New report analyses impact of Web 2.0 on young generation and its link to future opportunities for travel professionals.

Jeddah, KSA, 06 November, 2010: Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, in association with trend forecasting firm, PeclersParis, announced the finding of a study titled "Digital natives and the future of travel".

The study looks at the travel consumption habits of Digital Natives or also known as the new generation born in the digital era of computers, Internet, video games, mobile phones and MP3 players. The report reveals that the consumption habits and preferences of the Digital Natives will have a strong impact on the tourism and travel industry and influence the sector's future development strategies.

"The report is an eye-opener and offers a window of new opportunity for the travel industry in the region. The future trends depicted in this report will have a resounding impact on the Middle East, more so because of the growing Arab youth population. The technological challenges involved in meeting these new requirements are enormous and as the region's leading technology provider to the travel sector, Amadeus is positioned competitively to respond these needs," said Antoine Medawar, Vice President, Amadeus Middle East & North of Africa.

Some of the key report findings and its relevance to the tourism industry include the following:

The importance of mobile marketing

The use of mobile technology is a key trend. Digital natives want to be able to reserve, change and check information at any time on their mobiles.

Personalised services

Digital natives want à la carte service. They require niche offers that, most importantly, they can personalise. These offers have to be presented when digital natives are looking for and ordering a product, and also in the follow-up period. 

Gathering and sharing information

Digital natives are, paradoxically, individualists and community-minded alike. They are looking for information, for more knowledge and more transparency while placing increasing importance on their communities, enabling them to explore and discuss subjects of interest. They like to receive recommendations from people who share these same interests. This sharing continues during and after the trip, as they post content on community sites.

Social networks

Social networks can serve a number of purposes. They can be used to make contact with digital natives - who make full use of these tools - and to cultivate contact with opinion leaders in the networks. They can also be used thoroughly to collect opinions and even to build offers.

More information on the "Digital natives and the future of travel" can be found at: http://www.amadeus.com/amadeus/digitalnatives.

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Amadeus is the chosen technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry. The company provides distribution and technology solutions to help its customers adapt, grow and succeed in the fast changing travel industry. Customer groups include travel providers (airlines, hotels, car rental companies, railway companies, ferry lines, cruise lines, insurance companies and tour operators), travel sellers (travel agencies) and travel buyers (corporations and travellers).

Amadeus operates under a transaction-based business model that offers IT solutions to virtually all players in the travel industry.  The Amadeus system processed more than 670 million billable travel transactions in 2009.

Amadeus has central sites in Madrid (corporate headquarters & marketing), Nice (development) and Erding (Operations - data processing centre) and regional offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Dubai. At market level, Amadeus maintains customer operations through 72 local Amadeus Commercial Organisations covering 195 countries.

The company is majority owned by WAM Acquisition, whose shareholders are BC Partners, Cinven, Air France, Iberia and Lufthansa. The Amadeus group employs over 9,300 employees worldwide, with 123 nationalities represented at the central offices.

More information about Amadeus is available at: http://www.amadeus.com

 

© Press Release 2010