Metaverse to play huge role in travel, according to Amadeus predictions

Visiting historical landmarks via VR experience. Classic architecture isn't based on any real location, but custom made up environment.

Amadeus has revealed its latest travel trends predictions, highlighting rapid changes to the way travellers take trips over the next 12 months and beyond.

With global travel increasing, expectations among both companies and individual travellers are higher than ever when it comes to having a smooth travel experience.

The Amadeus 2023 Travel Trends has identified five new developments which the company believes will play a part in shaping travel over the coming year:

  • Meet a new kind of travel agent: Exploring the metaverse will allow travellers to explore a destination before they arrive or relive their memories once they leave
  • Smile for your seat: Biometrics will help create a smooth travel payment experience
  • Travel without baggage: Hotels will offer travellers more amenities so they can travel lighter
  • Working from roam: Remote workers will adopt an increasingly nomadic lifestyle, migrating to different locations as ‘work from anywhere’ policies become normalised
  • Welcome to bonding business breaks: A new category of business travel, focused on connecting teams, building relationships and unlocking creativity away from the office,​ will emerge

The annual travel trends were identified by the expertise of Amadeus’ team of travel tech experts who found that, while technology is a major driver of change, and Web3 and biometrics will have a big part to play, human relationships are equally important.

The trends are all connected to personal and societal concerns, from the desire to travel with a lighter ecological footprint to the desire for more people to be free to work from anywhere.

“The future is now here, and it looks very different. People want to reduce their impact on the planet, while putting human relationships and wider society first,” said Daniel Batchelor, Amadeus’ VP of global corporate marketing, communications & social responsibility.

“In this exciting new reality technology is enabling us to reach these goals. The metaverse, biometrics and traveller expectations from the travel industry are combining to shift the landscape rapidly. It is an incredibly exciting time for the industry.”

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