Identifying the ‘amateur-expert traveller’

Amateur-expert travellers’ – described as being more knowledgeable, adventurous and more likely to live in an emerging economy than ever before – have been identified as a new internet-empowered breed.

An Amadeus poll of more than 2,700 travel professionals highlighted this new type of traveller as the relationship between travel companies and their customers changes.

Almost three quarters (73%) of those surveyed welcomed the greater knowledge brought by user-generated content, which drives up customer expectations and creates new opportunities for travel agents to share their expertise with increasingly adventurous travellers.

Sixty two per cent believe the journey experience is ripe for technological innovation. The maturing of the mobile internet will give rise to massive innovation around the trip itself.

Innovation in new technologies across the whole travel experience will be a critical source of new services and revenue streams for travel companies.

A thirrd of respondents thought that virtual reality will soon have the biggest impact on the travel experience by matching holidaymakers with destinations much more accurately.

BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies continue to grow, the traditional tourism and business travel landscape is changing, according to Amadeus.

The survey predicts that China will be the third largest tourist destination in the world by 2020, ahead of traditionally second-placed Spain. 

Economic growth in these countries means that holidaymakers and business travellers are increasingly likely to be from Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Successful travel companies will need to bear in mind the cultural specificity of serving Chinese or Brazilian holidaymakers instead of North Americans or Europeans.

In addition, while many industry watchers think the internet will take over the travel industry, 75% of industry experts think that we won’t all be booking our holidays online.

As more of the world becomes accessible, we will still need the help of traditional travel agents to help us find that holiday that’s just a little bit more interesting. This is particularly true for the developing economies where a premium is placed on customer service and human interactio, according to the company.

Amadeus marketing and distribution vice president Ian Wheeler said: “The last year has been challenging – there’s no doubt about it. But we can clearly see the desire within the industry to grow, adapt, and innovate around the whole consumer experience.”

Travel companies’ revenue streams are becoming more evenly spread over a wider range of products.

The traditional 80/20 sales distribution curve no longer applies to 38% of respondents, for whom 80% of their revenues was contributed by 60% or more of their products.

Similarly, niche travel offers present opportunities for travel companies.

Those surveyed identified adventure travel (83%), religious travel (55%), and weddings (45%) as key growth areas for specialist holidays.

Wheeler said: “The growing expertise of travellers has had a profound impact on the travel industry as the average consumer, empowered by the internet, is increasingly well-informed.

But greater expectations are being embraced by the travel industry, and it’s spurring on a new wave of innovation in the wake of the recession.”

The results of the poll came as Amadeus unveiled Extreme Search, a search engine designed to transform travel websites into ‘traveller playgrounds’ where consumers can explore and select their trip based on their desired holiday experience, rather than simply searching for flights along specific routes on exact dates. 

Wheeler said: “You do not always enter a store looking for a blue shirt or a striped tie. In the same way, you do not always know if you want to go to Mexico, Miami or the Bahamas but you do know you want to go to the beach.

"Thanks to Extreme Search, a traveller could narrow their search to ‘beach holidays, anytime between November and January at 25 degrees Celsius’ and relevant destinations from across the globe would be displayed.” 

The new tool is one of the many new technological concepts which will intuitively help travellers find what they want quickly, and guide them towards new experiences based on their interests, he added.

*The full report is at www.amadeus.com/amateur-expert along with case studies of the new amateur-expert traveller.