Top Travel Industry Trends (2024-2027)
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The travel and tourism industry is growing at an annual rate of 4.41% .
By 2026, the projected market value will be just under $1 billion.
Here are seven trends driving the future of the travel space.
1. Travelers go it alone
One website reports that 25% of all American millennials plan to travel by themselves each year.
Statistics show that the number of people traveling solo increased by 42% even before the pandemic.
According to Travel Market Report , Intrepid Travel is a small-group travel company that plans trips for 75,000 people per year.
Data shows that more than 50% of the travelers booking with them are going alone.
Overseas Adventure Travel, another small-group travel company, has seen such a boom in solo travel that they’ve upped the number of single spaces they have available in 2021, a 76% increase over 2019.
Solo travelers are big on social media too.
2. Travelers crave local experiences
The "experience economy" is huge in the travel industry.
But fewer and fewer people may be settling for commonplace vacation activities in the coming years.
Instead, “consumers [will] pursue authentic experiences , distancing themselves from mainstream tourism providers and venturing into pastimes that feel more meaningful”.
Data insights company AirSage marks this as an emerging trend because “people no longer want boring and conventional travel experiences as much as they used to. Instead, they would rather pay for vacations that are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities”.
Airbnb is betting on this trend.
Their website has offered the opportunity for consumers to book “experiences” since 2016.
But they also added online experiences in 2020 for people who are seeking to connect with locals without leaving their homes.
Other companies are banking their entire business model on this trend.
Withlocals offers “personalized traveling” — the opportunity for travelers to book private tours and activities with locals around the world.
Camping (and glamping) trips have also become a popular way for people to travel while experiencing the local culture and staying safe amidst the pandemic.
Outdoorsy has been called the “Airbnb of RV rentals”.
And their sales exploded to $1 billion in 2020. That’s 400% growth since 2019.
Under Canvas runs seven glamping camps in wilderness locations across the United States aimed at exploring the local landscape and inspiring human connections.
The company reported a “surge" in demand in 2020 and had "strong" advanced bookings during 2021.
3. Travel tech adoption accelerates
As with nearly all businesses, technology is presenting the travel industry with seemingly endless opportunities.
The pandemic has only increased the speed of tech adoption in the travel industry.
A McKinsey survey showed that, because of COVID-19, “companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years".
One example: room service robots.
Two Chinese hotel giants invested in ExcelLand, a manufacturer that already had 3,000 robots in operation.
BTG Homeinnes is looking at these robots as a way to control costs and safeguard guests.
Hotels, airlines, booking sites, and others are using chatbots like never before.
Travelers can chat with providers during every stage of their journey.
And, they won’t (always) feel like they’re talking to a robot. Advances in AI have made this type of communication hassle-free.
United Airlines has launched an “ Agent on Demand ” service that allows travelers at the airport to video chat with a customer service representative simply by scanning a QR code.
More and more airlines and airports are deploying facial recognition technology.
Corporations and government entities tout this technology as a boon for travel safety.
But many privacy advocates have put a halt to this emerging trend. They warn that this type of surveillance could easily turn dystopian.
With all of this new tech, companies are also continuing to capitalize on an older piece of technology — the smartphone.
Stats show that travelers who book tours and activities on their phone spend 50% more than those who book elsewhere.
4. Consumers blend business and leisure travel
The latest statistics say there are nearly 5 million digital nomads in America.
The concept of being location-independent, traveling and working remotely, has become even more popular since the start of the pandemic.
The hospitality industry is starting to cater specifically to digital nomads.
Aruba is opening its beaches up to travelers who’d like to work remotely, calling the marketing campaign “ One Happy Workation ”.
Visitors can stay for up to 90 days. And do not need any governmental documentation.
Barbados and the Cayman Islands will also let you work remotely from paradise for an extended period of time.
Booking.com reports that the "workation" trend is going strong.
More than 50% of travelers say they would extend their business trip to enjoy personal time at their destination.
In 2020, hotels began catering to locals who needed a quiet place to work.
The Hamilton Hotel in Washington, DC, is just one example. It’s WFH-Work From Hamilton program offers rooms on a 6:00 am to 7:00 pm schedule.
5. The travel industry gets serious about sustainability
Recent data shows that more than half of US travelers believe there aren’t enough options when it comes to sustainable travel .
A poll conducted on behalf of Exodus Travels went even deeper into consumers’ attitudes .
- 91% of travelers see the importance of taking ethical trips
- 56% believe in buying souvenirs from local merchants
- 44% want to support local businesses at their destination
Sustainable travel involves minimizing impact on the local cultural environment.
And also taking an eco-friendly approach to the physical environment.
Nearly 70% of travelers say they are more likely to book accommodations if they know the property is planet-friendly.
Many in the travel industry have recently made commitments to preserving the environment.
For example, India-based ITC Hotels Group has LEED certified each of its hotels.
As of 2023, hotels in the state of California will no longer be allowed to provide single-use toiletries in plastic bottles to their guests.
Marriott International has made a pledge to remove these types of plastics from all their hotels, too. But the pandemic has put a temporary stop to that plan.
A recent report from Skift made this summary statement regarding sustainable travel in the future:
“[It’s a] less flashy way of viewing and traveling the world . . . with an emphasis on safety, sustainability, and profound experiences while getting from point A to B without wrecking the climate and local quality of life in the process”.
6. Electric Air Travel Goes Mainstream
Speaking of sustainability, it looks like flying Teslas are finally here.
And they have the potential to make a big impact on at least three large industries:
The aircraft manufacturing industry, with over $200 billion in annual revenue between the top 3 manufacturers alone (Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed).
Commercial airlines, with $838 billion in annual revenue (pre-COVID).
And the ride-hailing and taxi industry, which was valued at $219.68 billion in 2022.
Electric vehicles are cheaper to run , less expensive to maintain , and better for the environment than vehicles powered by conventional fossil fuels.
That’s just as true for aircraft as it is for cars.
When it comes to electric aircraft, there are two main types: fixed-wing airplanes and eVTOLs.
Fixed-wing electric airplanes are just what they sound like. There aren’t any 747-sized electric airliners yet, but smaller commuter planes are in production.
Eviation is leading the charge. This startup produces a 620-mile range, 9-seat commuter plane called the Alice.
According to the company, flying the Alice is dramatically cheaper than a regular internal-combustion powered airplane.
For a 100-mile flight, conventional fuel for a similar-sized Cessna would cost about $400. In Eviation’s electric Alice, it would only be about $10 .
Eviation recently merged with Clermont Aerospace after a $108.5 million valuation.
At the same time, AeroTEC and MagniX are teaming up to retro-fit existing airplanes with electric motors - with similar improvements to efficiency.
There are also electric-hybrid airplanes in development.
For example, the Project 804 by United Technologies.
As well as the Aero by Zunum, a startup backed by Boeing and JetBlue.
And the E-Fan X by Airbus and Rolls-Royce. This project was shut down in April 2021, but only after achieving its three main initial research goals (according to Airbus).
That covers fixed-wing electrics.
The other major kind of electric aircraft is the eVTOL.
eVTOL stands for “electric vertical take-off and landing”.
Non-electric VTOL examples include anything from helicopters to drones and Harrier Jump Jets.
eVTOLs tend to be smaller than their non-electric cousins, and designed for shorter flights across cities.
Some look like passenger-carrying quadcopter drones. While others have a fixed-wing component like regular airplanes.
Search interest in eVTOLs has been exploding lately as startups and major aircraft manufacturers demonstrate new eVTOL models.
In July 2020, Airbus conducted the first public flight of its autonomous 4-seat CityAirbus multicopter eVTOL. The CityAirbus has a projected range of about 60 miles (or 15 minutes).
Airbus also has Vahana , in development by its Silicon Valley innovation arm, Acubed .
For its part, Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences has been developing solutions for an air-taxi service in partnership with Uber. Including an autonomous electric passenger air vehicle.
Separately, Boeing is also reportedly partnering with Porsche to develop another eVTOL.
And Tokyo-based “flying car” manufacturer SkyDrive raised a series B of 3.9 billion yen (about $37 million) and conducted its first public manned demonstration of the SkyDrive SD-03.
The SD-03 is the world’s smallest eVTOL, requiring only as much space on the ground as 2 parked cars.
That small footprint is one of the main advantages eVTOLs have over traditional fossil-fuel powered VTOLs like helicopters.
eVTOLs like the ones mentioned above use multiple smaller electric motors with rotors spread out across the aircraft. Whereas a typical helicopter uses one main internal-combustion engine with two huge rotors stacked above. (Plus a smaller one in the tail.)
eVTOLs’ multi-motor design is called a “distributed electric propulsion” (DEP) system.
DEP systems have numerous advantages. They make piloting easier, reduce the footprint required for take-off and landing, and increase safety through redundancy (if one motor fails, there may be 7 more still running).
They also reduce noise emissions, as the rotors don’t have to spin as fast.
Noise and vibrations within the cabin are lower as well.
Thanks to these advantages, dozens of eVTOL manufacturers are currently vying to capture a share of the nascent “urban air mobility” market: eVTOLs used to fly over traffic.
Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Mexico, and Brazil have all been experimenting with urban air mobility initiatives.
But with all those benefits, why hasn’t electric air travel caught on before?
Two words: energy density.
In other words, the amount of stored energy in one pound of “fuel” — whether gas, diesel, kerosene or batteries.
Currently, conventional fossil fuels have more energy density than batteries. That’s why electric cars are generally heavier than their gas-powered counterparts. They have to be, in order to store enough power.
For aircraft, this added weight poses an obvious problem.
But it’s a problem we’re getting closer to solving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that an energy density of 400 Wh/kg (watt-hours per kilogram) is the crossover point for lithium-ion batteries to beat kerosene jet fuel. Once battery technology reaches that level, the sky’s the limit for electric aircraft.
Today, the energy density of industry-leading Tesla batteries is currently about 260 Wh/kg. (Up from 124 Wh/kg in 2007.)
So when might we get to 400 Wh/kg?
Very soon, according to Musk.
(Though he has also said that Tesla has no near-term plans to make electric aircraft.)
That’s it for the top seven trends driving the travel and tourism industry forward into 2024 and beyond.
Through these trends, we can see a dynamic relationship between the travel industry and consumers.
It’s a push-and-pull that’s sure to continue in 2025 and companies that can adapt quickly to the changing wants and needs of travelers are the best suited for future success.
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Perspective
Traveling between worlds in the metaverse
5-MINUTE READ
- The next wave of technology disruption driving the future is here, bringing new technologies and worlds of experiences.
- Over the next decade, ambitious travel players will shape new physical and digital realities and transform their businesses.
- Travel companies need to prepare now to understand how these emerging technologies are critical for future growth and competitiveness.
- How can travel companies successfully navigate uncertainty about the future, with blurred boundaries between humans and machines?
Welcome to the “Metaverse Continuum”
The metaverse is evolving the next generation of the internet technologies and creating boundaryless opportunities. Think of it as a continuum, spanning the spectrum of digitally enhanced worlds, realities and business models.
Expect to see it touch all facets of every business, from consumer to worker and across the enterprise; from reality to virtual and back; from 2D to 3D; and from cloud and AI to extended reality, blockchain, digital twins, edge technologies and beyond. In 2022, this way of life seems surreal, but the Metaverse Continuum is on its way and companies need to prepare now.
Next-generation traveler experience
The Metaverse Continuum enables people to immerse themselves within a universal shared experience that connects our real world to a fully virtual one—and everything in between.
The Metaverse Continuum is already transforming travel companies in five ways, changing...
- How travel companies interact with customers
- How work is done
- Which services travel companies offer
- How they make and distribute them
- How they operate their organizations
Travel Technology Vision 2022 trends
In the Travel Technology Vision 2022 report, we explore how today’s technology innovations are becoming the building blocks of our collective future. These four trends investigate the entire continuum, from the virtual to the physical, across humans and machines alike, identifying where ambitious travel companies can find rich opportunities by uprooting themselves from today and planting themselves firmly in the future.
WebMe: The internet is being reimagined as metaverse, and Web3 efforts transform the underpinning and operation of the virtual world.
The Programmable World: Control, customization and automation are being immersed into the world around us, making the physical as programmable as the digital.
The Unreal: As AI-generated data and synthetic content convincingly mimic what is “real,” authenticity is the new north star.
Computing the Impossible: A new generation of computers is solving some of the world’s most intractable problems leading to one of the biggest technological disruptions of our time.
RELATED: Why the metaverse (really) matters for travel.
Now is the time to shape the future of travel technology
We are at a crossroads. Not only because there are new technologies to master, but rather that competition in the next decade will require much more than technical skills and innovative strength. Travel companies will need a truly competitive vision. A clear vision of what the future worlds will be like and a vision of where the travel business needs to go to thrive. Technology is pointing us in the right direction. Everything else is in your hands.
The metaverse continuum is waiting for you.
RELATED: Future borders 2030: From vision to reality
Related insights
- Building a data-driven travel company
- The Guide: Travel industry magazine
- Tech Vision 2022: Meet me in the Metaverse
Sergiy Nevstruyev
Managing Director – Enterprise Architecture & Digital Transformation Lead
Anshul Gupta
Managing Director – Accenture Technology
Luis Aparicio Garcia
Associate Director – Accenture Strategy & Consulting, Travel
The 7 biggest tech trends influencing travel in 2022
The travel industry has unquestionably demonstrated its resilience in the last two years, using the downtime afforded by the pandemic to adopt new technologies and innovate. According to Phocuswright’s latest travel research report Travel Innovation and Technology Trends 2022 , a dramatic acceleration in digital change has taken hold, from touchless journeys and robotic automation to the rise of remote working. We witnessed the turn in fortunes of SPACs, and the entry of tokenization and NFTs into common parlance. Travel companies dipped their toes into new business models like subscriptions and Fintech became all the rage. But which of these innovations will persist and what should we be paying attention to in 2022 and beyond?
Each year, Phocuswright's expert analysts identify the technology and innovation trends that will influence travel significantly in the years to come. This overview video features brief introductions to the seven trends that we will explore in depth over the coming months.
7 biggest tech & innovation trends influencing #travel in 2022 in less than 2 mins #Phocuswright
This year Phocuswright again incorporates the views of our extended analyst team, who contribute a range of perspectives and expertise.
In this report are our seven Travel Innovation and Technology Trends for 2022, with summaries of each included in this report. Stay tuned as we roll out more detailed analysis on each of these topics throughout the year.
To get access to this report, the detailed analyses of each of these topics and the entire Phocuswright research library, become an Open Access research subscriber. This subscription unlocks access for your entire company. Join the top travel brands who trust Phocuswright research and subscribe today. See the benefits here .
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The future of business travel: supersonic flights, computerized chauffeurs, and beyond.
by Business Traveler
July 20, 2022
Thanks to new advances in artificial intelligence, the future of transportation will be increasingly automated and sustainable, per Euromonitor’s Future of Travel 2040 report. But at the same time, with Covid having drastically sped up the adoption of a host of new digital and online technologies , forward-looking industry innovations aren’t limited to smarter experiences alone. Amid a recent boom in aerospace and design advancements, coming years will bring radical enhancements to the world of planes, trains and automobiles, as well as hospitality and destination management. Here’s a peek at what tomorrow’s domestic and international transit experiences will hold for business travelers.
Supersonic travel
Two decades after the Concorde last took to the heavens, myriad start-ups such as Boom and Spike Aerospace aim to resume high-speed flights while muting those annoying sonic bangs. Hate enduring red-eyes and layovers, let alone playing hours of Nintendo Switch? Boom’s Overture passenger jet, which can accommodate around 65 to 88 passengers and reach a top speed of 1,300 mph, is expected to arrive by 2025, aiming to shave the time of international flights by roughly half. That means trips from Tokyo to Seattle could be reduced from 8.5 to as little as 4.5 hours. With a goal of serving the executive travel market and streamlining premium routes like New York to London and Washington, D.C., to Paris, firms such as Exosonic are also leveraging environmentally responsible fuel to power their jet engines. With any luck, the answer to the age-old question, “Are we there yet?” will be a much faster “Yes!”
Self-driving autobiles
With 470 million connected vehicles estimated to be traversing global highways and generating roughly 25 GB of data per hour by 2025, the race to reinvent the future of autonomous vehicles is underway. Ericsson reports that connected cars are poised to drastically alter transportation, so it won’t be long before your next chauffer is a computer. Google parent Alphabet’s Waymo start-up has begun testing robotaxis in California and Arizona, while General Motors-backed Cruise is now operating its self-driving fleet in San Francisco. And forget having to sprint for early-morning or late-night car rentals: Tesla will be greeting you at airport arrival areas within the next decade.
Illustration by Coen Pohl
Virtual and extended reality
The international market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is growing by leaps and bounds each year, according to a recent report by Global Market Estimates. These solutions allow you to remotely experience destinations, activities and exhibits using a smartphone and VR headset. Researchers expect that these tools will be a key resource in helping to build a new travel industry. From simulated site visits to rides on roller coasters, hyper-immersive online experiences are the wave of the future.
Robotics and automation
Artificially intelligent personalities are already helping you to book flights, confirm hotel reservations and secure event tickets. Insiders predict the market for these smart solutions will reach $142 billion by 2024, ensuring that online assistants will soon be ubiquitous. But with nations from South Korea to Singapore to Bulgaria also deploying a host of robot butlers and concierges at airports and hotels, you can soon expect to find automated helpers popping up elsewhere. International travelers expect robots to play a big role in future transport, and they’re largely comfortable with this. So who knows? The futuristic world of the Jetsons and its dizzying array of robot helpers may arrive within our lifetime.
With over half of all United States restaurants having already made the leap to QR-code menus, it’s no surprise that business travelers are becoming more comfortable shopping and paying using these solutions. The contactless, safety-first codes will continue to power more hotel, museum and destination experiences in the years ahead. Just a few of the many growing uses for QR codes include accessing information, snapping up items and discounts, and downloading music, video and photos on demand. As a result, nearly a third of all mobile phone users will be looking to these solutions as an essential purchasing tool within the next three years, according to Juniper Research. Physical tickets, menus and maps are increasingly predicted to become a thing of the past.
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Privacy overview.
How Technology Can Kickstart Travel’s Post-Pandemic Boom
It’s hard to find an industry that was more deeply impacted by COVID-19 than travel and tourism. Attempts to contain the pandemic grounded planes, emptied out hotels, and canceled the travel plans of millions of tourists. Everything came to a screeching halt, and for the better part of 12 months, industry leaders, veterans, insiders, and disruptors have all been racking their brains on how to forge ahead with so much uncertainty and risk. It was hard to see a way through.
But now, as a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel emerges, the travel industry is bracing itself for a boom as big or bigger than the preceding 12 months of bust. Shares in big-name travel companies like Carnival , Expedia , and United shot up as positive news of the vaccine was announced, on the expectation that people will be desperate to move about the world again as soon as it’s safe to do so.
But even as people start planning their dream vacations, the lingering effects of the pandemic — with fears about health and safety so fresh in people’s minds — will necessarily change how the travel industry operates. And a big part of those changes will come from new technology.
Plug in to Unplug?
Consumer industries were already seeing shifts toward digital transformation before the pandemic, and travel was no exception, with early adoption of online booking and mega-successful companies like Airbnb pushing new digitally driven opportunities in the market. Po st-COVID , however, expect technology to figure in the whole experience, not just in the planning stages.
Our Robots Among Us survey , where we poll hundreds of Americans every six months, gauges consumer comfort with a variety of new and emerging technologies. We looked at several of the most exciting tech developments on the h ospitality and t ourism horizon, from the increasingly familiar, like digital passport kiosks, to more leading-edge technology, like a robot concierge. The results of the survey suggest that people like having technology support their experiences — they want to make those long-lamented “travel hassles” a thing of the past — but they’re not interested in having technology replace the experience entirely.
Where we’ll see technology start to make a real impact on the industry is in the AI-powered solutions we’re already somewhat familiar with elsewhere. Self check-in and automated passport kiosks are common at many airports these days, but similar technologies have yet to make it to widespread use outside the terminal. Expect hotels to start implementing easy self check-in options, especially as the hospitality industry seeks to find ways to minimize human-to-human contact and streamline the typically arduous processes of the past. These technologies also rate highly with consumers, with 46 percent of respondents in our survey stating they would be comfortable using this kind of technology.
Other technologies we’re growing more familiar with will also start to crop up in the travel sector, and we expect augmented reality to make big inroads. Augmented reality apps are already taking hold in retail, gaming, and social media, and it seems likely they’ll move into travel too. Apps that can translate signage automatically by holding your phone’s camera to the text will go from novelty to necessity in the next few years, and as people grow more comfortable with AI, we’ll start to see an expansion of augmented tours that enable travelers to guide themselves around a destination with interactive highlights directly mapped to their devices.
The Human Touch
While the travel sector will need to be open to more self-determination in its customers, with fewer direct points of contact and more self-guided experience, it won’t be a completely hands-off experience. After the past year, one thing seems certain: people want to interact with other people. There are significant opportunities for streamlining many of the travel processes through automation and bots, but the restart of travel will come with a great deal of trepidation, and for that, consumers want the human touch.
People have spent hours upon hours over the last year canceling and rebooking flights, worrying about losing money on canceled hotels and Airbnbs, and figuring out contingency plans as travel bans came into place. Amid all that chaos, people sought out interaction with a human who could empathize with their concerns and make choices that weren ’ t exclusively driven by logic.
Bots, by definition, follow logical patterns. So, as much as we want ease and simplicity, we still want to know that, if we need a helping hand, we’ll have a human to guide us. As people come back to travel with a new cautiousness, they’ll want reassurance from a person that their bookings will be guaranteed, secure, and reliable. Bots just can ’ t build trust in that way like a human can, even with the same information on hand. In our survey, two of the three lowest-ranking technologies were different variations of a robotic concierge : mobile robot concierge and stationary robot concierge. (The third was virtual reality tourism.)
So where does that leave the travel and tourism industry? Frankly, in a great spot. There are real opportunities to capitalize on incremental tech enhancements, meaning small investments could pay big dividends. Leveraging new tech and building on a composable framework means travel businesses can start to experiment and get quick wins while the world gets back on its feet.
But one thing to remember is this truth: People want technology to make travel easier. Part of that ease, at least in the near term, will come from knowing the experience can be trusted to go the way it’s supposed to. So plan for enhancements, not replacements, and ensure that real people can assist when needed.
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Ask Skift: What Are the Major Trends in Travel Tech?
Rashaad Jorden , Skift
December 11th, 2023 at 11:49 AM EST
The use of technology in the travel industry has continued to boom in recent years, and here's a look at some of the biggest tech trends in travel.
Rashaad Jorden
Travel brands have increasingly looked to use emerging technology in their operations, especially generative artificial intelligence . What are major trends in travel technology? We put the question to Ask Skift , our artificial intelligence chatbot. It used information appearing in both our past news coverage and Skift Research. We also conducted additional reporting.
What Ask Skift Said:
Some of the major trends in travel technology in recent years, as outlined in various Skift articles, include:
Mobile Innovation: U.S. companies like Airbnb and HotelTonight (which Airbnb later acquired) were redefining the lodging sector in 2013 through mobile technology . Larger digital giants like Google, Apple, and Nokia were also influencing the transportation with their mapping and local information offerings.
Use of Tech for Competitive Advantage : Many travel companies were tapping into tech products a decade ago to gain a competitive advantage (as they are today). Tech was helping travel providers offer customers relevant deals and accessible customer service. In addition, companies are using big data to streamline operations, cut costs, and boost revenues.
Smart Design : Another trend was the rise of smart design in travel , influenced by the “Apple-ification” of the world. This trend is seen in more design-centric airports, efficient hotels, and generally more design-meets-UX savvy sectors in travel.
Data-Driven Curation : There was an increasing need for better curated experiences in travel due to the overwhelming choices in search results for online booking. Booking providers were trying to deliver well-targeted information — and this is still a big priority — to travelers by mining and analyzing all kinds of data.
Ask Skift Is the AI Chatbot for the Travel Industry
Go deeper into the business of travel with Skift’s new AI chatbot.
What Else You Need to Know
Travel Technology Reporter Justin Dawes earlier this year listed five travel technology trends worth following in 2023 , the first of which was airport biometrics. Singapore announced in September that its Changi Airport will go completely passport-free starting in 2024 when it implements an automated immigration checkpoint using passengers’ biometric data. Passengers will undergo a facial scan that verifies their identity instead of presenting their passport to an immigration officer.
Dubai International Airport is also no longer requiring travelers to have passports or boarding passes . Instead, passengers will be able to use their face as their ID.
Meanwhile, travelers going on trips via virtual and augmented reality has been another major trend in travel technology, with the global virtual tourism market expected to grow to more than $847 billion by 2028 . Virtual reality can help give travelers an idea of what to expect if they choose to visit a certain destination.
Travel brands — such as the Singapore Tourism Board — are also looking to augmented reality to boost interest in attractions . The organization’s CEO Keith Tan said it wants to use the technology to show visitors what World War II was like at Fort Siloso, a major attraction in the city-state.
Another booming trend in the rise of digital payments, with non-cash transaction volumes expected to jump to $2.3 trillion by 2027 . Skift Research said in an October 2023 article that, 70% of hotels worldwide use payment processing programs, and payment technology should be viewed as a revenue-generating opportunity for hotel owners .
In addition, although some hotels have increased their use of technology coming out of the pandemic, although tech reporter Dawes wrote in December 2022 that other hotels have dragged their feet in implementing new technology. Skift reported in January 2023 that several prominent hotel companies launched tech partnerships to modernize operations and services , and ongoing labor shortages were in part driving hotels toward more tech adoption.
Furthermore, some hotel executives are bullish on artificial intelligence and view it as a way to generate more room revenue. Jeff Edwards, a consultant and former IHG executive, said generative AI could help companies improve revenue management.
Finally, a growing number of major corporations, including Google , Meta , Expedia, Kayak, Booking.com and others have released AI-powered tools that can be used for trip planning. And TUI Group released a ChatGPT-powered chatbot on its UK app this July , the first part of an expected of rollouts that integrates generative AI into the company’s tech.
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Tags: airbnb , artificial intelligence , ask skift , augmented reality , biometrics , google , hoteltonight , meta , mobile , Singapore Tourism Board , virtual reality
Photo credit: The use of technology is continuing to evolve in travel. PxHere
The promise of travel in the age of AI
Every generation has its own “golden age” of travel, often defined by the widespread adoption of new technology—from the jet engine of the 1950s that drastically reduced travel times to the dot-com period of the 1990s that allowed customers to build their dream itineraries online. Today, a new era of digitally enabled travel is upon us. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI (gen AI), and machine learning (ML) are equipping the industry to reimagine what it means to plan, book, and experience travel. This surge of innovation sets the stage for travel companies to rethink how they interact with customers, develop products and services, and manage operations.
Advances in technology have also transformed consumers’ expectations. Since 2013, time spent on digital devices has grown by 70 percent, and this trend only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as online interactions increasingly replaced in-person contact. 1 Based on data from U.S. Census Bureau and Statista. See State of travel 2023 , Skift Research, July 21, 2023. However, traditional travel is unique in that it is an inherently human-centric experience. The industry, therefore, has an opportunity—perhaps even a duty—to define what travel will look like in the digital age.
Most travel companies aim to provide exceptional service and deliver the perfect trip. But, instead of ease, excitement, and delight, travel operators too often fall short of meeting baseline expectations of timing and quality. In fact, nearly 80 percent of American travelers experienced at least one travel-related problem in the first half of 2023. 2 Lane Gillespie, “Survey: 77% of travelers plagued by travel problems amid booming season; more than half saw higher prices,” Bankrate, July 10, 2023.
In the 2021 report, Rebooting customer experience to bring back the magic of travel , McKinsey and Skift Research found that leisure travelers were eager to get back to the sky, water, and road—so much so, that they were often willing to overlook customer-service issues and inconveniences. Customer satisfaction ratings at the time were high, even in a period of intense disruption when negative sentiment was on the rise. 3 Rebooting customer experience to bring back the magic of travel , a joint report from McKinsey and Skift Research, September 2021.
Today, that window of acceptance may have passed. Customer expectations are rising, and tolerance is wearing thin. Despite this, people still aspire to travel and, according to McKinsey’s ConsumerWise Sentiment Survey, nearly a third of consumers intend to “splurge” on travel expenses in the next three months. 4 McKinsey ConsumerWise Global Sentiment Survey, August 2023, n=4,000. Through both established and new technologies, companies have the opportunity to keep the aspiration to travel alive by closing the persistent gap between the promise and reality of travel.
While larger companies may have more resources to develop in-house capabilities, a robust ecosystem of service providers makes new technologies accessible to companies of all sizes. According to McKinsey Digital estimates, companies that holistically address digital and analytics opportunities throughout their organizations have the potential to see a 15 to 25 percent earnings improvement.
A new report , The promise of travel in the age of AI , produced by McKinsey and Skift Research offers use cases and success stories that detail how technologies are being used, drawing from interviews with executives at 17 companies across five types of travel business. It explores how companies apply advanced data science to better understand and serve customers, delves into how digital and analytics tools can improve products and services, and examines how new technologies augment workforce capabilities and unlock operational capacity. This article highlights some key findings.
Know your customers like you know your friends
Over the past two decades, the variety and volume of customer data that travel companies can capture has increased dramatically; new tools and technologies such as AI-powered assistants are only accelerating this trend. However, this data is often difficult to process and does not always paint a full picture of the customer. Companies may turn to third-party sources to complete their understanding—combining and distilling commercial, operational, financial, and behavioral inputs. Robust marketing technologies can then help distinguish the “signal” from the “noise” in the data to better predict customer behavior.
Having gained a clear and comprehensive understanding, companies can create customer segments to guide how they interact with and serve different customers. Depending on the data available and the analytics capabilities at hand, segmentation can range from grouping customers into segments based on a single macro characteristic (e.g., business versus leisure) to individual “segments of one,” known as hyper-segmentation.
Drilling down to segments of one can enable hyper-personalization, which is broadly defined as the ability to uniquely tailor touchpoints to an individual customer’s needs, preferences, and behaviors. At its core, hyper-personalization is not only about increasing conversion rates, but about providing the customer with an end-to-end experience adapted to their specific context. Considering the level of personalization that is becoming the norm in many aspects of daily life, companies are adopting an ongoing test-and-learn approach to ensure their offers and actions resonate with customers’ rising expectations.
Hyper-personalization can also help companies rebuild trust if operations have gone wrong. Personalized communication reassures customers that they are at the forefront of the company’s mind and instills confidence that a thoughtful recovery plan is in place. For example, companies may share real-time status updates in moments of disruption and provide tailored solutions, or even proactive compensation, to ensure customers feel individually taken care of.
Design your products to surprise and delight
Recent advances are pushing the boundaries of what technology can accomplish. Nothing illustrates this better than the meteoric rise of AI platforms like ChatGPT which garnered one million users in only five days. 5 Steve Mollman, “ChatGPT gained 1 million users in under a week. Here’s why the AI chatbot is primed to disrupt search as we know it,” Yahoo News, December 9, 2022. While this pace of adoption may feel unsettling, it provides an impetus for companies to reimagine their product design and delivery using AI and digitization.
Historically, capabilities such as language, creativity, and aesthetic judgment—once considered uniquely human—could not be scaled through technology. AI, particularly gen AI, offers a new way to augment and scale these capabilities with the potential for enormous benefits: according to McKinsey research , generative AI has the potential to unlock between $2 trillion and $4 trillion in annual value across industries. 6 The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier , McKinsey, June 14, 2023. In the travel context, gen AI could take the form of a digital assistant that interacts with customers throughout the journey. It can provide personalized trip itineraries during discovery and booking, offer tailored recommendations based on preferences and real-time constraints during the trip, and help resolve unexpected disruptions.
However, AI is only part of the answer. Established digital technology also helps companies deliver on commitments made to customers. Many of these digital assets and tools rely on common systems and capabilities, making them widely attainable—freeing up staff to provide better face-to-face services and build relationships through the human touch. Several such applications can boost guest satisfaction and reduce points of friction in hotels, including guest apps, digital check-ins, digital room keys, and in-room tech. The magnitude of these individual tools is amplified when seamlessly integrated together, making it easier for customers to use digital applications throughout their hotel stay.
Empower your workforce to follow through on promises made
An engaged and productive workforce enables the delivery of experiences and products that satisfy customers. However, the travel industry faces structural labor hurdles and high turnover which makes attracting, training, and retaining top talent challenging. Fortunately, the industry can enhance and scale the capacity of its existing workforce by equipping the frontline with the right tools at the right time. This can free up employees to focus on the things they enjoy most and that make the travel industry tick: quality personal interactions with customers, in essence, the human touch.
Two promising opportunities to improve workforce and operational performance through technology stand out across the travel industry: augmenting frontline capacity and upskilling talent.
In the travel industry today, complex decisions still rely on human expertise and outdated technology such as greenscreen or rudimentary interfaces. This leads to a best-guess approach, the risk of negative outcomes, and a steep learning curve. Travel companies are developing new tools for the frontline to process complex inputs and help guide “day-of” decision making. For example, advanced simulation models such as digital twins allow companies to conduct rapid “what-if” analyses and provide real-time guidance to the frontline.
According to McKinsey research , new technology, including gen AI, is also shortening training times for new hires while rapidly upskilling the existing workforce. For instance, virtual and augmented reality are used to simulate real-life scenarios to prepare frontline employees to hit the ground running, and gen-AI-enabled "teaching assistants” provide personalized coaching based on individual performance. 7 “ The organization of the future: Enabled by gen AI, driven by people ,” McKinsey, September 19, 2023.
Travel is ripe for innovation
Checklist for the age of ai.
Some travel companies are already successfully deploying digital technology, AI, and ML to reshape how they interact with customers, develop and deliver products and services, and manage people and operations. They’ve taken the following actions—are you on track?
General considerations
- created a digital wish list—as if the company had infinite time and resources
- prioritized wish list based on potential short- and long-term benefits as well as the company’s strategic vision and available resources
- assessed the skills and talent necessary to execute against the prioritized wish list
- built the right team and identified roadmap to fill remaining gaps
- inventoried existing internal customer data
- determined which data variables drive customer behavior and predict customer buying decisions
- identified relevant third-party data and integrated with internal data to build a complete customer picture
- considered using a robust MarTech stack to continuously learn and evolve with customers
- defined a dynamic segmentation and personalization approach based on customer personas
- adopted test-and-learn mindset to continually implement and refine
- mapped the end-to-end customer journey and identified pain points
- used analytics to determine which pain points impact customers the most
- considered new technology (like AI) to enhance and reimagine the customer journey
- brainstormed improvements to current digital offerings that would minimize pain points (such as more timely communication)
- built a product roadmap based on timing and importance of features
- diagnosed top day-to-day employee pain points
- determined if digital tools can resolve top pain points (for example, automate repetitive tasks)
- provided workforce with real-time visibility into critical areas of daily operations
- used simulation models to plan for multiple future-state scenarios
- built decision-making tools (such as digital twins) to choose optimal solutions for complex problems
- defined opportunities to improve training (using tools such as simulation training, VR, AR) and provide feedback (using smart-AI tool)
We believe this is a moment of optimism for the industry. Between reclaiming its historical share of GDP, benefiting from the ongoing corporate travel recovery, and catering to consumer demand for unique experiences, the stage is set for travel’s accelerated growth. Looking ahead, travel is forecasted to grow at an average of 5.8 percent a year through 2032—more than double the expected growth rate of the overall economy (at 2.7 percent a year). 8 “Travel & Tourism sector expected to create nearly 126 million new jobs within the next decade,” World Travel & Tourism Council, April 21, 2023.
This does not mean that travel companies can simply sit back and reap the benefits. Existing and new technologies provide an avenue for companies to capture their share of the industry’s anticipated growth by resetting how they interact with customers, deliver products and services, and empower their workforce. Fortunately, there are a growing number of ways—build, buy, or partner—to help companies get started. The only wrong move is no move.
Susann Almasi is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Carolinas office, Alex Cosmas is a partner in the New York office, Sam Cowan is a consultant in the Minneapolis office, and Ben Ellencweig is a senior partner in the Stamford office.
The authors wish to thank Skift’s Pranavi Agarwal, Seth Borko, and Wouter Geerts as well as McKinsey’s Marisa Ancona, Danielle Bozarth, Vik Krishnan, Nina Lind, Elena Patel, Alessandra Powell, Jules Seeley, and Nirva Vassa, for their contributions to this article.
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5 Transformative TravelTech Industry Trends to Watch Out for in 2023
Explore the future of TravelTech in 2023 as Hive Life spotlights the leading market trends prompting the adoption of transformative technologies in the sector easing travellers into the new wave of tourism.
The Covid-19 pandemic collapsed the global travel industry, transforming the future of mobility entirely. Asia Pacific’s tourism market was one of the worst-hit regions, with harsh travel restrictions and requirements imposed by governments further impacting the sector, as international arrivals plummeted by 95.3% during the first 3 quarters of 2021 alone.
Towards the end of 2022, Asia started to ease restrictions to bolster the recovery and growth of the global economy. W hile most Asian countries still struggle to fully recover and re-open their borders, balancing occasional flare-ups in cases and localised lockdowns, many have lifted strict regulations and begun to welcome tourists .
Tourism remains a top priority in 2023, as APAC regains its reputation as a popular destination for holiday goers, with technology adoption and innovation in digitalisation and automation spurring this new wave of travel . Integration of tech solutions is fundamental for sustainable recovery and market growth, while building resilience.
The TravelTech industry is forecasted to generate higher profitability in the coming years, with its market valuation predicted to rise to US$13.6 billion by 2027. Read our TravelTech industry guide to better navigate the tourism landscape in 2023, and explore the potential of these transformative technologies.
1. AI Travel Agents
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made great strides in the TravelTech industry, and will continue to grow in 2023. Nowadays, travellers expect quick and efficient operations, instead of having to wait in long queues to access customer service support. AI chatbots can not only facilitate the process, but further ensure that quality and swiftness are maintained, easing this burden for the hospitality and tourism business.
AI chatbots may soon serve as your virtual travel agent , personalised to cater to unique customers’ needs. Deploying such technologies is cost-effective, and brings great benefits, including reducing the risk of human error, while helping businesses solidify and streamline customer services across different channels, with 24/7 availability.
Hong Kong-headquartered TravelFlan is an AI-based marketplace dubbed as a virtual concierge. The platform also offers AI chatbot technologies and solutions for businesses looking to integrate innovative approaches to their current service offerings.
travelflan.com
2. Smart Tourism and Biometrics
Facial recognition and fingerprint verification have become an important part of present-day travel. Biometric identification is deemed a household technology for security authentication, as major industries such as aviation and hospitality adopt it to fortify their systems and offer guests a safe and secure travel experience.
Biometric technology is expertly designed to capture and recognise subtle unique features of an individual’s face, handprint, etc. The process normally incorporates certain key identifiers, such as the retina, features and alignment scanning, or specific fingerprint ridges analysis.
The existing practice of biometric scans is observed in many international airports for various purposes, from visa application and travel documentation, to strengthening security checkpoints. The integration of this tech signifies the impact of digitalisation and the rise of contactless travel solutions.
3. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity has taken a giant leap forward in promoting consumer safety by delivering essential digital protection. The technology is expected to show overall growth in 2023.
Travel companies often deal with confidential client data and large financial transactions, becoming an easy target for cybercriminals through phishing, system hacks, and ransomware attacks. Digital fraud attempts rose by more than 150% in 2021, with travel and tourism being among the most impacted industries globally and many large hospitality groups having suffered from cyber-breaches.
Travel companies need to boost investments in cybersecurity training to reduce human error, and adopt external hardware and software solutions to ensure sensitive customer data is well protected. The importance of complying with the latest regulations and data protection laws is also fundamental.
4. Contactless Payments
Contactless payments have emerged as an important form of TravelTech growing to become essential. Simplifying and enabling transactions through a simple tap has caught great momentum in the hospitality industry by allowing users to travel light, and even cashless, without stressing about the safety and security of their valuables.
As physical debit and credit cards can easily be added to smart wallets, individuals no longer need to bring tangible assets, and can simply utilise apps to make payments with a single touch. Moreover, there are a plethora of platforms offering contactless payment services across different mobile devices, such as Apple Pay , Google Pay , and Samsung Pay .
In addition, many startups in Asia have innovated their own applications including Singapore-based digital payment solution, NETSPay , Vietnam’s leading e-wallet application, MoMo , and PromptPay , a bank-led initiative in Thailand.
5. IoT-Enabled Travel
Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the prominent examples of modern-day interconnectedness, demonstrating high fluidity and integrative capabilities. It is also deemed a fast-growing technology in the travel and tourism sectors, leading an industry-wide evolution. The US$251.6 billion industry is set to disrupt traditional operation processes, and will further enable companies to enhance and digitise their revenue-generating models, further boosting customer services and overall product experience.
Hospitality groups have been quick to adopt this trend, integrating IoT technologies to build connectivity and efficiency within different machinery, equipment, and motion controls across various facilities such as hotel rooms and other recreational spaces to improve the customer journey throughout their stay.
Singaporean CleanTech startup, SensorFlow , is a cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) provider, helping businesses integrate smart wireless IoT and AI solutions with their venues to facilitate monitoring, analysis, and automation of energy.
@SensorFlow
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Pace of travel industry transformation set to accelerate with 14% increase in tech
New global research from Amadeus, Travel Technology Investment Trends, has revealed a strong appetite for investment across the travel sector in 2024. Nearly all (91%) travel companies surveyed said that they expect ‘moderate to aggressive’ increases in investment in their organizations in 2024.
Launching today, the research – which examines eight distinct sectors across the end-to-end journey in ten markets – is the first truly comprehensive work of its kind. It benchmarks investment intentions and technology priorities for global full service and low-cost airlines, airports, hotels, travel sellers (online, business and leisure), corporations and travel payment departments across the world as they stand today. It also captures their ambitions for the future.
Travel technology investment to increase across the industry
Alongside business growth plans, the travel technology market looks bright for 2024. Over two thirds (67%) of senior decision-makers in the sector expect to increase investment specifically in technology this year when compared to spend in 2023.
By sector, the average increase in spend forecasted for 2024 are as follows:
Key sector technology investment expectations
Embracing the potential of smarter retailing, personalization and driving digital efficiency are the top priorities for 2024. Some of the key takeaways from respondents include:
- Full-service airlines expect to see an 18% increase in revenue from switching to modern retailing and are optimistic that the transition to ‘Offer & Order’ will take place within the next four years.
- In total, 60% 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.
- Some 85% of respondents from the hospitality sector anticipate that personalization could help them to deliver more than 5% growth in incremental revenue.
- NDC is the top technology for implementation by leisure travel agents over the next 12 months – cited by 40% of the agents questioned.
- A third of corporate travel managers said their organizations intend to digitize the complete end-to-end expense management process over the coming 12 months.
- A third of travel payments leaders confirmed their organizations are planning to better manage global payments flows by implementing payments orchestration in the next 12 months.
Decius Valmorbida, President, Travel, Amadeus , comments: “The findings match our on-the-ground experience with customers – every area of the travel industry is increasing investment in digital transformation. It’s crucial this spending delivers maximum impact and improves the traveler experience across the travel ecosystem. Existing technologies, such as biometrics, are already helping to make trips more contextualized and relevant. At the same time, the emergence of Generative AI promises to increase the pace of change still further. Travelers 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.”
Francisco Pérez-Lozao Rüter, President, Hospitality, Amadeus , observes: “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. 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.”
Top priority technologies for 2024 and by 2029
Machine learning was perceived by travel industry leaders to be the most important technology to their businesses – both this year and in five years’ time. Data analytics and cloud are also seen as top investment priorities by all sectors.
The results of Travel Technology Investment Trends were launched in Extended Reality in an Amadeus Lounge created in collaboration with Amadeus’ strategic partner Accenture.
During the first half of this year 2024, Amadeus will release in-depth reports examining each sector explored in the research – full-service and low-cost carriers, hotels, airports, corporate travel managers and payments, as well as travel sellers, including business travel agents, leisure travel agents and online travel agents.
Methodology
Amadeus commissioned an online survey with an independent market research agency, Opinium, which concluded in Q4 2023. Over the course of the research, 1,253 of the leading travel technology decision-makers were surveyed online across the world.
Their expertise spans the airline (full service and low-cost carriers), travel distribution (online travel agencies, business travel agencies and leisure travel agencies) as well as hotels, airports, corporate travel management and travel payment sectors. The insights are global in nature, with senior decision makers from the UK, France, Germany, UAE, USA, Mexico, Brazil, India, China and Korea represented.
Amadeus, Travel Technology Investment Trends , Decius Valmorbida, Francisco Pérez-Lozao Rüter,
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Pandemic accelerates technology adoption in end-destination industry
The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it massive job and revenue losses for the tourism industry, but it has also helped to accelerate the adoption of technology in touring businesses.
Arival’s CEO, Douglas Quinby, shared during a session titled What’s Next in Experiences: The Outlook for Tours, Activities & Attractions at ITB Berlin NOW: “In 2019, tourism activity was a small percentage of business booked online, as opposed to other portions such as flights and hotels. In comparison, it’s well over 50 per cent for flights, but this industry is catching up.”
The end-destination industry – tours, activities, attractions, events, and experiences – is a US$254 billion dollar industry, and the third largest in travel and tourism. This industry was profoundly affected in 2020, and represented only a quarter of total sales in 2019.
“This acceleration from offline to online has never been seen before. There was a large attraction in Europe which in 2019, only had an online share of one per cent (one in a 100 tickets were booked online). But in 2020, with the imposition of government restrictions, it had to switch to 100 per cent online bookings,” said Lukas C C Hempel, founder and CEO of Bookingkit.
“What couldn’t be changed in 10 years, changed in 10 weeks,” he remarked.
This shift in technology has also benefited consumers. Quinby elaborated: “Travellers now want to make sure the tour is running or the attraction is open (as we are still in the midst of the pandemic) before booking, and that health and safety measures are being followed.”
Indoor attractions had to shift their model from an open ticket to a timed entry, and implement capacity limits. These days, most indoor attractions possess an advanced booking model where there’s a time entry and limit, to manage visitor numbers and keep to social distancing requirements.
Dominique Sidley, global trade strategy director at Merlin Entertainments, revealed: “Some of our attractions like the London Eye were already challenged by capacity. So we had to offer ticketed times, where the model was extended to our major cities. We don’t insist on the time ticketing for our outdoor attractions like theme parks as the capacity is broader.”
“We also used the lockdown to accelerate our digital integration programme. So most of our regions now are pretty much voucher-free.”
Aside from the acceleration of adopting technology for online bookings, Quinby predicted that self-guided tours via a mobile app will gain more ground in the future. While this is not a new phenomenon, as startups and platforms with city discovery apps have been around for the past decade, it will be in line with the increased demand for small groups or self-guided travel.
On the point of small groups, Brad Weber, president & CEO at Gray Line Worldwide, added: “There’s been a lot of interest in private groups, and we’ve partnered with a lot of our local attractions, as well as restaurants to offer options such as private dining experiences. We’ve got a lot of such product development initiatives (in this regard) that are underway.”
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Aviation, travel & tourism industry's likely technology adoption rate 2018-2022
Share of companies in the aviation, travel and tourism industry worldwide who are likely to adopt new technologies between 2018 and 2022, by technology.
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September 2018
November 2017 to July 2018
313 respondents
large multinational companies and more localized companies which are of significance due to their employee or revenue size.
Online survey
Exact number of companies in the aviation, travel & tourism industry not stated by the source. Values include respondents who answered 'likely' or 'very likely' to each category. Multiple answers were possible.
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About the region
- Premium Statistic Likely adoption rate of new technologies within professional organizations 2023-2027
- Premium Statistic Automotive, aerospace, supply chain & transport industry tech adoption barriers 2018
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- Premium Statistic Professional services industry's new technology adoption barriers 2020
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- Premium Statistic Automotive, aerospace, supply chain & transport industry's reskilling needs 2018-2022
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- Basic Statistic Direct tourism contribution of Abu Dhabi to employment of the UAE 2006-2026
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- Premium Statistic Downward pressure of automation on the role of pilots worldwide 2019
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Lufthansa accelerates the progress of travel innovation
Travel, Transportation and Hospitality
Cologne, Germany
Applications
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Leading German airline Lufthansa wanted to improve traveler experiences throughout all touchpoints and increase its brand visibility. To encourage innovation, the airline decided to make its data more readily available to external parties by creating an open application programming interface (API), with DXC providing design and implementation.
Need for more travel services
Improving and enhancing travel services is the key business driver for airlines. Operators recognize the need for more innovative travel services, but they just don’t have sufficient internal development resources to do it themselves and have to make use of external software developers.
That was the case with leading German carrier Lufthansa.
“Developers could only use screen parsing-based logic to integrate Lufthansa data and functions within their apps or obtain dedicated access using Lufthansa enterprise IT, which meant long lead times and repetition for every app,” says Thomas Ramscheid, senior manager, Middleware and Central Services, Lufthansa. “These were lengthy and complex processes and the result was that other parties were just not producing apps for Lufthansa’s customers.”
Within its Innovation Hub, Lufthansa wanted to innovate the travel business and put the customer back into focus. The unit is validating and facilitating digital opportunities to create the happy journey of tomorrow. Its purpose is to engage with the social community and encourage more people to develop mobile applications — a job that is outside the airline’s core business and seen as a risky investment of time and materials.
To achieve this, the airline needed to make its data more readily available to the development community and its partners.
“We selected DXC Technology as our partner for the provision of Lufthansa Open API because, as well as being familiar with our IT infrastructure, it also had extensive functional and technical experience of solutions for the airline industry." Thomas Ramscheid Senior Manager, Middleware and Central Services, Lufthansa
Learn more about DXC Applications
Controlled access to data
Lufthansa decided to follow a growing trend in the aviation industry and create an open application programming interface (API) that exposes Lufthansa data and functions to developers in the outside world via the internet. It is also available to Lufthansa’s own service providers and departments for developing internal services.
The open API uses standard methods such as HTTP and also leverages the New Distribution Capability (NDC) standard led by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is based on XML. NDC is a collaborative initiative to define a messaging standard between airlines and travel agents that will enable greater transparency and choice for consumers.
“A good comparison is that in the nineties, everyone had to have a website. Now, everyone has to have an open API,” says Ramscheid.
Although Lufthansa was to lead the project it needed a design and implementation partner. It selected DXC, which already had extensive knowledge of Lufthansa’s technology landscape from having implemented its service-oriented architecture (SOA) middleware layer.
“We selected DXC Technology as our partner for the provision of Lufthansa open API because, as well as being familiar with our IT infrastructure, it also had extensive functional and technical experience of solutions for the airline industry. Most importantly, it would be able to deliver the project in a very short timeframe,” says Ramscheid.
Initially, DXC specialists helped Lufthansa prepare the business case for open API and then developed the functional structure of the first version ready for a 3-month proof of concept.
Developers and partners access data through a dedicated API portal based on TIBCO Mashery API Management. When they register, they receive a customer ID and an open standard authorization (OAuth) access token. TIBCO Mashery API management software can block, throttle or filter access to services based on this token. If a registered developer is considered a trusted source, they can be given access to more data whereas unknown developers will only have access to public data.
The API site features an API Playground and API Showcase to introduce the functionality. Data already available includes information on core services such as flight schedules, arrivals, departures, flight status and aircraft seating maps, as well as ancillary services such as cities, countries and airport lounge information. Portal design enables developers to easily register their applications and create individual API plans. Resources can be tested and there is extensive interface documentation.
The site invites start-ups and digital companies to cocreate innovative offers to advance how people travel and tempts them with a potential user base of Lufthansa’s 100 million passengers.
“Providing the Open API for external developers enables new ideas and business opportunities to be piloted without impacting Lufthansa’s traditional business.” Thomas Ramscheid Senior Manager, Middleware and Central Services, Lufthansa
Improved brand visibility
The first mentionable external usage of open API went live with FlightStats.com and, as more developers use the interface, Lufthansa anticipates that a wide range of other services will follow.
“As more Lufthansa-centric apps are published it will increase our brand visibility and position us as an innovative organization,” says Ramscheid. “We expect that these services will be able to target new markets — for example, a dedicated one for travelers with special needs. Lufthansa cannot invest the time or money on these markets but there is a good business case for external developers to do this.”
Providing the open API for external developers enables new ideas and business opportunities to be piloted without impacting Lufthansa’s traditional business.
“A good comparison is that in the nineties, everyone had to have a website. Now, everyone has to have an Open API.” Thomas Ramscheid Senior Manager, Middleware and Central Services, Lufthansa
“Having more services will improve passengers’ travel experiences and running hackathons among the development community will drive creative innovation and produce new ideas that we might not have thought of ourselves,” Ramscheid says.
A further aim is that apps will increase the use of social media, enabling customers to share their travel data, itineraries and current locations with friends and partners.
Increasing the speed of innovation within Lufthansa by exposing data or processes through the API allows services to be developed for virtually any platform, with the main emphasis on mobility. It also reduces the cost of development because accessibility to data is a lot easier through a common, standard portal.
“When you are in the airline industry you work in a silo. By exposing our data in this way, we can gain better visibility on what other people think,” concludes Ramscheid. “That will increase the speed of innovation, which is good news for both Lufthansa and its customers.”
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Moscow is testing FLYING taxis (PHOTOS + VIDEOS)
In January 2021, ‘Hoversurf’, a Russian urban air mobility company, started testing its Hover drone taxi, a flying vehicle that can transport passengers and cargo, ‘Popular Mechanics’ magazine reports .
The drone taxi is the size of a standard sedan car (5 m x 1.6 m), says TASS news agency, citing the press service of the Moscow city Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovative Development.
It can reach an altitude of 150 meters and cover a distance of up to 100 kilometers in one go. The drone taxi does not require the construction of special runways, as it can land on an ordinary parking lot and is also capable of maneuvering onto a parking lot and flying into a garage. It will be able to carry two people or up to 300 kilograms of cargo and to develop a speed of up to 200 km/h (124 mph).
The drone taxi is currently being tested at an indoor arena of the Luzhniki Stadium. For the time being, the prototype is testing the ‘Lift & Cruise’ flight mode, whereby the take-off, landing and horizontal flight are taken care of by different groups of engines and is trialling a parachute system to be used in emergencies.
Inventor and businessman Alex Atamanov, the founder of Hoversurf, began developing the drone taxi in 2018. In addition to this project, Hoversurf has a hoverbike project, which Atamanov presented in 2016.
The hoverbike can fly for up to 40 minutes and reach a maximum speed of 96 km/h (59 mph). After its public testing at the ‘Startup Village’ conference in Skolkovo, the company received 3,500 pre-orders for its hoverbike. For the time being, the hoverbikes are sold one at a time, with each one taking a month to assemble, Atamanov said in an interview with Vc.ru in 2019.
The Hover Taxi now has more chances of entering mass production, Atamanov told the Popular Mechanics magazine. He said that by the spring of 2021, the Moscow City government has plans to build a new platform at Skolkovo for testing the drone: it will have a 5G signal and will make it possible to improve the drone’s AI-based control system, which maps routes, operates the drone and ensures flight safety.
Hoversurf expects to be able to produce the first production models of its drone taxi in 2021. However, they will not be able to enter mass use until 2023-2025, when Russia gets a 5G network and adopts a law allowing the use of drones like these on the country’s territory.
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Steven Levy
Tech Leaders Once Cried for AI Regulation. Now the Message Is ‘Slow Down’
The other night I attended a press dinner hosted by an enterprise company called Box. Other guests included the leaders of two data-oriented companies, Datadog and MongoDB. Usually the executives at these soirees are on their best behavior, especially when the discussion is on the record, like this one. So I was startled by an exchange with Box CEO Aaron Levie, who told us he had a hard stop at dessert because he was flying that night to Washington, DC. He was headed to a special-interest-thon called TechNet Day, where Silicon Valley gets to speed-date with dozens of Congress critters to shape what the (uninvited) public will have to live with . And what did he want from that legislation? “As little as possible,” Levie replied. “I will be single-handedly responsible for stopping the government.”
He was joking about that. Sort of. He went on to say that while regulating clear abuses of AI like deepfakes makes sense, it’s way too early to consider restraints like forcing companies to submit large language models to government-approved AI cops, or scanning chatbots for things like bias or the ability to hack real-life infrastructure. He pointed to Europe, which has already adopted restraints on AI as an example of what not to do. “What Europe is doing is quite risky,” he said. “There's this view in the EU that if you regulate first, you kind of create an atmosphere of innovation,” Levie said. “That empirically has been proven wrong.”
Levie’s remarks fly in the face of what has become a standard position among Silicon Valley’s AI elites like Sam Altman. “ Yes, regulate us! ” they say. But Levie notes that when it comes to exactly what the laws should say, the consensus falls apart. “We as a tech industry do not know what we're actually asking for,” Levie said, “I have not been to a dinner with more than five AI people where there's a single agreement on how you would regulate AI.” Not that it matters—Levie thinks that dreams of a sweeping AI bill are doomed. “The good news is there's no way the US would ever be coordinated in this kind of way. There simply will not be an AI Act in the US.”
Levie is known for his irreverent loquaciousness. But in this case he’s simply more candid than many of his colleagues, whose regulate-us-please position is a form of sophisticated rope-a-dope. The single public event of TechNet Day, at least as far as I could discern, was a livestreamed panel discussion about AI innovation that included Google’s president of global affairs Kent Walker and Michael Kratsios, the most recent US Chief Technology Officer and now an executive at Scale AI. The feeling among those panelists was that the government should focus on protecting US leadership in the field. While conceding that the technology has its risks, they argued that existing laws pretty much cover the potential nastiness.
Google’s Walker seemed particularly alarmed that some states were developing AI legislation on their own. “In California alone, there are 53 different AI bills pending in the legislature today,” he said, and he wasn’t boasting. Walker of course knows that this Congress can hardly keep the government itself afloat, and the prospect of both houses successfully juggling this hot potato in an election year is as remote as Google rehiring the eight authors of the transformer paper.
The US Congress does have legislation pending. And the bills keep coming—some perhaps less meaningful than others. This week, Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, introduced a bill called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024 . It mandates that large language models must present to the copyright office “a sufficiently detailed summary of any copyrighted works used … in the training data set.” It’s not clear what “sufficiently detailed” means. Would it be OK to say “We simply scraped the open web?” Schiff’s staff explained to me that they were adopting a measure in the EU’s AI bill.
Lauren Goode
William Turton
Eric Ravenscraft
The real puzzle of this bill, which Schiff himself referred to in a committee meeting this week as a “first step,” is that no one knows whether using copyrighted work for AI training is legal. (Maybe it’s not such a puzzle when one notes that Schiff is running for a US Senate seat and that the bill is supported by all of Hollywood’s unions and trade groups.) Despite the current lack of reporting requirements, multiple suits have been filed against AI companies by creators who have identified their works in the data sets. (I should disclose here that I sit on the council of the Authors Guild , which is among a horde of plaintiffs suing OpenAI and Microsoft, and a supporter of Schiff’s bill. I speak for myself here.) The success of those lawsuits ultimately depends on whether the courts determine that the companies are violating the fair use provision of copyright laws.
Whatever tack the courts take, it will be based on copyright law that didn’t anticipate an artificial intelligence that could suck up all the prose and images the world has to offer. Figuring out what fair use means in the age of AI is a job for Congress. That’s the kind of difficult decision that legislators need to make when dealing with an innovation that alters the landscape. And like privacy and other tech-driven modern problems, it is exactly the kind of decision that our 21st-century lawmakers manage to avoid. (Schiff staffers told me, “We are certainly waiting to see the fair use issue play out in the courts.”)
So it’s no wonder that Levie, when I reached him on the phone after his day in DC, told me he’s feeling pretty good about the system. “The overall message from Congress is, ‘Let's get this right, there's not a lot of points for moving too fast.’ They're taking it with a high degree of thoughtfulness, versus ‘Let's just rush to have something to say that we are regulating.’” It turns out that Levie didn’t have to stop the government single-handedly. It’s already hit the brakes.
Time Travel
AI legislation was touted as a slam dunk last May, when it seemed that the government was all in on passing laws to contain a possible menace. I wasn’t so sure. The headline of my Plaintext essay was “ Everyone Wants to Regulate AI. No One Can Agree How .” A year later, despite signs of reined-in ambition, that’s still the case.
The White House has been unusually active in trying to outline what AI regulation might look like. In October 2022—just a month before the seismic release of ChatGPT—the administration issued a paper called the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights . It was the result of a year of preparation, public comments, and all the wisdom that technocrats could muster. In case readers mistake the word blueprint for mandate, the paper is explicit on its limits : “The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights is non-binding,” it reads, “and does not constitute US government policy.” This AI bill of rights is less controversial or binding than the one in the US Constitution, with all that thorny stuff about guns, free speech, and due process. Instead it’s kind of a fantasy wish list designed to blunt one edge of the double-sided sword of progress. So easy to do when you don’t provide the details!
Reading that list highlights the difficulty of turning uplifting suggestions into actual binding law. When you look closely at the points from the White House blueprint, it’s clear that they don’t just apply to AI, but pretty much everything in tech. Each one seems to embody a user right that has been violated since forever. Big tech wasn’t waiting around for generative AI to develop inequitable algorithms, opaque systems, abusive data practices, and a lack of opt-outs. That’s table stakes, buddy, and the fact that these problems are being brought up in a discussion of a new technology only highlights the failure to protect citizens against the ill effects of our current technology.
During that Senate hearing where [OpenAI CEO Sam] Altman spoke, senator after senator sang the same refrain: We blew it when it came to regulating social media, so let’s not mess up with AI. But there’s no statute of limitations on making laws to curb previous abuses. The last time I looked, billions of people, including just about everyone in the US who has the wherewithal to poke a smartphone display, are still on social media, bullied, privacy compromised, and exposed to horrors. Nothing prevents Congress from getting tougher on those companies and, above all, passing privacy legislation .
Ask Me One Thing
MKT asks, “Why do razor blades cost so much?”
Thanks for the question, MKT. Just to be sure, you are asking this of Steven Levy the tech columnist and not Steven Levitt of Freakonomics ? Sounds like a job for an economist. My expertise comes only from swiping metal across my face every day, but I’ll take it on anyway. For most of my life, there were only a few brands of razors. Once you bought one company’s razors, you were locked into their ecosystem; then they could get away with charging a lot for the blades. As one MIT economist wrote in a paper called “Don’t Give Away the Razor (Usually) ,” this “two-part tariff for shaves'' was a monopoly that scraped your wallet as well as your face. When patents expired and competitors could produce decent razors, the companies cut the price of razors (not blades) to block their rivals.
So newcomers started challenging the big companies like Gillette and Schick by selling basic razors and blades. But even those weren’t dirt cheap. As one Harry’s cofounder explained on the website, “Razor blades are really, really difficult to make.”
Also, the upstarts are now part of the establishment, so don’t expect prices to go down. Unilever bought Dollar Shave Club in 2016, and last year flipped it to a private equity firm. In 2020, Harry’s agreed to a buyout from Edgewell Personal Care, which owns Schick and Wilkinson Sword. The FTC sued to block the merger—its argument was that there are too few shaving companies, and that mergers would drive high prices even higher—and Edgewell backed down. Harry’s then raised a huge venture capital round and continued as a private company—and just last month, reports came that it was pursuing an IPO. That’s the deepest cut of all.
You can submit questions to [email protected] . Write ASK LEVY in the subject line.
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Guest Essay
It’s Time to End the Quiet Cruelty of Property Taxes
By Andrew W. Kahrl
Dr. Kahrl is a professor of history and African American studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “The Black Tax: 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America.”
Property taxes, the lifeblood of local governments and school districts, are among the most powerful and stealthy engines of racism and wealth inequality our nation has ever produced. And while the Biden administration has offered many solutions for making the tax code fairer, it has yet to effectively tackle a problem that has resulted not only in the extraordinary overtaxation of Black and Latino homeowners but also in the worsening of disparities between wealthy and poorer communities. Fixing these problems requires nothing short of a fundamental re-examination of how taxes are distributed.
In theory, the property tax would seem to be an eminently fair one: The higher the value of your property, the more you pay. The problem with this system is that the tax is administered by local officials who enjoy a remarkable degree of autonomy and that tax rates are typically based on the collective wealth of a given community. This results in wealthy communities enjoying lower effective tax rates while generating more tax revenues; at the same time, poorer ones are forced to tax property at higher effective rates while generating less in return. As such, property assessments have been manipulated throughout our nation’s history to ensure that valuable property is taxed the least relative to its worth and that the wealthiest places will always have more resources than poorer ones.
Black people have paid the heaviest cost. Since they began acquiring property after emancipation, African Americans have been overtaxed by local governments. By the early 1900s, an acre of Black-owned land was valued, for tax purposes, higher than an acre of white-owned land in most of Virginia’s counties, according to my calculations, despite being worth about half as much. And for all the taxes Black people paid, they got little to nothing in return. Where Black neighborhoods began, paved streets, sidewalks and water and sewer lines often ended. Black taxpayers helped to pay for the better-resourced schools white children attended. Even as white supremacists treated “colored” schools as another of the white man’s burdens, the truth was that throughout the Jim Crow era, Black taxpayers subsidized white education.
Freedom from these kleptocratic regimes drove millions of African Americans to move to Northern and Midwestern states in the Great Migration from 1915 to 1970, but they were unable to escape racist assessments, which encompassed both the undervaluation of their property for sales purposes and the overvaluation of their property for taxation purposes. During those years, the nation’s real estate industry made white-owned property in white neighborhoods worth more because it was white. Since local tax revenue was tied to local real estate markets, newly formed suburbs had a fiscal incentive to exclude Black people, and cities had even more reason to keep Black people confined to urban ghettos.
As the postwar metropolis became a patchwork of local governments, each with its own tax base, the fiscal rationale for segregation intensified. Cities were fiscally incentivized to cater to the interests of white homeowners and provide better services for white neighborhoods, especially as middle-class white people began streaming into the suburbs, taking their tax dollars with them.
One way to cater to wealthy and white homeowners’ interests is to intentionally conduct property assessments less often. The city of Boston did not conduct a citywide property reassessment between 1946 and 1977. Over that time, the values of properties in Black neighborhoods increased slowly when compared with the values in white neighborhoods or even fell, which led to property owners’ paying relatively more in taxes than their homes were worth. At the same time, owners of properties in white neighborhoods got an increasingly good tax deal as their neighborhoods increased in value.
As was the case in other American cities, Boston’s decision most likely derived from the fear that any updates would hasten the exodus of white homeowners and businesses to the suburbs. By the 1960s, assessments on residential properties in Boston’s poor neighborhoods were up to one and a half times as great as their actual values, while assessments in the city’s more affluent neighborhoods were, on average, 40 percent of market value.
Jersey City, N.J., did not conduct a citywide real estate reassessment between 1988 and 2018 as part of a larger strategy for promoting high-end real estate development. During that time, real estate prices along the city’s waterfront soared but their owners’ tax bills remained relatively steady. By 2015, a home in one of the city’s Black and Latino neighborhoods worth $175,000 received the same tax bill as a home in the city’s downtown worth $530,000.
These are hardly exceptions. Numerous studies conducted during those years found that assessments in predominantly Black neighborhoods of U.S. cities were grossly higher relative to value than those in white areas.
These problems persist. A recent report by the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy found that property assessments were regressive (meaning lower-valued properties were assessed higher relative to value than higher-valued ones) in 97.7 percent of U.S. counties. Black-owned homes and properties in Black neighborhoods continue to be devalued on the open market, making this regressive tax, in effect, a racist tax.
The overtaxation of Black homes and neighborhoods is also a symptom of a much larger problem in America’s federated fiscal structure. By design, this system produces winners and losers: localities with ample resources to provide the goods and services that we as a nation have entrusted to local governments and others that struggle to keep the lights on, the streets paved, the schools open and drinking water safe . Worse yet, it compels any fiscally disadvantaged locality seeking to improve its fortunes to do so by showering businesses and corporations with tax breaks and subsidies while cutting services and shifting tax burdens onto the poor and disadvantaged. A local tax on local real estate places Black people and cities with large Black populations at a permanent disadvantage. More than that, it gives middle-class white people strong incentives to preserve their relative advantages, fueling the zero-sum politics that keep Americans divided, accelerates the upward redistribution of wealth and impoverishes us all.
There are technical solutions. One, which requires local governments to adopt more accurate assessment models and regularly update assessment rolls, can help make property taxes fairer. But none of the proposed reforms being discussed can be applied nationally because local tax policies are the prerogative of the states and, often, local governments themselves. Given the variety and complexity of state and local property tax laws and procedures and how much local governments continue to rely on tax reductions and tax shifting to attract and retain certain people and businesses, we cannot expect them to fix these problems on their own.
The best way to make local property taxes fairer and more equitable is to make them less important. The federal government can do this by reinvesting in our cities, counties and school districts through a federal fiscal equity program, like those found in other advanced federated nations. Canada, Germany and Australia, among others, direct federal funds to lower units of government with lower capacities to raise revenue.
And what better way to pay for the program than to tap our wealthiest, who have benefited from our unjust taxation scheme for so long? President Biden is calling for a 25 percent tax on the incomes and annual increases in the values of the holdings of people claiming more than $100 million in assets, but we could accomplish far more by enacting a wealth tax on the 1 percent. Even a modest 4 percent wealth tax on people whose total assets exceed $50 million could generate upward of $400 billion in additional annual revenue, which should be more than enough to ensure that the needs of every city, county and public school system in America are met. By ensuring that localities have the resources they need, we can counteract the unequal outcomes and rank injustices that our current system generates.
Andrew W. Kahrl is a professor of history and African American studies at the University of Virginia and the author of “ The Black Tax : 150 Years of Theft, Exploitation, and Dispossession in America.”
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Travel Itinerary For One Week in Moscow: The Best of Moscow!
I just got back from one week in Moscow. And, as you might have already guessed, it was a mind-boggling experience. It was not my first trip to the Russian capital. But I hardly ever got enough time to explore this sprawling city. Visiting places for business rarely leaves enough time for sightseeing. I think that if you’ve got one week in Russia, you can also consider splitting your time between its largest cities (i.e. Saint Petersburg ) to get the most out of your trip. Seven days will let you see the majority of the main sights and go beyond just scratching the surface. In this post, I’m going to share with you my idea of the perfect travel itinerary for one week in Moscow.
Moscow is perhaps both the business and cultural hub of Russia. There is a lot more to see here than just the Kremlin and Saint Basil’s Cathedral. Centuries-old churches with onion-shaped domes dotted around the city are in stark contrast with newly completed impressive skyscrapers of Moscow City dominating the skyline. I spent a lot of time thinking about my Moscow itinerary before I left. And this city lived up to all of my expectations.
Travel Itinerary For One Week in Moscow
Day 1 – red square and the kremlin.
Metro Station: Okhotny Ryad on Red Line.
No trip to Moscow would be complete without seeing its main attraction. The Red Square is just a stone’s throw away from several metro stations. It is home to some of the most impressive architectural masterpieces in the city. The first thing you’ll probably notice after entering it and passing vendors selling weird fur hats is the fairytale-like looking Saint Basil’s Cathedral. It was built to commemorate one of the major victories of Ivan the Terrible. I once spent 20 minutes gazing at it, trying to find the perfect angle to snap it. It was easier said than done because of the hordes of locals and tourists.
As you continue strolling around Red Square, there’s no way you can miss Gum. It was widely known as the main department store during the Soviet Era. Now this large (yet historic) shopping mall is filled with expensive boutiques, pricey eateries, etc. During my trip to Moscow, I was on a tight budget. So I only took a retro-style stroll in Gum to get a rare glimpse of a place where Soviet leaders used to grocery shop and buy their stuff. In case you want some modern shopping experience, head to the Okhotny Ryad Shopping Center with stores like New Yorker, Zara, and Adidas.
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To continue this Moscow itinerary, next you may want to go inside the Kremlin walls. This is the center of Russian political power and the president’s official residence. If you’re planning to pay Kremlin a visit do your best to visit Ivan the Great Bell Tower as well. Go there as early as possible to avoid crowds and get an incredible bird’s-eye view. There are a couple of museums that are available during designated visiting hours. Make sure to book your ticket online and avoid lines.
Day 2 – Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Tretyakov Gallery, and the Arbat Street
Metro Station: Kropotkinskaya on Red Line
As soon as you start creating a Moscow itinerary for your second day, you’ll discover that there are plenty of metro stations that are much closer to certain sites. Depending on your route, take a closer look at the metro map to pick the closest.
The white marble walls of Christ the Saviour Cathedral are awe-inspiring. As you approach this tallest Orthodox Christian church, you may notice the bronze sculptures, magnificent arches, and cupolas that were created to commemorate Russia’s victory against Napoleon.
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Unfortunately, the current Cathedral is a replica, since original was blown to bits in 1931 by the Soviet government. The new cathedral basically follows the original design, but they have added some new elements such as marble high reliefs.
Home to some precious collection of artworks, in Tretyakov Gallery you can find more than 150,000 of works spanning centuries of artistic endeavor. Originally a privately owned gallery, it now has become one of the largest museums in Russia. The Gallery is often considered essential to visit. But I have encountered a lot of locals who have never been there.
Famous for its souvenirs, musicians, and theaters, Arbat street is among the few in Moscow that were turned into pedestrian zones. Arbat street is usually very busy with tourists and locals alike. My local friend once called it the oldest street in Moscow dating back to 1493. It is a kilometer long walking street filled with fancy gift shops, small cozy restaurants, lots of cute cafes, and street artists. It is closed to any vehicular traffic, so you can easily stroll it with kids.
Day 3 – Moscow River Boat Ride, Poklonnaya Hill Victory Park, the Moscow City
Metro Station: Kievskaya and Park Pobedy on Dark Blue Line / Vystavochnaya on Light Blue Line
Voyaging along the Moscow River is definitely one of the best ways to catch a glimpse of the city and see the attractions from a bit different perspective. Depending on your Moscow itinerary, travel budget and the time of the year, there are various types of boats available. In the summer there is no shortage of boats, and you’ll be spoiled for choice.
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If you find yourself in Moscow during the winter months, I’d recommend going with Radisson boat cruise. These are often more expensive (yet comfy). They offer refreshments like tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and, of course, alcoholic drinks. Prices may vary but mostly depend on your food and drink selection. Find their main pier near the opulent Ukraine hotel . The hotel is one of the “Seven Sisters”, so if you’re into the charm of Stalinist architecture don’t miss a chance to stay there.
The area near Poklonnaya Hill has the closest relation to the country’s recent past. The memorial complex was completed in the mid-1990s to commemorate the Victory and WW2 casualties. Also known as the Great Patriotic War Museum, activities here include indoor attractions while the grounds around host an open-air museum with old tanks and other vehicles used on the battlefield.
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The hallmark of the memorial complex and the first thing you see as you exit metro is the statue of Nike mounted to its column. This is a very impressive Obelisk with a statue of Saint George slaying the dragon at its base.
Maybe not as impressive as Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower , the skyscrapers of the Moscow City (otherwise known as Moscow International Business Center) are so drastically different from dull Soviet architecture. With 239 meters and 60 floors, the Empire Tower is the seventh highest building in the business district.
The observation deck occupies 56 floor from where you have some panoramic views of the city. I loved the view in the direction of Moscow State University and Luzhniki stadium as well to the other side with residential quarters. The entrance fee is pricey, but if you’re want to get a bird’s eye view, the skyscraper is one of the best places for doing just that.
Day 4 – VDNKh, Worker and Collective Farm Woman Monument, The Ostankino TV Tower
Metro Station: VDNKh on Orange Line
VDNKh is one of my favorite attractions in Moscow. The weird abbreviation actually stands for Russian vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva (Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy). With more than 200 buildings and 30 pavilions on the grounds, VDNKh serves as an open-air museum. You can easily spend a full day here since the park occupies a very large area.
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First, there are pavilions that used to showcase different cultures the USSR was made of. Additionally, there is a number of shopping pavilions, as well as Moskvarium (an Oceanarium) that features a variety of marine species. VDNKh is a popular venue for events and fairs. There is always something going on, so I’d recommend checking their website if you want to see some particular exhibition.
A stone’s throw away from VDNKh there is a very distinctive 25-meters high monument. Originally built in 1937 for the world fair in Paris, the hulking figures of men and women holding a hammer and a sickle represent the Soviet idea of united workers and farmers. It doesn’t take much time to see the monument, but visiting it gives some idea of the Soviet Union’s grandiose aspirations.
I have a thing for tall buildings. So to continue my travel itinerary for one week in Moscow I decided to climb the fourth highest TV tower in the world. This iconic 540m tower is a fixture of the skyline. You can see it virtually from everywhere in Moscow, and this is where you can get the best panoramic views (yep, even better than Empire skyscraper).
Parts of the floor are made of tempered glass, so it can be quite scary to exit the elevator. But trust me, as you start observing buildings and cars below, you won’t want to leave. There is only a limited number of tickets per day, so you may want to book online. Insider tip: the first tour is cheaper, you can save up to $10 if go there early.
Day 5 – A Tour To Moscow Manor Houses
Metro Station: Kolomenskoye, Tsaritsyno on Dark Green Line / Kuskovo on Purple Line
I love visiting the manor houses and palaces in Moscow. These opulent buildings were generally built to house Russian aristocratic families and monarchs. Houses tend to be rather grand affairs with impressive architecture. And, depending on the whims of the owners, some form of a landscaped garden.
During the early part of the 20th century though, many of Russia’s aristocratic families (including the family of the last emperor) ended up being killed or moving abroad . Their manor houses were nationalized. Some time later (after the fall of the USSR) these were open to the public. It means that today a great many of Moscow’s finest manor houses and palaces are open for touring.
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There are 20 manor houses scattered throughout the city and more than 25 in the area around. But not all of them easily accessible and exploring them often takes a lot of time. I’d recommend focusing on three most popular estates in Moscow that are some 30-minute metro ride away from Kremlin.
Sandwiched between the Moscow River and the Andropov Avenue, Kolomenskoye is a UNESCO site that became a public park in the 1920’s. Once a former royal estate, now it is one of the most tranquil parks in the city with gorgeous views. The Ascension Church, The White Column, and the grounds are a truly grand place to visit.
You could easily spend a full day here, exploring a traditional Russian village (that is, in fact, a market), picnicking by the river, enjoying the Eastern Orthodox church architecture, hiking the grounds as well as and wandering the park and gardens with wildflower meadows, apple orchards, and birch and maple groves. The estate museum showcases Russian nature at its finest year-round.
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If my travel itinerary for one week in Moscow was a family tree, Tsaritsyno Park would probably be the crazy uncle that no-one talks about. It’s a large park in the south of the city of mind-boggling proportions, unbelievable in so many ways, and yet most travelers have never heard of it.
The palace was supposed to be a summer home for Empress Catherine the Great. But since the construction didn’t meet with her approval the palace was abandoned. Since the early 1990’s the palace, the pond, and the grounds have been undergoing renovations. The entire complex is now looking brighter and more elaborately decorated than at possibly any other time during its history. Like most parks in Moscow, you can visit Tsaritsyno free of charge, but there is a small fee if you want to visit the palace.
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Last, but by no means least on my Moscow itinerary is Kuskovo Park . This is definitely an off-the-beaten-path place. While it is not easily accessible, you will be rewarded with a lack of crowds. This 18th-century summer country house of the Sheremetev family was one of the first summer country estates of the Russian nobility. And when you visit you’ll quickly realize why locals love this park.
Like many other estates, Kuskovo has just been renovated. So there are lovely French formal garden, a grotto, and the Dutch house to explore. Make sure to plan your itinerary well because the estate is some way from a metro station.
Day 6 – Explore the Golden Ring
Creating the Moscow itinerary may keep you busy for days with the seemingly endless amount of things to do. Visiting the so-called Golden Ring is like stepping back in time. Golden Ring is a “theme route” devised by promotion-minded journalist and writer Yuri Bychkov.
Having started in Moscow the route will take you through a number of historical cities. It now includes Suzdal, Vladimir, Kostroma, Yaroslavl and Sergiev Posad. All these awe-inspiring towns have their own smaller kremlins and feature dramatic churches with onion-shaped domes, tranquil residential areas, and other architectural landmarks.
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I only visited two out of eight cities included on the route. It is a no-brainer that Sergiev Posad is the nearest and the easiest city to see on a day trip from Moscow. That being said, you can explore its main attractions in just one day. Located some 70 km north-east of the Russian capital, this tiny and overlooked town is home to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, UNESCO Site.
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Sergiev Posad is often described as being at the heart of Russian spiritual life. So it is uncommon to see the crowds of Russian pilgrims showing a deep reverence for their religion. If you’re traveling independently and using public transport, you can reach Sergiev Posad by bus (departs from VDNKh) or by suburban commuter train from Yaroslavskaya Railway Station (Bahnhof). It takes about one and a half hours to reach the town.
Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a great place to get a glimpse of filling and warming Russian lunch, specifically at the “ Gostevaya Izba ” restaurant. Try the duck breast, hearty potato and vegetables, and the awesome Napoleon cake.
Day 7 – Gorky Park, Izmailovo Kremlin, Patriarch’s Ponds
Metro Station: Park Kultury or Oktyabrskaya on Circle Line / Partizanskaya on Dark Blue Line / Pushkinskaya on Dark Green Line
Gorky Park is in the heart of Moscow. It offers many different types of outdoor activities, such as dancing, cycling, skateboarding, walking, jogging, and anything else you can do in a park. Named after Maxim Gorky, this sprawling and lovely park is where locals go on a picnic, relax and enjoy free yoga classes. It’s a popular place to bike around, and there is a Muzeon Art Park not far from here. A dynamic location with a younger vibe. There is also a pier, so you can take a cruise along the river too.
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The Kremlin in Izmailovo is by no means like the one you can find near the Red Square. Originally built for decorative purposes, it now features the Vernissage flea market and a number of frequent fairs, exhibitions, and conferences. Every weekend, there’s a giant flea market in Izmailovo, where dozens of stalls sell Soviet propaganda crap, Russian nesting dolls, vinyl records, jewelry and just about any object you can imagine. Go early in the morning if you want to beat the crowds.
All the Bulgakov’s fans should pay a visit to Patriarch’s Ponds (yup, that is plural). With a lovely small city park and the only one (!) pond in the middle, the location is where the opening scene of Bulgakov’s novel Master and Margarita was set. The novel is centered around a visit by Devil to the atheistic Soviet Union is considered by many critics to be one of the best novels of the 20th century. I spent great two hours strolling the nearby streets and having lunch in the hipster cafe.
Conclusion and Recommendations
To conclude, Moscow is a safe city to visit. I have never had a problem with getting around and most locals are really friendly once they know you’re a foreigner. Moscow has undergone some serious reconstruction over the last few years. So you can expect some places to be completely different. I hope my one week Moscow itinerary was helpful! If you have less time, say 4 days or 5 days, I would cut out day 6 and day 7. You could save the Golden Ring for a separate trip entirely as there’s lots to see!
What are your thoughts on this one week Moscow itinerary? Are you excited about your first time in the city? Let me know in the comments below!
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24 comments.
Ann Snook-Moreau
Moscow looks so beautiful and historic! Thanks for including public transit information for those of us who don’t like to rent cars.
MindTheTravel
Yup, that is me 🙂 Rarely rent + stick to the metro = Full wallet!
Mariella Blago
Looks like you had loads of fun! Well done. Also great value post for travel lovers.
Thanks, Mariella!
I have always wanted to go to Russia, especially Moscow. These sights look absolutely beautiful to see and there is so much history there!
Agree! Moscow is a thousand-year-old city and there is definitely something for everyone.
Tara Pittman
Those are amazing buildings. Looks like a place that would be amazing to visit.
Adriana Lopez
Never been to Moscow or Russia but my family has. Many great spots and a lot of culture. Your itinerary sounds fantastic and covers a lot despite it is only a short period of time.
What was their favourite thing about Russia?
Gladys Parker
I know very little about Moscow or Russia for the\at matter. I do know I would have to see the Red Square and all of its exquisite architectural masterpieces. Also the CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE SAVIOUR. Thanks for shedding some light on visiting Moscow.
Thanks for swinging by! The Red Square is a great starting point, but there way too many places and things to discover aside from it!
Ruthy @ Percolate Kitchen
You are making me so jealous!! I’ve always wanted to see Russia.
Moscow is in my bucket list, I don’t know when I can visit there, your post is really useful. As a culture rich place we need to spend at least week.
DANA GUTKOWSKI
Looks like you had a great trip! Thanks for all the great info! I’ve never been in to Russia, but this post makes me wanna go now!
Wow this is amazing! Moscow is on my bucket list – such an amazing place to visit I can imagine! I can’t wait to go there one day!
The building on the second picture looks familiar. I keep seeing that on TV.
Reesa Lewandowski
What beautiful moments! I always wish I had the personality to travel more like this!
Perfect itinerary for spending a week in Moscow! So many places to visit and it looks like you had a wonderful time. I would love to climb that tower. The views I am sure must have been amazing!
I was lucky enough to see the skyline of Moscow from this TV Tower and it is definitely mind-blowing.
Chelsea Pearl
Moscow is definitely up there on my travel bucket list. So much history and iconic architecture!
Thumbs up! 🙂
Blair Villanueva
OMG I dream to visit Moscow someday! Hope the visa processing would be okay (and become more affordable) so I could pursue my dream trip!
Yup, visa processing is the major downside! Agree! Time and the money consuming process…
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