ttendees at today’s WTM Vision Conference Rimini will hear how the rapid adoption of tablets and smartphones by consumers around the globe is creating a new business environment for the travel and tourism industry.
Euromonitor International will present research showing how smartphones will become a significant transactional channel as customers become more comfortable using their devices for purchases as well as research.
According to Euromonitor, global online travel sales accounted for US$589 billion in 2013, amounting to 25% of total travel and tourism sales. Online sales are expected to grow faster than the total travel industry, growing 10% year-on-year and reaching US$827 billion by 2017.
And in 2017, 45% of the world’s population or 3.3 billion people will be internet users, with smartphones the most popular way of getting online.
Euromonitor also noted some changes to consumer behaviour as a result of the proliferation of devices and wider internet penetration.
It suggested that “online and mobile developments have enabled to increasingly bypass traditional distribution, which has helped to drive growth in new business models and, particularly, peer-to-peer”.
The dominance of portable devices over fixed-line computers for internet access has led to the emergence of multi-screen consumer. Euromonitor refers to Google research which identifies sequential and simultaneous usage trends.
“In the case of sequential usage, smartphones are generally the starting point for consumers, who then move to PC, tablet or TV to continue their search for information on travel destinations and services, and possibly make their travel bookings. In the case of simultaneous usage, consumers will typically make a search on brands watched in TD advertisements through their smartphone or tablet,” Euromonitor said.
World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “The evidence is overwhelming. As the internet population grows and the adoption of devices increases, significant new consumer trends are emerging. Events such as the WTM Vision Conferences are helping the global travel industry understand these changes and find ways to thrive in the new economy”
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
More than 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
03WTM, now in its 35th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.
WTM 2013 generated more than £2 billion of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.
WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a other portfolio’s of travel industry events including IBTM Events, the world’s leading showcases for the meetings and events industry and International Luxury Travel Market events.
In 2013, RE held more than 500 events in 40 countries bringing together more than six million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
Reed Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 21 international events in 14 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.
www.reedtravelexhibitions.com