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THEFUTUREOFTRAVELBOOKINGANDPAYMENTSTRAVELTECHINNOVATION:MARKETREPORTNewtechnologiesandinnovationscontinuetodisruptthetravellandscape.Whilemostoftheindustrybuzzhasfocusedonhowairlinesandtravelprovidersareleveragingnewtechnologiestorevolutionizethetravelexperience,there’sanothervariableatplay:thepotentialentryofoutsidetechleadersintothemarket.Inourlastreport–thefirstinOAG’stwo-partserieslookingatthefutureoftraveltechnology–OAGtookadetailedlookattheanticipatedadoptionofseveraldisruptivetechnologies,includingpredictiveanalytics,artificialintelligence,blockchain,supersonicplanesandautonomousvehicles.Thisreportcontinuestheconversationbyexploringthefutureoftravelbooking,modernpaymentmethodsandthegrowingroleofsocialmediaandconsumerplatformsintheindustry.TheresearchisbasedonanOAGsurveyofmorethan2,000U.S.travelersandprovidesinsighton:•Theevolvingmethodsandchannelsfortravelbooking•Theroleofsmart,connecteddevices•ThepotentialmarketentryofAmazon,Facebookandsocialbrands•Theevolutionofblindbooking•ModernpaymentmethodsIfyoumissedthelastreport,EvaluatingTravelers’AppetiteforTechAdoption,getyourcopyhere.SurveyDemographicsTotalrespondents:2,164Leisuretravelers:67percentBusinesstravelers:33percentTiming:December2017–January2018EXECUTIVESUMMARY2Thedigitaltravelmarketdrivesasignificantportionoftheindustry’srevenue.AccordingtoStatista,onlinetravelsalesareexpectedtotop$693billionin2018.Whilemostpurchasesaremadedirectlywithhotelsandairlines,orthroughonlinetravelagents(OTAs),newoptionsarebeginningtocomeintoplay.Giventhemarket’ssizeandrapidgrowth–Statistaexpectssalestoreach$817.5billionby2020–newentrantsareaformality.Butwhowillemergeasthenextkeyplayer–andhowwilltheyconnectwithconsumers?OAGasked2,164travelerstoidentifywhichplatformsandmethodstheywouldbecomfortablebookingtravelthrough.Theresults:•ConsumerplatformslikeAmazon,FacebookandGoogle(32percent)•Automatedchatagentsonwebsites(28percent)•MobileassistantslikeSiriandOkayGoogle(25percent)•Textmessages(20percent)•VoiceautomatedsystemsliketheAmazonEchoandGoogleHome(18percent)•Socialmediamessagingapps,likeFacebookMessengerandWhatsApp(9percent)Asagroup,businesstravelersweremoreinclinedtousejustabouteverynon-traditionalbookingmethodlistedabovecomparedtothegeneralpopulation.ResearchfirmeMarketerestimatesmobilemessagingappswereusedby1.6billionpeoplein2016–withexpectationsthatnumberwillreachtwobillionthisyear.Whencombinedwiththepopularityofsocialmedia,theopportunitytoconnectandbookthroughnon-traditionalchannelscontinuestogrow.ManyOTAsarealreadycapitalizing–forexample,travelproviderslikeExpedia,Kayak,SkyscannerandothersareallowingcustomerstobookflightsandhotelsoverFacebookMessenger.Bookingthroughmessagingappsandsocialchannelsrepresentsanaturalevolutionfortheindustry,asmanytravelersarealreadyrelyingonsocialtoolslikeFacebookandTwitterasapreferredcustomerservicechannelforinteractingwithairlines.THEFUTUREOFTRAVELBOOKING3AccordingtoStatista,onlinetravelsalesareexpectedtotop$693billionin2018OAGfoundthataquarterofthepopulationwouldbecomfortablebookingtravelthroughmobileassistantslikeSiriorOkayGoogle.Another18percentsaidtheywouldbecomfortableusingvoiceautomatedsystemslikeAmazonEchoorGoogleHome.Today,however,onlytwopercentoftravelerssurveyedhaveactuallybookedthroughthesedevices.Asformillennials,18percentindicatedtheywouldbewillingtobookthroughanAmazonEcho-orGoogleHome-likesysteminthefuture,inlinewiththegeneralpopulation.OAGalsoaskedtravelerstolookdowntheroad–andifthey’dbecomfortablewithasmartdeviceleveragingartificialintelligencetolearntheirpreferencesandautomaticallycreateanitineraryandbookatripwithouttheirreview.Inotherwords:travelerscouldsay–“HeyAlexa,bookmeaflighttoSanFranciscofornextMondaymorning”–andleaveitatthat.Theresult:13percentoftravelerssaidtheywouldbeverycomfortablewiththisapproach.Thirty-sevenpercentweren’tsure,buttheywouldbewillingtotryit,and49percentindicatedtheycan’tseethemselvesbookinginthismanner.SMARTANDCONNECTEDBOOKING4Beyondhowbrandsleveragethird-partymobileappsandsocialmediaplatformstoconnectone-to-onewithcustomers,there’salsothepotentialfortheseplatformstoenterthegamemoredirectly,eitherasametasearchreferralchannel,orfordirectbookings.OAGaskedtravelerswhichsocialandconsumerplatformstheywouldconsiderbookingwith,ifofferedtheoption.Amazonwasthebigwinner–with44percentoftravelerssayingtheywouldconsiderbookingtravelwiththee-commercegiant,ifgiventheoption.TheconsiderationgiventoAmazonbytravelersismarkedlyhigherwhencomparedtootherplatforms;thenextmostviablealternative,basedonthetravelerssurveyed,wasFacebook,wherejust14percentofthepopulationsaidtheywouldbewillingtobook–30percentlessthanAmazon.Othersocialmediaplatformsdidnotfareaswell.Pinterest,TwitterandInstagramcameinatfourpercentorunder,whileLinkedInreceivedconsiderationfromjustsevenpercentofthosesurveyed.GoogleFlightsrepresentsanotheralternative,andpotentialcompetitorforfuturebookings.A2017surveybyOAGfoundthat10percentofalltravelers–and21percentofmillennials–starttheirtravelsearchwithGoogle.Sixty-twopercentofsurveyparticipantssaidthey