Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> There is a trend towards consolidation in the travel sector. The big players have the resources to invest heavily in technology. This does not mean, however, that smaller structures are disappearing. On the one hand, there are the super-applications, which are consolidating by aggregating more and more services, and on the other hand the small players will be focusing more on niches. These start-ups will be much better at responding more effectively to more specific requests.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> A number of societal trends are reflected in the way we book. Social networks are becoming increasingly important, and the smartphone has now eclipsed the computer as the platform for choice and research. Mobile booking is also growing rapidly. So travel companies need to think mobile first for the user. We've been saying this for several years now, and there's still work to be done. What's more, today's start-ups often only have a mobile application, and don't even create a web platform.<\/p>\n it's a societal trend: we can't just sit back and do nothing any more<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> There are a number of factors, not least the size of the screen, which is still limited. I think that web and mobile interfaces will coexist, perhaps with different additional uses<\/strong>. The mobile phone can be used in a number of ways. The first, which all players must cover, concerns customer service. The mobile phone is in the traveller's pocket, and should facilitate a rapid response in the event of a problem during the journey. What's more, people spend hours in transport and waiting rooms, using their smartphone. This is striking in public transport: there is still some paper reading, but the use of mobile phones is impressive. It's during these waiting times that the smartphone comes into its own. Because today, it's a societal trend: you can't just sit back and do nothing. And the smartphone provides a form ofimmediacy<\/strong>For example, for a traveller stuck in traffic who needs to change their flight or make another reservation. What's more, the credit card is already registered, which removes the payment barrier. The mobile must exist to complement the web. Today, I think you can be happy with a mobile application without having a website, but the opposite wouldn't work.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> Sustainability has become a decisive factor in everything we buy, including travel. Market players are adapting their offerings accordingly, whether through the reduction of plastic in hotels, or the emergence of a range of responsible holidays. Visit \"Flight shame<\/a> is starting to gain some momentum. What's interesting is that local economies will benefit from the positive impact. There's also the well-being<\/strong>which more and more players are positioning themselves to take advantage of, the \"digital detox<\/strong>Like the French start-up Out Of Reach. Users are going to have a much more sophisticated relationship with technology. It's there to make our lives easier, but we're also starting to improve the dependency aspect, to take it into account in the way we travel.<\/p>\n In business travel, human contact remains the cornerstone of long-term partnerships<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> We can imagine it, and I think that technology will make it possible. But the machine will never replace the human being. Technological developments will mean that human contact will become increasingly important, and increasingly qualitative. In business travel, human contact remains the foundation of long-term partnerships. I don't believe that tomorrow we could be reduced to a hologram. But it is true that the number of travellers who feel concerned by the sustainable aspect is growing significantly. Not only among millenials<\/strong>who were the first to adopt this way of travelling, but also among the baby boomers<\/strong> who want to be eco-responsible when they travel: there are intergenerational awareness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -\u00a0<\/strong>I think we're going to see a proliferation of super-applications in 2020, particularly in the travel sector. This allows users to rely on a single tool at a time to connect to social networks, book a flight, order a taxi or meal delivery, book ground services... 5G is an important factor, as is the spread of wi-fi access. The challenge is to find the best way of combining all this relevant travel content from a number of sources. Asia has paved the way, with WeChat and AliPay in China, Line in Japan, KakaoTalk in Korea, and even Grab in Singapore: applications that have gradually expanded their areas of activity. All based on the communication of personal data in exchange for targeted offers. This is also the principle of the super-app: everything we consume is shared from one service to another.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> Because of its position, Google is present in several verticals, including travel. But there are specific business areas where specialists can build more relevant offers that better target travellers' expectations. The future will tell, since players like Google and Facebook are also making progress in this area. It remains to be seen how far they will go.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -<\/strong> That's true, but there's an enormous amount of data in the world of travel, and the difficulty isn't really having it, it's knowing how to use it. That's the challenge today. We see it, for example, in the field of loyalty<\/strong><\/a>This is an area where the players need to evolve. Technology is going to offer a differentiation to get to know the traveller better. In fact, technology such as blockchain<\/strong> <\/a>would be very interesting in the field of loyalty. We've been talking about it for months, but it hasn't really proved itself yet.<\/p>\n Evantia Giumba -\u00a0<\/strong>This is a very interesting technology, but the applications have not yet reached sufficient maturity to be developed on a large scale. The development of applications on blockchain is taking longer than we had imagined.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Evantia Giumba is Head of Travel Media and Startup Program at Amadeus for the WEMEA region. She takes a look at the new technology trends to watch out for in 2020 and beyond.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":93127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,143],"tags":[1129,1215,1429,1931],"type-darticle":[51],"n_magazine":[],"class_list":["post-93121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technologies","category-interviews","tag-developpement-durable","tag-environnement","tag-applications-mobiles","tag-blockchain","type-darticle-interview","vapo-free"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow is the travel search and booking experience evolving?<\/h3>\n
Why isn't the mobile booking rate already approaching 100%?<\/h3>\n
What about sustainable development?<\/h3>\n
Why not replace some journeys with a immersive videoconferencing<\/a>to limit the impact on the environment?<\/h3>\n
Publishers seem to have hesitated for a long time between developing a super-application, or designing different, more specialised tools. Has the dilemma been resolved?<\/h3>\n
In this age of super-applications, isn't a giant like Google best placed?<\/h3>\n
These players control data, which is the key to...<\/h3>\n
Why is this?<\/h3>\n