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More UAE Travellers Move To Digital Contactless Payments, Reveals Global Industry Study
UAE travellers are increasingly becoming mobile savvy as they prefer to make payments and seek information in a visual format on the device, revealed a major global industry study ‘From chaos to collaboration: How transformative technologies will herald a new era in travel’.Commissioned by Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, this newreport outlines the way new technologies and social change will transform travel by 2020. The studychallenges the industry to overcome the uncertainty and stress of modern-day travel through the application of new technologies and innovations.
Based on extensive research and input from key industry experts – including technologists, leading travel industry representatives, social trends experts and futurists – as well as quantitative traveller research in the UAE, Brazil, China, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US, the studyexplores six key areas in which future technology and innovation could be deployed.
According to the study, developed by leading global foresight and futures consultancy The Futures Company,factors such as augmented reality, gamification*, intelligent passenger records, long range biometrics and the rise of the wellbeing agenda willdrive change in the next decade and beyond, heralding a new era of industry and global travel collaboration.
Amadeus’s global report highlighted that travellers in theUAE prefer making payments via mobile rather than using cash or credit card. In the survey, 32% of the UAE respondents found it ‘Extremely Appealing’ to use the mobile for such transactions,as against 24% globally. Furthermore, 92% of the UAE respondents found mobile payments ‘Somewhat Appealing’ as opposed to 78% of the respondentsamong the other countries surveyed.
The study also revealed that 94% ofthe UAE respondents preferred using visual applications that reflect the physical world on the mobile device.‘Augmented Reality’ which is a virtual view on the real world, is experienced in applications such as games, location apps and business cards. Other findings in the study reveal that 56% of UAE respondents cited having a strict boundary between work and personal life,while66% of Emirati respondents stressed the importance ofbeing reachable and available at all times, much more than the total response rate of 48%.
High mobile penetration in the UAE is cited as a key reason for travellers’ readiness touseadvanced mobile applications and devices at payment points. Industry statistics reveal that the UAE is expected to lead with 100% mobile broadband penetration in 2012 while the mobile market penetration has already crossed the 200% mark.
HumayunBaig, Regional Market Manager in charge of the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, Amadeus,said: “Traveller needs are definitely seeing a dramatic change in the UAE with customers preferring advanced mobile applications and devices to conduct transactions. This reflects evolving changes in consumer lifestyle and travel requirements. The travel sector is also beginning to realise that the world is changing and travellers will increasingly expect intelligent information exchange”.
To download a copy of the report, please visit:www.amadeus.com/blog.More information on methodology can be found on page 7 of the report.
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