Amadeus Execs Offer Glimpse Into Tech Investment Trends for Next Decade

Travelers across the board want a future where technology makes payments easy and seamless. 

In fact, that’s their top expectation of the travel industry in the next 10 years, according to a new survey commissioned by Amadeus. Specifically, they are open to paying for travel with cryptocurrency, in a virtual reality, or via facial recognition.

The topic itself is not a surprise, but seeing it highlighted as the top tech interest for travelers was enlightening, said Decius Valmorbida, president of travel for Amadeus, which offers a global distribution system and other tech services for the travel industry. That type of insight is what helps inform Amadeus on future investment.

“The topics are not new in itself — but when you go to the detail of the application of how this is going to shape and manifest itself in the near future and how people expect to use that technology in the future, you have nuances that can provide insight on how to prioritize investments and where you should be focusing that adoption,” Valmorbida said. 

The company’s latest such study — Traveler Tribes 2033 — shows that consumers are increasingly expecting that new technology will be a natural part of various aspects of travel. The study categorizes people in four categories, based on how they expect to use technology when traveling. The data