There is a strong appetite for investment across the travel sector in 2024 with about 91 pc travel firms planning to increase investments, says Amadeus’ latest report.

Nearly all, precisely 91 pc, travel companies plan ‘moderate to aggressive’ increases in investment in their organisations in 2024, says a report by travel technology company Amadeus.  

In a press statement, Amadeus says that full-service airlines expect to see an 18 pc increase in revenue from switching to modern retailing and are optimistic that the transition to ‘Offer and Order’ will take place within the next four years.

In total, 60 pc of airports expect to roll-out biometrics across the complete airport experience in the next five years, including check-in, bag-drop, lounge and boarding. 

According to Amadeus, there is ‘a strong appetite’ for investment across the travel sector in 2024. Over two thirds or 67 pc of senior decision-makers in the sector expect to increase investment specifically in technology this year when compared to spend in 2023.

In terms of individual sectors, the report finds that the aviation sector is expected to see an average of 17 pc increase in investment while airlines and hotels plan a 13 pc and 14 pc increase respectively.

“The findings match our on-the-ground experience with customers, every area of the travel industry is increasing investment in digital transformation. It is crucial this spending delivers maximum impact and improves the traveller experience across the travel ecosystem. Existing technologies, such as biometrics, are already helping to make trips more contextualised and relevant,” says Decius Valmorbida, President, Travel, Amadeus.

The statement adds that for corporations, an uptick of 15 pc is anticipated whereas travel sellers and travel payments expect a 13 pc & 12 pc increase respectively. Some 85 pc of respondents from the hospitality sector anticipate that personalisation could help them to deliver more than 5 pc growth in incremental revenue.

“At the same time, the emergence of generative AI promises to increase the pace of change still further. Travellers will experience significant improvement to the on-trip experience in the coming years, with commitment, investment and collaboration across the ecosystem combining to make travel work better,”  says Valmorbida.

The study finds that NDC is the top technology for implementation by leisure travel agents over the next 12 months, cited by 40 pc of the agents questioned. A third of corporate travel managers said their organisations intend to digitise the complete end-to-end expense management process over the coming 12 months.

“We know that the right technology is the key to connecting and unlocking the value of our travel ecosystem. Hoteliers, airlines and the whole sector are right to be ambitious about the next generation of technology that we are building together,” says Francisco Pérez-Lozao Rüter, President, Hospitality, Amadeus.

The report also shows that a third of travel payments leaders confirmed their organisations are planning to better manage global payments flows by implementing payments orchestration in the next 12 months.

“Travel providers can see huge potential for a better customer experience as well as significant growth and control if they get their investment strategies right now. We can see clear ambition and commitment to evolution from this research and are excited to be at the forefront of this journey with our customers,” Rüter adds.