External factors will be the main forces driving digitalisation and sustainability efforts, says the new Travel and Tourism Radar report from ITB Berlin, set up with German University Ostfalia Hochschule. 

According to the survey, the actions of global travel companies are driven more by external influences than economics where important aspects of the transition are concerned. 

The Travel and Tourism Radar survey shows that the approximately 330 travel companies interviewed worldwide offer a generally positive economic outlook as well as an insight into their investment plans and how they see their ability to compete.

A positive business outlook and stable investment plans for digitalisation

The survey says that respondents were generally positive about their current situation in this year’s second quarter, particularly when compared with the previous three months. 

The outlook for the immediate future also appears good. Accordingly, the companies polled were optimistic about developments in the next quarter. 

Organisers in the survey noted stable investment plans and identified the direction that future investments might take.

According to the survey, online presence and digital marketing were the areas most frequently mentioned, accounting for around 44 pc of the responses, while aspects such as training courses made up nearly 29 pc. 

Collaboration and engaging stakeholders ranked third at slightly over 28 pc, with responses divided evenly between IT/software and customer relations management. 

Much less emphasis was placed on new infrastructure and buildings or purchasing digital hardware, says the statement.

When asked specifically about factors influencing their ability to compete, most companies say the competition was mainly within their own market and country. 

They also regard digitalisation as having neither a positive or negative impact on their competitiveness, while in terms of equality and diversity they see themselves as fully meeting their goals, according to the survey.

The survey offered an interesting look at external factors and how tourism companies are influenced by them. The most frequent response was the political and economic situation, including inflation, given by around 62 pc. 

According to the survey, digital marketing and product development was the second most frequent answer at 54 pc, followed by AI and digitalisation for 51 pc. Sustainability and the climate were similarly frequent responses.