As more countries reopen their borders for tourism, technology plays a crucial role in driving recovery, by addressing travellers’ concerns around mixing with crowds, social distancing and physical touchpoints.

That is among the key findings of a recent study commissioned by Amadeus, and conducted in late September 2020 by research firm Censuswide, to gain more insight into how the travel industry and governments can work to rebuild traveller confidence in the post-Covid era.

The study sought to learn more about travellers’ top concerns and what types of technology would help travellers feel safe and comfortable enough to travel and help spur recovery of the travel sector.

Informed by 6,074 travellers across Singapore, India, France, Germany, the UK and the US, the study found that technology plays a crucial role in supporting recovery, as over four in five (84%) travellers said technology would increase their confidence to travel.

Approximately 1,000 respondents came from Singapore. On what would make them more likely to travel, availability of full information at point of search, booking and just before travel was the most selected (56%) option among respondents in Singapore to address concerns, followed by a contactless experience at hotels (52%) and contactless payment experience throughout the journey (51%). On the other hand, remote baggage check-in was the technology least selected (23%).

Contactless experiences are the most likely technology to assure business travellers, with over half (53%) selecting a contactless experience at hotels, followed by 40% for contactless payment experience.

When thinking about what people would like technology to do, protecting financial data is a higher concern for younger generations (45% for Gen Z vs 37% for Gen X), while reduction in queues and congestion is higher for older generations (50% for Baby Boomers vs 39% for Gen Z). When it comes to sustainability, technology that helps to reduce the environmental impact of travel is more important to the younger generation (24% for Gen Z vs 13% for Baby Boomers).

Mobile applications to provide on trip-notifications and alerts is the most selected technology to increase confidence for 57% of Singapore travellers, followed by a contactless payment experience (54%) as well as mobile boarding and self-service check-in (both 48%).

Notably, the survey found that technology receptiveness and preferences differ by country and demographic, underscoring the importance of personalisation in gaining traveller trust.

On average across all countries surveyed, almost half (47%) of Baby Boomers said they would need to be able to socially or physically distance throughout the journey, compared to less than three in 10 (27%) of Millennials. This is similar to Singaporeans, as almost two-thirds (58%) of Baby Boomers are concerned about limiting the number of passengers on a plane to reduce contact, while visibility of sanitisation, hygiene and safety measures were the highest priority for nearly half (47%) of Millennials.

Contactless and convenience is clearly important for Singaporean travellers, with 46% saying they would like touchless/contactless payments to be accepted around the world while 44% would like one universal digital traveller identification on their mobile phone. Global travellers valued these less highly (37% and 33% respectively).

In addition, over half (52%) of travellers in Singapore selected contactless experiences at hotels as a technology that would make them more likely to travel, while globally, this was only selected by 39% of travellers.

A quarter (25%) of UK travellers and just over a quarter (26%) of US travellers said they’d most like technology to reduce the need for them to have physical documents. This is a higher priority for Singaporeans, with 34% selecting this, and business travellers (38%) valuing it more highly than leisure travellers (32%).

An effective test, track and trace programme is also a high priority for almost half (45%) of Singapore travellers to feel comfortable travelling again. Indian travellers (40%) and UK travellers (38%) also ranked this highly, whereas German (29%), US (28%) and French travellers (26%) valued this less.

For French travellers, automated cleaning processes (36%) were the most popular of the suggested technology options, whereas Singaporeans’ most popular choice was for mobile applications that provide on-trip notifications and alerts (57%, as mentioned above).

Overall, the three biggest things Singaporean travellers wanted from technology were for it to reduce queues and congestion in public spaces (45%); ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of national test, track and trace programmes (39%), as well as protect financial data and personal information (37%).

Ultimately, survey results show that some of the top ways to rebuild traveller confidence in Singapore include providing access to flexible change, cancellation policies and payment terms (50%); offering access to effective test, track and trace programmes (45%); as well as ensuring that travellers are able to physically distance themselves throughout the journey (45%).

Mieke de Schepper, executive vice president, online travel and managing director, Asia Pacific, Amadeus, said: “Asia-Pacific is expected to be at the forefront of tourism recovery globally, with both regional and domestic travel being popular for leisure and business trips.

“Signs of a gradual recovery are promising with countries slowly opening their borders, including Singapore, which has formed a travel bubble with Hong Kong, and has recently opened its borders to travellers from Brunei, New Zealand, Vietnam, Australia and mainland China.

“These early indications of green shoots highlight the need to collaborate across the industry, private and public sector, as well as governments, on how best to develop technology and accelerate adoption if we are to encourage travel and consumer confidence, and in turn, drive global prosperity.”