Travelers seen enjoying increased power

International tourist arrivals are expected to reach more than 1.8 billion by 2030, during which travelers are expected to be classified into six categories based on their motivations for and preferences in traveling.

Such information was deemed crucial as this was expected to help global tourism stakeholders to better address the changing demands of travelers.

Amadeus, a leading technology partner for the global travel industry, said that based on its study “Future Traveler Tribes 2030,” people will likely purchase and consume travel experiences almost entirely on the basis of how shareable they were, or how much capital they would generate via social networks.

“Travelers today have more power than ever before. They want to be recognized and served as individuals, not just as a demographic profile of age, nationality and income. By 2030, hyper-customization will be the default expectation among many travelers,” said Amadeus South East Asia distribution commercial Asia-Pacific head Albert Villadolid.

“For the travel industry, this signals a pressing need to truly understand these emerging traveller tribes and make the right investment decisions now to gear toward future traveller preferences,” Villadolid said.

According to Villadolid, the six traveler categories included the social capital; cultural purist; ethical; simplicity searchers; obligation meeters; and reward hunters.

Amadeus explained that the social capital seekers would structure their holidays almost exclusively with online audiences in mind, relying heavily on peer reviews and recommendations to validate their decisions, while the cultural purist will look at holiday travel as a chance to immerse in an alien culture where enjoyment depends on the authenticity of the experience.

The ethical traveler will make travel plans based on moral grounds where they will often add some element of volunteering, community development, or eco-sustainable activity to their travels, while the simplicity searchers prefer bundled offers, seeking to avoid managing trip details, expecting to be pampered, and being assured of their safety.