Empowering Inspiration
The future of travel search
A recent study commissioned by Amadeus about how consumers will search for travel in the future reveals travellers’ pain points and future motivations when planning and booking for travel online.
The study was conducted to understand the behaviours of a representative sample of trend-setting leisure travellers - The Discretionary Traveller - in six different countries (US, UK, Germany, India, Russia and Brazil) and to uncover cross-market comparisons of how people shop for travel online.
It shows that using advanced destination selection and content customisation tools to attract and inspire consumers earlier in the travel planning process is key to gaining competitive edge in the months and years ahead.
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> Globally felt frustrations
The biggest pain points for travellers are the perceived difficulty of content aggregation and information overload, coupled with anxiety over getting the best price. The study reveals that 7 out of 10 travellers are frustrated when booking online.
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> Travellers want inspiration
49% of the surveyed travellers in developed markets and 66% in emerging markets do not have a destination in mind when they start their trip planning process - they want to be inspired.
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> Shopping is not booking
Travellers tend to use online travel agencies websites primarily as shopping engines, but then turn to travel provider websites for the actual booking. But the trend is reversed with lodging!
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> Mobile functionality is key
There is a strong interest in the convenience of mobile devices for key travel activities like check-in, boarding pass, delay announcements, etc.
Travel planning needs trigger technology evolution
The study details the key trends and predictions for how consumers want to be able to search for travel online in the future, and also sets out the opportunities that these developments are presenting to travel professionals, starting with online travel agencies, who are keen to stay ahead of the game.
