Hey Siri, I need a holiday. Make me an itinerary based on my interests and the activities I enjoy. I want to stay in interesting places. I want to travel at the pace I like and with a low carbon footprint. Oh, and make it fun.”
Instantly, I have the perfect itinerary, made by artificial intelligence.
In the not too distant future, that will be complemented by the option to “book please” and immediately the itinerary is fully integrated and interactive and the tickets are in my digital wallet.
Artificial intelligence is a game changer for tomorrow’s travel. AI will be our bespoke travel agent, and the engine driving the travel industry. Augmented and virtual reality will add to trip planning. Smart hotel rooms will adapt to an individual’s preset likes.
But this is where things get complicated, as there are two great parallel thrusts shaping the future of travel. One is technology, the other is human.
Surveys, studies and human experience all show that tomorrow’s travellers will want their journeys to be significant, with more meaningful moments, inspiring insights and real relationships. Future travel will be about education as much as enjoyment.
Amadeus, the world’s biggest travel technology company, which has processed a million bookings in a single day, commissioned the researchers at Future Foundation to develop a study called Future Traveller Tribes 2030: Understanding Tomorrow’s Traveller. It identified six “traveller tribes” (all rather self-explanatory) — simplicity searchers, reward hunters, social capital seekers, cultural purists, ethical travellers and obligation meeters.
But this is where things get even more complicated and contradictory.
At the world’s largest tourism trade fair, ITB, in Berlin in March, travel thought leader Caroline Bremner said businesses would need to adopt a holistic approach, a lighter touch and hyper-personalisation to set themselves up for long-term success. Bremner is senior head of travel research at Euromonitor International, a world leader in data analytics and research.
Suborbital space tourism will sit alongside slow travel, with travellers leaning more towards “hub and spoke” travel — staying longer in one place, with excursions.
The global Hilton hotel group’s 2025 Trends Report identifies sports travel as an increasingly important growth area, as is nostalgia, with travellers revisiting childhood travel destinations and seeking “throwback entertainment”.
“Luxury travellers” will get younger and younger.
Globally, lives and incomes will be enhanced by a tourism industry predicted to be worth more than $25 trillion in 2030, just as overtourism becomes a global flashpoint and travellers seek quieter places.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation predicts there will be 1.8 billion global tourists in 2030. We will travel more, but lower carbon emissions will be demanded by legislation (probably more than by Australian travellers themselves).
The two “indicator species” in travel sustainability are the cruising and aviation industries. This is where lowering carbon emissions will have the most visible impact.
Short-haul flights will have electric propulsion, while hydrogen-powered flight is a longer term goal. There will be more non-stop, ultra-long-haul flights as planes for this are developed (saving the fuel and carbon cost of landing and taking off). Supersonic flights will return, but they’ll be expensive.
“Aircraft are already flying with sustainable aviation fuel blended with regular jet fuel, producing less emissions,” says aviation writer Emma Kelly. “This will continue as SAF availability and price improve and 100 per cent SAF usage is approved.”
Passengers will pass through an airport using just their face or fingerprint. Kelly predicts that passengers will have the same in-flight connectivity that they have on the ground, thanks to satellite networks. There will be more personalisation, with more options to select before boarding.
Tomorrow’s travel will have both more complexity and simplicity. More technology and a greater emphasis on human connections. The key will be in our pocket, to open the door to illumination and brilliance.