72% Indian travellers to look for latest travel tech innovations for new experiences: Booking.com

Booking.com’s recently unveiled ‘Travel Predictions 2022 Research’ reveals how travel will continue to be redefined in 2022 and how the dependency on technology will increase as travellers plan their future travels. Technology will play a key role in supporting spontaneity with increased optionality to book on the go and the flexibility to adapt plans and follow where the adventure leads.

As per the report, 72 per cent of Indian travellers are looking to the latest travel technology innovations to offer a ‘wildcard’ or surprise option of a completely new travel experience that’s suggested based on their past preferences or budget to help them seize every new potential opportunity.

From AI-powered instant translation services that make it easier for travellers to negotiate last-minute changes of plan directly with accommodation hosts and rental car providers who don’t speak the same language to machine learning models that automatically inform our host about a late arrival to their beach cottage due to a delayed flight, technology will continue to smooth out the unforeseen bumps in the road with increasing finesse and proactivity.

There will be wider adoption of predictive technologies which can help travellers make more informed decisions, especially considering that 79 per cent of Indian travellers would be interested in an innovative service that could predict which countries will be safe to travel to, even months in advance, or automatically suggest destinations which are easy to travel to now based on their country’s and the destination’s current Covid-19 requirements (77 per cent), the survey said.