and aircraft. This will further improve flight punctuality in 2020.

More and more passengers are compensating for their share of carbon emissions. A survey commissioned revealed that 38.8 per cent of travellers plan to compensate for CO2 emissions next year.