A look into the future of travel: Experts discuss survey results and trends

The coronavirus downturn is over, and by 2024 Asia should have caught up too – at the same time the travel market is continuing to grow. These are some of the findings of the latest surveys by market researchers Phocuswright and Euromonitor, which were presented at the ITB Berlin Convention on Tuesday. According to Mitra Sorrells from Phocuswright, growth will continue in the near future, but at a slower rate. "We expect gross annual booking volumes to reach two trillion US dollars by 2027," reported Sorrells. The largest increases are expected in the Middle East and Latin America, while growth rates in Europe and North America are likely to slow down.

Facebook and Instagram lead, but YouTube is catching up

According to Sorrells, social media content was becoming increasingly important when planning a trip. In Europe, Facebook and Instagram were the most frequently used platforms, but channels such as Reddit and YouTube were also increasingly popular for planning travel. "In the USA, YouTube has already caught up with Facebook and Instagram," said Sorrells, noting that this opened up completely new opportunities for providers to use the platforms for marketing. Another trend was the increasing use of AI agents, which this year were not only likely to grow, but would also become significantly more effective. "We need to think about what it means when virtual assistants talk to virtual assistants when we book a trip," said Sorrells.

5.5 trillion dollars total expenditure

The importance of the tourism industry was also emphasised in the presentation by Caroline Bremner from Euromonitor. Bremner said total global expenditure on national and international tourism will amount to USD 5.5 trillion in 2025 and is expected to grow by a total of USD 1.1 trillion over the next five years - with strongest growth expected in the rail travel segment.

Authentic experiences and adventures

Another trend was the desire for authentic experiences at destinations, which were now sometimes more important when planning a trip than the choice of destination itself. In this context, Bremner spoke of "passion-driven tourism" - the more authentic and genuine an experience was, the more holidaymakers were willing to pay for it, she said. Bremner also emphasised the enormous changes brought about by better AI applications - but also pointed out that even with Gen Z, almost a third of all travellers still valued visiting a travel agency.