Technology can boost traveler confidence and accelerate demand

Global traveler study commissioned by Amadeus discovers mobile applications that provide on-trip notifications and alerts is the most appealing technology for 56% of Indian travelers to increase their confidence to travel in the next 12 months

As 2020 comes to an end, leaders in governments and key industries are working to determine how people can safely return to work, particularly in travel and tourism where jobs in hospitality, airlines, cruises, travel agencies, car rentals, rideshares, events, attractions and so much more, accounted for 1 in 10 jobs in the world pre-COVID. (Source: World Travel & Tourism Council)

To gain more insight into how the travel industry and governments can work to rebuild traveler confidence, Amadeus, a global leader in travel technology, commissioned research to learn more about traveler’s top concerns and what types of technology would help travelers feel safe and comfortable enough to travel and help spur recovery of the travel sector.

Informed by over 6,000 travelers across India, Singapore, France, Germany, UK and US, the study found that technology plays a crucial role in supporting recovery, as over 4 in 5 (84%) travelers said technology would increase their confidence to travel in the next 12 months by addressing concerns around mixing with crowds, social distancing and physical touchpoints. Approximately 1,000 respondents came from India.

When asked about what would make them more likely to travel, respondents in India say:

• Access to technology that reduces human contact, queues and physical touchpoints were the ultimate factor for getting Indian people traveling again (40%). This was especially important for Baby Boomers, where 73% of respondents cited it as their top concern compared with 28% of Generation Z.
• This was followed by the need for effective test, track and trace programmes to contain infections (40%); visibility to and assurance of sanitization, hygiene and safety measures in hotels and accommodations (39%) and limiting the number of passengers on flights (38%).
• Mobile applications that provide on-trip notifications and alerts emerged as the most appealing technology to increase confidence for Indian travelers (56%). This was followed by the need for contactless payments (54%) and the ability to have airline boarding passes on their phones (51%).
• Baby Boomers were much more open to facial recognition technologies (53%) compared with their Generation Z counterparts (24%) For Millennial and Generation X respondents, automated cleaning processes ranked similarly in the level of importance (49% vs 52%).
• Meanwhile, passengers taking long-haul flights were more likely to require mobile boarding passes than short-haul passengers (62% vs 53% ), while 50% of leisure passengers would use contactless payments over 47% of business travelers.
• Long-haul flight passengers were slightly more likely than short-haul flight passengers to be concerned about being stranded (27% vs 31%) or quarantined (39% vs 34%). 
• Technologies that ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of national test, track and trace programmes were most important to Baby Boomers (47%), followed by Generation X (40%), Millennials (33%), and Generation Z (21%).

Notably, the survey found that technology receptiveness and preferences differ by country and demographic, underscoring the importance of personalization in gaining traveler trust. Insights include:

• Almost half (47%) of Baby Boomers said they would need to be able to socially or physically distance throughout the journey, compared to less than 3 in 10 (27%) of Generation Z.
• Over half (52%) of travelers in Singapore selected contactless experiences at hotels as a technology that would make them more likely to travel, while almost half of Indian travelers (47%) selected mobile applications that inform them of the destination city’s safety measures.
• A quarter (25%) of UK travelers and just over a quarter (26%) of US travelers said they’d most like technology to reduce the need for them to have physical documents. Additionally, three in 10 German and UK travelers (30%) said they’d most like technology to minimize their physical contact with others.

Overall, the priorities Indian travelers wanted from technology were for it to:

• Minimize face-to-face or physical contact with others (34%)
• Reduce queues and congestion in public places (32%), compared to 45% in Singapore
• Protect financial data and personal information (32%), slightly less than Singapore (37%)
• Minimize the requirement for physical documents (31%)

Ultimately, as stakeholders work to rethink travel, survey results show that the top five ways to build traveler confidence worldwide include:

• Provide access to flexible change, cancellations policies and payment terms to avoid losing money (39%)
• Limit the number of passengers on a plane (38%)
• An ability for travelers to socially or physically distance themselves throughout the journey (36%)
• Having visibility to and assurance of sanitization, hygiene and safety measures in hotels and accommodations (36%)
• Effective test, track and trace programs in place (34%)

Cyril Tetaz, Executive Vice President of Airlines, Asia-Pacific, Amadeus, says: “India’s travel industry has started to show green shoots for recovery in the past months, and India’s aviation minister recently suggested that domestic passenger traffic could reach pre-Covid levels by the end of the year. This new consumer research further affirms the optimism for travel as many of the concerns can be addressed by technology available now, at every stage of the traveler experience. We have seen COVID-19 accelerate trends that were already present, such as the drive towards digitalization and contactless technology, which were key themes picked out by Indian travelers in order to feel confident traveling again. These are areas that we are already working closely on with our airline, airport and hospitality customers, and we will continue to focus on this.”

Tetaz continues: “Beyond technology, collaboration across industry and governments will continue to be key to this recovery. Together, we need to educate and provide travelers with the right information around safety and sanitization measures during the stages of their journey. For example, we have seen that social distancing and hygiene while traveling remains a high traveler concern, despite recent research from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on the extremely low rates of transmissions onboard aircraft due to cabin air filtering systems and other protection measures. Giving travelers easy access to the information they need to be assured of their safety is a fundamental tool in order to build traveler confidence and speed up recovery.”

Research methodology

The survey was conducted in late September 2020 by global insight-driven research firm Censuswide to explore traveler sentiment in light of COVID-19, how expectations and demands have changed and what can be put in place to strengthen traveler trust and confidence. The findings were based on 6,074 respondents residing in France, Germany, India, Singapore, UK and US who have traveled in the last 18 months (with just over 1,000 respondents per market). When referring to ‘social or physical distancing or limiting contact throughout the travel journey’, this is a combination of respondents who selected ‘Limiting the number of passengers on the plane to reduce contact’ or ‘Being able to socially or physically distance throughout the journey (transport, airport terminals, transfers, hotels).