Amadeus unveils latest traffic trends

NEWS FLASH

Global Distribution System giant Amadeus recently reported the latest traffic trends going into 2024 which are influencing passenger booking volumes and behaviour. At a press briefing held in Athens, Amadeus reported that music tourism is having a serious and increasing impact on bookings. As an example, when the UK band Coldplay announced its 2024 tour dates, bookings for flights to Athens and Bucharest for the week the concerts will be held shot up 80% and 436% respectively week-over-week. Simmilar trends were observed for upcoming Taylor Swift concerts in Japan, Singapore and Australia.

Amadeus has also identified social media influencers and content creators as having an increasing impact on bookings. Instead of solely being the source of vacation inspiration, they are becoming travel providers themselves, and the facilitators of direct bookings through their varying channels. For Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012), TikTok is showing its potential as a search engine, overtaking even Google when it comes to researching places to visit, sourcing recommendations from peers and discovering travel hacks that save money. As a result, the social media platform is becoming increasingly important for airlines to promote their products and services.

Another trend which has been observed in the aftermath of the pandemic and is continuing into 2024 is the desire to fly in premium cabins, with more travellers than ever opting to book premium economy, business and first class seats even if they’re paid for with points, credit, or savings. As a result, airlines are investing more resources in improving the premium travel experience, upgrading both their hard and soft product.

Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT are also being adopted by providers across the travel industry adding value to the online travel planning and booking experience for consumers, as search and advice become hyper personalised and more intuitive. In 2024 and beyond, there will continue to be a need and desire to work with human travel agents, however, the next generation of AI-powered customer service will be delivered with greater patience and empathy, reducing the workload of employees to deal with the bulk of after-sales servicing, giving them the bandwidth to provide the human touch on more specialist issues.