Amadeus identifies future of Asia Pacific travel
A new report has identified four key factors that are expected to shape the future of travel in the Asia Pacific region in the coming decades.
The ‘Shaping the future of travel in Asia Pacific: The big four travel effects’ report, conducted by Frost & Sullivan on behalf of Amadeus, found that increased wealth in emerging economies and greater liberalisation of travel would lead to a much broader range of traveller types and consumer behaviour between now and 2030.
Within this broad trend, the Amadeus report specified four major themes that would influence traveller trends: a greater level of niche travel, reduced barriers to travel, technological innovation, and a surge in demand for the lower and higher ends of the market.
The rise of niche travel, which Amadeus termed the “Me Effect”, is expected to see the emergence of a greater number of traveller segments, such as the female business traveller, the small business traveller, the VFR (visiting friends and family) traveller and the senior traveller. According to the study, these segments are more likely to bypass traditional sources of information and transactional channels in favour of a “do-it-yourself approach”. The growth in self-managed travel will be particularly strong in China, Korea and Japan, the study added.
In terms of the reduction of barriers to travel, Amadeus said it expects governments to liberalise visas and air travel agreements, leading to “huge growth” in tourist numbers, especially from emerging economies. It identified China, plus markets with natural resources such as Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and Myanmar, as the “new hot-spots for travel”.
With reference to technological innovation, Amadeus said Asia Pacific will start to leapfrog the West in terms of the roll-out of new technology and infrastructure. Use of mobile devices and social media will “force changes” in terms of the way travel providers interact with customers, while “massive roll-outs” of transport and infrastructure will also enhance travel.
Finally, the Amadeus study pointed to what it termed the “Barbell Effect”, with strong growth occurring at the upper and lower ends of the travel market. While more travellers are forecast from emerging markets, they are expected to be concentrated in the budget segment of the market. At the same time, there is expected to be strong growth in the numbers of very wealthy travellers from countries like China, India and Indonesia.
“Asia Pacific is arguably the most rapidly evolving travel market in the world. We wanted to paint a broad yet perceptive view on the future of travel in Asia Pacific, to enable travel providers to understand where the travel industry is headed and take advantage of the opportunities present in this growing market. To that end, we needed to understand all facets of change – social, geopolitical and technological – underpinned by economic trends. We hope the study will stimulate discussion and debate on these developments and what needs to be done to effectively respond to these changes,” Mark Dougan, managing director of Research, Frost & Sullivan.
“We live today in what has been widely termed the “Asian Century”, as Asia Pacific regains the leading position in the global economy that it last held before the Industrial Revolution. As economic growth and liberalisation gives many individuals in the region the ability to travel for the first time, the effects upon all aspects of society are going to be huge. We commissioned this report to further understand the future of traveller behaviour in Asia Pacific and provide a roadmap for the travel industry to shape itself with this in mind,” added David Brett, president of Amadeus Asia Pacific. “The results are incredibly insightful, both by country and as a region, and travel providers who respond to these increasingly divergent and technologically-driven travel planning behaviours, will be best placed to capitalise on the changing face of the Asia Pacific traveller.”
The report surveyed more than 1,500 business and leisure travellers in seven Asia Pacific countries: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.