Travel

WHAT'S NEXT?: How we travel, where we travel and whether we travel at all will mean tremendous change in the decades ahead.

• [New] Digital banking will continue to shrink the number of global bank branches by 4 to 5 percent per year.
• [New] Flourishing medical tourism will continue to fuel the market for orthopedic trauma devices in India.
• [New] By 2030 the world of business travel will be transformed by technology, making use of everything from autonomous vehicles to blockchain.
• Cultural tourism demand is viewed as having grown in the past five years and is expected to grow in the next five years.
• In a megacity, where buses travel at least 220 km / day, using even the most expensive 350 kWh e-bus instead of a CNG bus could bring around $130,000 in operational costs savings over the 15-year lifetime of a bus.
• Businesses can expect more automation of travel and expense processes in the coming years.
• The revenue of medical tourism in Dubai is expected to grow to US$710 million by 2020.
• Growing tourism industry and low fares of passenger trains are expected to be the key factors for the growth of passenger rail segment in the coming years.
• The ties between China and the UAE are expected to grow further in the coming years as Dubai strengthens its position as a global hub for trade.
• A challenge to the hotel industry in the coming years will be increased competition from short term rental companies like AIRBNB, FLIPKEY, VRBO and the like.
• Revenues are expected to increase by 10.7% to $834 billion and passenger air travel is forecast to expand by 7% this year.
• International tourism flows are expected to reach 1.5 billion by 2020 and revenue estimated to cross $2000 billion according to The World Travel and Tourism Council.
• Rocket companies like Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX will push the envelope with space travel enough that tourism will be feasible in the year 2050.
• Greece has a real opportunity to grow the business of medical tourism.
• The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates tourism in Portugal will directly and indirectly contribute 20.5 percent to the country's GDP and make up almost 25 percent of jobs by 2028.
• Qatar and Saudi Arabia are projected to be the next fastest growing for spending by consumers on restaurant and hotel markets in the Middle East.
• Europe will see an increase from 1,409 four - and five-star hotel properties under construction in 2017 to 1,587 in 2018, while Asia Pacific will see an increase from 1,565 properties in 2017 to 1,737 in 2018.
• Due to factors such as the growth in air travel in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Russia, and the US, the demand for air travel will significantly increase in the coming years.
• Digital travel sales are expected to reach $198 billion this year, with virtual reality travel apps and VR tours capturing a good share of market revenue.
• Air travel 50 years from now is going to look an awful lot like it does now, and not all that different from how it looked 50 years ago.
• HZMB will reduce travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours down to thirty minutes.
• While the boom in tourism continues to support lodging demand, flat ADR growth and increasing labour costs may negatively affect cash flows for some hotels: Increased supply in the coming years may pose a threat to hotel operators, particularly to those managing budget hotels.
• The tourism industry faces greater competition than ever before, including from more affordable destinations in Latin America and Asia, increasingly popular North American cities like Toronto and Miami, and cities that have invested much more in developing a welcoming visitor experience.

Last updated: 16 June 2018