AmadeusInsights

ConnectedJourneys:

Howwilltechnologytransform

travelinthenextdecade?

Amadeus.It’showtravelworksbetter.

TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsContents2

Contents

Settingthescene

Part2:Theend-to-endjourney

Closing

Part1:IndustryandTechnologyOverview

04Foreword

06What’sinitforTravelandHospitality?

42

47

53

59

63

67

71

75

81

86

91

96

11DefiningTransformation

23Knowingwhentoact

30ManagingDisruption

100Conclusion

101MethodologyandContributors

ThebookingexperienceThecorporatetravel

bookingexperience

Thecheck-inexperienceThesecurityexperienceThepre-boarding

experience

Thein-flightexperienceThebaggageexperienceThedisruptionexperienceThehotelexperience

TheloyaltyexperienceThepaymentexperienceThetransferexperience

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsSettingthescene3

04Foreword

06What’sinitforTravelandHospitality?

Setting

thescene

Amadeus.It’showtravelworksbetter.

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsSettingthescene4

Foreword

Travelismorethanjustajourney

Ifyouthinkbacktoyourlasttrip,whetherforbusinessorpleasure,it’seasytothinkofitasasingle‘journey’.GettingfromAtoB.

Butthroughoutonejourneythereisaseriesof

DeciusValmorbida

PresidentofTravel,Amadeus

micro-journeyswithtechnologyatthecore.ThisisthejobAmadeushasorchestratedforoverthree

decades.Togetherwithourpartnersandcustomers,we’vecometogetherasaglobalindustryaiming

PacoPérez-LozaoRüter

President,Hospitality,Amadeus

todeliverthebestexperiencefortravelerswiththeleastfrictionpossible.

There’snodenyingthatmovingbillionsofpeople

aroundtheworldisacomplexbusiness.Events(suchasweather)andlogisticaloroperationalissuesneedtobeplannedfor,mitigatedanddealtwithasifitis

justanothernormalday.Andwhenyouconsiderhowmanymillionsoftravelershaverealizedtheirtravel

aspirationswithoutahitch,youunderstandwhatanimpressivejobeveryoneinthetravelandhospitalityindustriesisdoingdayin,dayout.

JustthinkabouthowfartravelhascomesincethefirstcommercialflighttookofffromStPetersburg,Florida,tomakethe17-milejourneytoTampa,onNewYear’sDayin1914.Todayyoucanfly9,000milesnon-stopfromPerthtoLondon.Asimilar

transformationhasoccurredinairports.Terminalbuildingsthatwereoncenothingmorethandraftyconvertedaircrafthangars,nowhaveworld-

renownedarchitectscompetingtobuildthem.

Butthat’snottosaywe’vereachedthepinnacleofsuccess.Theopportunitiesthatemerging

technologiesoffertheglobaltravelandhospitalityindustriesmeanweareenteringaneweraof

rapidtransformation.

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TransformingTravel

Spendingqualitytimewithlovedones24%

Createlastingmemories

17%

Takeamuch-anticipatedbreakfromtheirdailyroutine20%

Hopetodiscoverandimmersethemselvesinnewandauthenticculturesandexperiences

19%

Traveltoimprovetheirwellbeing

22%

Deliveringonhopes–andremovingfriction

Ourresearchacrosssevenmarketshasremindeduswhattravelershopetoachievewiththeirtravel.

Spendingqualitytimewithlovedones(27%)cametopofthelist.Asusefulasvideocallsare,nothingcanreplacethefeelingofbeingtogetherinperson.Asfurtherevidenceofwhat’sbeencalledthe

‘experienceeconomy’,manytravelersarelookingtocreatelastingmemories(24%)andtakeamuch-anticipatedbreakfromtheirdailyroutine(17%).

Othershopetodiscoverandimmersethemselvesinnewandauthenticculturesandexperiences(20%)–again,somethingthatonlytravelcandeliver.Peoplearealsohighlymotivatedtotraveltoimprovetheir

wellbeing(19%).Whenitcomestotheactualjourney,22%ofthosesurveyedsaidtheyhopeforasmoothandfrictionlesstravelexperience.

Travelcandeliveronallthesehopesandaspirations,anditisthegoalofeveryprofessionalworkingin

travelandhospitalitytomakeeachjourneyasstress-freeaspossible.Forthisreportwealsoaskedwhatmakestravelersanxiousabouttheirjourneys.Why?Becausewhenweunderstandboththehopesand

frustrationsoftravelers,wecanworktogethertomakebetterjourneys.

AmadeusInsights

Whattravelershopetoachievebecauseoftheirtravel

27%

Hopeforasmoothtravelexperience

Transformingthetravelerexperience

Thechallengestravelersandguestsfacetoday

arenotisolated,theyspanacrosstheentiretravel

ecosystem.Addressingthesepainpointsisnotonlyasharedresponsibilitybutapowerfulopportunitytoreshapehowpeopleexperiencetravel.Itbeginswithopen,honestdialogueandacollectivecommitment

Settingthescene5

toaction.Totrulyunlockprogress,thetravelandhospitalityindustriesmustembraceanecosystemmindset,onethatbreaksdownsilosandbuildsonopenness,bothintechnologyandincollaboration.

Onlythencanwedelivertheseamless,personalizedexperiencesthattravelersexpectanddeserve.

WhenitcomestotheHospitalityindustry,aprofoundtransformationisalsounderway.Technologyisbeingembracedasastrategicdriverofgrowth,enhancingrevenue,streamliningoperations,andenabling

thetailoredexperiencestoday’sguestsexpect.

Unsurprisingly,theessenceofhospitalityliesin

humanconnection.So,totrulyelevateservicelevelsandenrichtheguestjourney,innovationmustgo

handinhandwiththepersonaltouchesthatdefinethisindustry.

Alongwithourcustomersandpartners,Amadeusisfullycommittedtoexploringhowtransformativethinkingandtechnologycanhelpdeliverwhat

travelershopetoachievewiththeleastfriction

possible.Thetechspaceisrapidlyevolvingandsoaretravelers’andguests’expectations.That’swhynoneofuscanaffordtostandstill.

Ifyou’realreadyonajourneytotransformyour

business-you’renotalone.AtAmadeuswe’re

continuallyinvestingincloud-nativetechnologythattransformshowtravelworksfrombiometricstoAI,throughmodernairlineretailingtooverhaulingthehoteltechstackandeverythingin-between.

Andifyou’reyettostartthattransformation,we

inviteyoutotakeajourneywithusbyexploring

theinsightsfrom9,500travelersinsevenstrategic

marketsandindustryexpertsrepresentingleading

globalcompanies.Youknowthetravelandhospitalityindustriesastheyoperatetoday,butwhatcouldtheytransformintotomorrow?Thisreportisdesignedtohelpyouunderstandtheartofthepossible.

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsSettingthescene6

What’sinit

forTravelandHospitality?

Acollectiveapproachtoinnovation

Interoperabilityisessentialhere–notjustinhow

theglobaltravelandtourismindustryconnects,

butinhowitinnovatesandenhancesthetravelandhospitalitysectorsintermsofcutting-edgetools,

services,andinfrastructure.Allboatsneedtorise

withthetidewhenitcomestodeliveringontravelers’hopesandexpectations.

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsSettingthescene7

Threepillarsforsuccess

TravelandHospitalitycanthinkaboutthecustomerthroughthreekeylenses.Theyinfluenceeach

otherand,importantly,leadtogrowthinrevenuesandcustomersatisfaction.Putsimply,herearethethreekeyelements:

1Greatexperience-leadingtoincreasedloyalty

2Loyaltyasadriverto

reputationandretention

3Revenuegrowththroughcustomerretentionandincreasedspending

We’lllookathowindividualsectorsand

responsibilitiesthroughouttheoveralljourneyneedtoconsidertheaboveinthesecondhalfofthis

report,butit’simportanttospendsometimeonthemacroperspectivefirst.

Whatmakesa‘great’experience?

‘Great’inthiscontextmeansagood,positiveand

hope-fulfillingexperience.InrecentlycommissionedAmadeusdata,wecanseethisfirst-hand.

Themajority(90%)ofairtravelersexperiencesomesortofanxietyduringtheirtrip;18%calloutthe

momenttheydroptheirbagsatcheck-in,andoveraquarter(27%)pinpointgoingthroughsecuritychecksasanxietypeaks.Technologyhasaclearroletoplayinalleviatingtheseanxietiesandmakingwayfor

positiveadventures.

Theresearchsuggestshowsmallinnovationscanmakeabigdifference.Livetravelupdates,digital

walletsholdingtraveldocumentssecurely,and

smartbaggagetracking.Thesewereafewcitedbytravelersfromallovertheworldtoreduceanxietyanddeliverabetter,smoothertravelexperience.

90%

18%

themomenttheydroptheirbagsatcheck-in

ofairtravelersexperiencesomesortofanxiety

duringtheirtrip

27%

goingthroughsecuritychecks

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsSettingthescene8

Lookingforinspiration

Likeanyindustry,focusinginternallyandrelyingonanechochamberforinsightintowhatdrivescustomer

experiencecanbestifling.There’svalueinlooking

fartherafieldatwhatothersectorsareputtinginplacetodrivecustomerretentionandgrowth.

Ecommerceisaprimeexamplehereandthere’s

plentywecanlearnfromtheadvancesithasmadeinboostingcustomerloyaltythroughinnovation.

Centraltothesector’ssuccesshasbeenits

omnichannelapproach–somethingwecan

considerbyproxyintermsofeverystageofthe

journeybeingseamlesslyintegrated.‘Omnichannel’canbeinterpretedas‘unified’whenwelookat

travelandhospitality.

Thedevice-firstapproach

Theecommercesectorwasalsoarguablyapioneer

inmovingtoamobile-firstapproachandtothisday

remainsatthecuttingedgeofenhancingcustomer

experienceanddrivingloyalty(andrevenue)asaresult.

We’reseeingthisdevice-firstthinkingdrivingchangethroughouttravelandhospitality.Someexamples

ofthisincludedigitizingthecheck-in,security,and

boardingprocesses.Akeyareaofgrowthhoweverisbasedonlearningsfromecommerceintermsofthinkingofthemobileasthetraveler’swallet.This

willhelpunifythewholepurchaseandpayments

experience,notleastinbringingthejourneytogetherforincentivesandbenefits.

Thedeviceusedisalsogoingtobecriticalwhenwe

considerthefutureofbiometrics,identificationandthegrowingpopularityofwearabletech.Therearealreadysomepioneeringproofsofconceptbeingdeployed

whicharelookingathowsuchopportunitiescanberolledoutaroundremotesecurityandtheabilitytomovearoundanairportwithoutencounteringanypointsofhumancontact.

Manyofthepioneeringsolutionsinadevice-first

ecosystemrelyonoperationsbeinghandledinthe

cloud.Thisisincreasinglybecomingthetransitional

technologyallowingthemajorityoftheinnovationsweseetobecomereality.Moreonthislater.

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TransformingTravel

Simplicity-drivenloyalty

No-onewantsfrictionorfragmentationduring

theirholidayorwhentravelingforbusiness.Fromasimple,swiftcheck-inthroughtoexpeditedcarhireoutsidetheairport,throughtobeingabletogetintoyourhotelroomtheminuteyouarrive–loyaltyisfueledbyaconsistentlysmoothjourney.

Loyaltyinturnenablespersonalization.An

increasednumberofrepeatinteractionsallows

companiestobuildever-morerefinedportraits

oftheircustomersthroughgatheringmoredata.Thisallowsforpersonalizedoffersandbenefits

thatfurtherdifferentiatefromthecompetitionanddrivereturncustomers.

Andtheresultofgrowingloyalty?Increasingretentionisamoreefficientandeconomicallysmartstrategythansimplyreducingchurnandtryingtoattractreplacementcustomers.

Individually,companiesthroughoutthetravel

andhospitalitysectorsareworkingonthethreekeytenetsofbusinesssuccess:acquisition,

AmadeusInsightsSettingthescene9

retention,andloyalty.Itcannolongerbesaidthat“acquiring”acustomerequatestothesimpleactofdoingbusinesswiththem.You’veonlyreally

wonthecustomerwhentheycomebackformore.

Butbyworkingtogetherwecanbettercross-sellaswellasdeliverseamlesstransitionsthroughoutthejourney.Indoingsoweincreasethevalueofthetravelandhospitalityindustries–valuewhichcanbeinvestedinfurtherinnovation.Thisinturnwillfuelbetterservices,greaterexperiencesandhigherloyalty.

It’savirtuouscircleofgrowththatishardto

establishandhardtomaintain,buttherewardsarehuge.

TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsPart1:Thetechnology10

Part1

Industry

11Defining

Transformation

23Knowingwhentoact

30ManagingDisruption

and

Technology

Overview

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsPart1:Thetechnology11

Defining

Transformation

Understandingwhattransformingmeans

Thedictionarydefinitionof

‘transformation’

→asanounisonewhichreferstocompleteness–atotalchangeinappearance,predominantlyalignedtoimprovement.Butwhenwelookatdigital

transformationwearerarely–ifever–talking

aboutafinishedprocess.Indeed,withchangetheonlyconstantistechnology,therearealwaysnewprocessesandsolutionswhichcanimproveanyoperationalneed.

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsPart1:Thetechnology12

“Astravelers’expectationsof

moreintuitive,morepersonal,andmoreinspiringchoicesthanwereeverthoughtpossiblebecome

thenorm,travelandhospitalitystakeholdersmustrespond.

Atransformingtravelindustry

needstransformativetechnology.Technologywhichbenefits

fromanopenmindset,onethatembracesnewwaysofdoing

things.Technologythatthrivesonapartnershipapproach,

workingwithotherstomaketheimpossiblehappen.”

DanielBatchelor

SVPGlobalCorporateMarketingandCommunications,Amadeus

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsPart1:Thetechnology13

Understandingthedemandfortransformation

Toputthisintocontext,weneedtoaskhowthetravelandhospitalityindustriesarelookingto

transform.Tounderstandthis,weshouldlookatthreedifferentstagesoftheprocess:

Whenwelookathowtheindustryplansfor

transformation,weneedtofliptheinfrastructure-upmodelandlookexperience-down.Wemustfirstaskourselves,“whatdowewanttoimproveaboutthecustomerexperience?”Itsalsoimportantto

understandwhattodayscustomerisdemandingandexpectingmoreofthatweneedtodeliver.

Thisthenlendsitselftounderstandingthe

operationalchangethatneedstohappentofulfilthatdemand,beforeconsideringthetechnologicalsolutionsrequiredtoputsuchchangesintoeffect.Itsabottom-upbuildtoachieveatop-down

understandingofthetravelersneeds.

Oncetravelerneedsaredeliveredthroughnew

technologies,theseexactsamesolutionscanswiftly

1Firstly,howthetechnologyistransforming

2Secondly,howthisisinturn,transformingoperations

3Thirdlyandmost

importantlyhowthisissubsequentlytransformingthetravelerexperience

becomeinnateandembedded.Yettheymustbe

usefulanddeliveronwhatsnecessary,ratherthan

whattechnologyvendorswanttoimplementwithoutanunderstandingoftheimmediateproblemsitsolves.Weveseenthisbefore

“Mymessagetoeveryone?

Avoidgettingsweptupin

theHypeCycleofthelatest

technologytrends.This

doesntmeanyoushouldnt

understand,learn,andadopt

newtools.Itsimplymeans

youshouldrememberthat

theyarejusttools.Weneedtobemoredeliberateaboutthe

interactionswewantourpeople(customers,prospects,and

employeesalike)toexperience,ratherthanjustfocusingon

thecapabilitieswecanprovide.Ultimately,whatproblemare

youtryingtosolve:givingthemmoretools,oraddressingtheirissueswiththerighttoolsattherighttime?”

JohnMorhous

ChiefExperienceOfficer,FlightCentreTravelGroup

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Transformativetechnology

WelloveradecadeagotheTumblr“

Picturesof

PeopleScanningQRCodes”

wascreatedwiththesimple,solitarymessage:“Nopostsyet.”Its

sardonicintentwastomockthehypearoundQR(QuickResponse)codeswhichatthetimewere

usedsporadically(andinalltruth,badly)bythe

advertisingindustrytodrivetrafficviaanewclick-throughmedium.

Thetacticjusthadntbecomesecondnature

amongthepublic.And,whileitwasthepandemicwhichdroveQRusagethroughmonitoringthe

spreadoftheCovid-19virus,thecodesarenowsecondnature.Todayweusethemforaplethoraofusecases:toorderfoodtoourtable,toget

vouchers,tojumpqueues,tologintowebpages.

Theirubiquitousnatureandthehighdegreeof

successtheyhaveindoingwhattheyreintendedto,meanstheyrenowstandardizedandtrusted.

Thepublicknowwhattheyreforandhowto(easily)usethemandhaveconfidencetheylldowhats

needed.ThePicturesofPeopleScanningQRCodesTumblrwouldneedzettabytesofdatatohostrelevantphotostoday.

Innovationcatalysts

Thepointhereisthattechnologieshaveinflectionpointsandcyclesthattakemanyforms.Itmay

simplycomeoutofthebluethelaunchoftheiPhonewithSteveJobsiconicblackpolo-neckbeingaprimeexample.

Transformativetechnologiescanalsocomeaboutthroughaseriesofplannedtransitionalsteps.

Lookathowmobilepaymentshavegrownover

severalyearstothepointwherehavingyourbankcardsstoredinyourphoneswalletisthenorm

contactlessandPIN-freepaymentslikewise.Yet

whentap-to-payfirstemergeditwaswithaGBP10limittoavoidfraudintheUK,whichslowlycreptupwiththeimprovementofpaymentsecurity.

Chatbotslikewise.Granted,fewwanttoproactivelytalktoachatbotforthewantofnothingelsetodo,butifitsthechoiceofhavingaquestionansweredquicklyorholdingonacustomersupportlinefor

twentyminutes,thechatbotisusuallythewinner.

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TransformingTravelAmadeusInsightsPart1:Thetechnology15

Transformingtravel

Thetravelindustryfindsitselfonacoursemadeupofaseriesoftransitions,whichcanbeputdowntoabasicsupplyanddemandmodel.Travelersneedtobecomfortableusingbiometricsatsecurity,forexample,forsolutionstosucceed,whichinturn

meanstheindustrycanstartinstallingitwider.

Buttravelandhospitalitydemandcontinuityintheservicesprovidedtothetraveler,sotransformativestepsaretheonlymeanstodeployinginnovationwithoutcompromise.It’snotgoingtohappen

overnight.

“Weareinaworldwhere

businesscontinuityoutweighsbigbangdisruption.

“Sohowdoyoutransform?

Progressively-andaboveall,bycollaboratingwithpartnersandthebroaderecosystemthatshapesthepassenger

experienceandthesystemsbehindit.”

Equally,transformationjourneysarearguably

nevercompleted.Theyreachmilestonesandhit

targets,butthere’salwaysimprovementsand

enhancementswhichcanbemadebaseduponthecyclesmentionedabove.

Thetravelandhospitalityindustriesexistto

connectpeople–it’swhytravelhappens.Wehavetoensurethattechnologydoesn’tcompromisetheneedtogiveeveryonethebestexperience.

AlexandreSbragia

SeniorVicePresidentofEngineering,Amadeus

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“GenerativeAIandautonomousagentsarenolongerabstract

concepts;theyarealready

beingappliedacrosstravel

andhospitalitytopersonalize

Driversbehindinnovation

So,whatarethekeytechnologiesdrivingchange?Naturally,ArtificialIntelligence(AI)andGenerativeAI(GenAI)featureprominently,asdoesbiometrics.Butitsessentialtonotethattheseallfundamentallyrelyonthecloud.

Thisisaninterestingsituation.Cloudhaslongsinceenjoyeditsmomentatthepeakofthehypecycle

andisfirmlyintheplateauofproductivity.Butitsbecomethefundamentalinfrastructureforthe

technologiescurrentlytransforminghowindustriesworldwidearebooming.

experiences,optimizeoperations,andreshapehowvalueiscreated.TherealreinventioncomeswhenAIisappliedtocreatesimpler

end-to-endjourneysandstrongerconnectionswithtravelers.”

EmilyWeiss

SeniorManagingDirector

GlobalIndustrySectorLead,Travel,Accenture

Travelandhospitalityarenodifferent.Ifwelook

atthetransformativetechnologieschangingthe

landscapetoday,noneofthemwouldbepossiblepurelywithmainframesorwithouttheabilityto

handlehugevolumesofinformation(andatspeed,withtheutmostsecurity).

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Clear-thinkingdisruption

Whenlookingathowtoinnovateandtransform,thetravelandhospitalityindustriesneedto

worktogethertounderstandhowtodeliveronthetravelersexpectationsandhowtodosocollectively.Werestrongerasanindustrywhenwereworkingtogether.

Thiscollaborativeapproachalsobenefitstesting

itcanbetrialedinonepartoftheecosystemandifitworks,rolledoutfarther.Assuch,itdoesntfirstneedmassindustry-wideagreementtodeployvastAIsolutions.Itneedsoneortwofirstmoversto

showtherouteforotherstofollow.

Ultimately,theglobaltravelandhospitality

industriescantstandstill.Becauseattheendof

thedaythestatusquoisntaseffectiveasitcouldbe,andtravelerdemandsaregettingincreasinglytoughertosatisfy.Insuchascenario,thosewho

havethesolutionstodelivertheseexpectationswillreinforcetheirmarketleadership.

“AtAmadeus,werecognizetheextraordinary

paceofchangeinourindustry.Thatswhyweremakingdeliberate,forward-lookinginvestmentsintechnologythatdeliverlong-termvalue.Werenotjustfocusedontodaysneedsoroff-the-shelfsolutionswerepreparingfortheinnovationsoftomorrow,includingthosewecantyetforesee.

Beingabletodevelopandusecloud-nativesolutionsisaperfectexampleofthis,andtheimpactishuge.

“Youcouldputa1980sCommodore64operatingsystemontothecloud,butthatwouldntgetyou

anyfurther.InanageofAI,weredeveloping

softwarethatsdesignedtobenefitfromand

leveragenativecloudservices.Thismeansitcan

notonlyutilizealloftheAIcapabilitiesavailablebydefault,butalsoextendbeyondthatintobiometry,IOTdevicesandanyotherdimension.Forour

customersandpartners,thismeansamassive

increaseinthevaluegeneratedbymanyordersofmagnitude.”

GianniPisanello

EVP,RevOps,MarketingandStrategy,Amadeus

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TransformingTravel