The interest in traveling and exploring the world is greater than ever. But the shortage of time, and the large number of fragmented service options, increase the pressure of travelers when they arrive at their destination. Therefore, it is essential to understand the market of tourist activities in destination, a factor that is still not sufficiently explored and that could mean in 2020 a business exceeding 165,000 million euros, according to PhocusWright calculations.
To try to shed light on this issue, Amadeus – which calls the market of services in unexploded destination as Destination X – has conducted a worldwide survey to explore the complementary needs of travelers and identify the services and content that They require, in order to make their travel experiences easier and without any stress.
According to the results of this global investigation, in which almost 1,000 users have participated through the CheckMyTrip application, supplemented with interviews with experts integrated into the Amadeus Mobile COLLECTIVE community, one third of travelers consider that the services at destination They are the key to the success or failure of a trip.
93% of respondents, in fact, believe that complementary services at destination are an important part of their overall travel experience. 40% of them also believe that these additional services make their trips more productive and enjoyable.
Almost a quarter of travelers, in any case, recognize that they lack time to plan their experiences in the destinations. The anxiety about what to do, the fear of not knowing where to go and how to get to the sites … There is much to do in a limited period of time and everyone wants to make the most of their time.
In this regard, the respondents – almost a quarter – admit to feeling frustrated before booking the trip, while another 18% begin to feel frustrated in the days and weeks after the reservation. For almost half of the respondents, stress levels reach their maximum level on the day of departure. In addition, 17% of respondents say they cannot easily access the services at the destination during the trip.
The challenge of the lack of time faced by travelers – the study indicates – is further aggravated by not being able to access the complementary services at the destination they need through their mobile devices.
In this sense, research participants think that mobile technology can play a decisive role in the success of auxiliary services in Destination X, which can help travel distributors achieve a new level of traveler loyalty and, by same time, an increase in income.
David Vidal, Commercial Director of Amadeus in Spain, believes that “some travelers prefer to plan their experiences at destination in advance, but many others buy on the go. In fact, this is an opportunity for travel agents and other providers to continue offering services to the traveler when they are at their destination through mobile technology”.