The 8 travel trends to consider for 2019

The global tourism industry is undergoing a fundamental change in the way to sell the trips and how the traveler is served. At Amadeus, we actively observe travel trends so that our customers and partners, and ourselves, can innovate and create better trips for all. To continue shaping the future of travel in the long term, we have identified eight trends for 2019:

1. Personalization will remain a priority for all areas of the industry
For an airline, hotel, travel agent or travel agent, understanding how to best obtain customer insights from data will remain a key to success in 2019. Increasingly, travelers want a personalized experience, and Companies must anticipate these needs, understand and proactively address this challenge with the use of data, analytics and business intelligence. Although some agencies have already improved the customer experience through significant investments in artificial intelligence and analytics, we have not yet seen them applied to every step of the client's journey.

2. Continued increase in rich content, including NDC content
As the industry moves toward the adoption of new marketing methods and technology standards such as the NDC, we will continue to see a continuous increase in the rich content. 2019 is the year of industrialization for the NDC with a number of improved solutions in the process of implementation so that airlines and travel vendors can offer and consume NDC content. This content will come from multiple sources, possibly under different business models, so it is essential that travel companies have the tools to decide and customize the way that content is managed in their own business. Having access to a wide range of rich content means that travel sellers will have what it takes to customize services for all types of travelers.
At Amadeus, one of the main advances of 2019 will be the continuous evolution of the Amadeus Travel Platform, which brings together airlines, hotels, alternative accommodation, trains, land transport and content at the destination in one place. This includes NDC content, in which we are actively working together with airlines and travel sellers around the world through our NDC-X program.

3. The increase in complexity reveals the need for aggregation, search and comparison
Today's travelers are intelligent and technology-savvy consumers looking for unique experiences a click away. They demand the same level of choice, personalized service and consistency in all channels and devices to be able to compare and choose the preferred option. But with a complex variety of possibilities, there is more than one opportunity for travel sellers to help travelers create better experiences. They need the right tools that allow them to compete effectively and provide those dreamed trips. In 2019, adding all this content will be the key to ensuring that travel sellers can easily compare and find what they need to provide the level of personalization demanded by today's travelers.

4. Greater collaboration in the travel industry
In the last decade, technological developments have transformed the way we research, reserve and share travel experiences. New technologies and ways to use them are appearing everywhere. To stay ahead of the demands and expectations of travelers, the travel industry has to collaborate. In 2019, we will see more open APIs, more agile alliances and more co-creation for the industry to continue advancing.

5. The rise of millennial corporate travelers
According to the Boston Consulting Group's predictions, millennials will account for almost 50% of travel spending in 2020. These figures highlight the need for travel industry actors to learn how to meet the unique needs of millennials. This group is emerging as a pre-eminent force in travel consumption and the industry has to awaken to these new attitudes. This trend is the top of mind of our corporate travel solutions such as Amadeus cytric Travel & Expense.

6. Travel policies such as bleisure and traveler's well-being will become an increasingly important priority for travel managers.
Each time business models become more global, business travel will continue to increase to the same extent. According to the GBTA, by 2022 companies are expected to spend $ 1.7 trillion to send their travel employees around the world. As travel increases, so will the 'bleisure' trend. Therefore, the welfare of the corporate traveler - the health, happiness and productivity of employees in transit - will be a priority for travel managers in 2019. And for good reason. Amadeus and Lonergan's 2018 Travel Policy Data found that 44% of corporate travelers would leave a job due to a bad travel policy, while 50% say that the company's travel policy would affect their decision to take a job. More and more companies recognize the importance of using travel policies as a tool to conserve and attract staff, so we can expect travel and human resource managers to work closer to prioritize the well-being of the traveler.

7. The actors of the travel industry will launch more technologies to compensate for the potential disruption
2019 you will see that the travel industry will continue to deploy a range of new technologies to improve efficiency and minimize disruption. Improvements in technological capabilities will allow airports, airlines, hotels, travel sellers and all other agents to meet the growing expectations of the traveler. Investment in big data, process automation, the internet of things, integration and new technologies are part of this movement as the industry maintains its focus on the perfect experience for the passenger, both on land and in the air.

8. The emergence of smart cities will boost travel and tourism
One of the trends that best consolidates the complexity and sophistication of the consumer world of the future is the emergence of smart cities. The future of travel will be driven by multimodal trips and data, to offer more personalized and intelligent experiences. We have a unique position in the travel industry to be close to the heart of the development of smart cities and we have a team from Asia Pacific dedicated to leading our smart initiatives.
It is difficult to predict what the travel industry will look like 20 years from now, but we are excited about what lies ahead! While we continue to evolve from a GDS to a Live Travel Space, we take care to build our future with all our customers.