The tourism sector seeks to forget its two fateful years due to the pandemic and looks to the future with the desire to make up for lost time. Advances in technology and new social sensibilities will mark the tourism of tomorrow, which the technology company Amadeus has tried to find out through a report commissioned from Northstar Research Partners with which it seeks to specify the new traveler profiles that will emerge during this, and thus trying to defog the uncertainty that returns to the current context.
After surveying more than 10,000 travelers from 15 markets, interviewing experts and analyzing 5.8 million pieces of data, the study specifies some of the issues that, today, tourists see as essential for their future decisions. In this way, we find that a vast majority (55%) sees the fact that travel can be faster as a fundamental aspect, thanks to issues such as improvements in air traffic control and new aircraft that will reduce time en route.
Behind it are other aspects such as being able to try virtual reality before deciding where to go, a technology that Amadeus has already developed and is beginning to implement in travel agencies so that travelers know the destination they are going to; or being able to travel in a more respectful way with the environment, something perfectly aligned with the current objectives of the tourism sector in terms of sustainability.
The survey also slides a fundamental factor when choosing a trip: its price. Respondents also considered it important to have multiple forms of payment, which would make travel more affordable. They also point out a purely emotional aspect: being able to remember the trips in a more vivid way, something that is closely related to the consumer tourism that has been lavished lately.
Among the aspects that worry travelers of the future is the fact that treating yourself to another place can be too expensive. This is considered by more than a third of those surveyed (34%), who also point to political instability or the increase in ticket costs to offset the environmental footprint as possible problems to be solved within ten years.
In the technological aspect, the survey will reveal several trends that will extend in the coming years: being able to pay for trips with cryptocurrency; do it from a virtual reality, where previous visits or tours can be made through the use of augmented reality; that applications are developed with everything necessary to plan a trip or that the data of each user is used to create personalized trips.
Spaniards opt for the traditional
The study defines four new “travelling tribes”, the name given to the interest groups that will shape the future of this industry worldwide. Some of them are already part of the current tourism model, but they will incorporate new technologies into decision-making that will make them choose one destination over another.
The vast majority of Spanish respondents (70%) are part of the group called “souvenir creators”, which includes all those travelers who aim to visit places for souvenirs. Given that a broad base of those surveyed in Spain are elderly (44% are over 42 years of age), they have fixed habits during trips, which is why they prioritize the company more than technology or sustainability.
Far behind (15%) are “experience seekers”, a group that seeks to try new things and see different places. Nearly half (44%) The study calls them “anti-planners” because they do not opt for closed trips, but make aspects such as accommodation more flexible. On the technological side, they advocate that artificial intelligence be incorporated into airports to speed up transit.
In a similar vein are the “pioneer explorers” (12%), a group of individuals continually seeking adventure and experience. The vast majority (82%) are under 41 years old, like to plan, look more towards sustainability and make use of alternative payment methods. Finally, there are the “travel tech-fluencers”, young business travelers who are concerned about the way they travel and how it affects the environment.
