22 December 2009

China climbing into top three global travel destinations

The US, France and Spain -- the top three global travel destinations -- will be joined by China edging out Spain by 2020, says a new Amadeus survey.

"Additionally, growing middle classes in Brazil, Russia, India and China will lead to a dramatic increase in travel customers from those countries," the survey found.

Other findings from the Amateur-Expert Traveler:

• Overall, the Amadeus survey suggested that word-of-mouth and effective promotions are somewhat more important online, but building an emotional connection with a brand may be more significant for offline agencies.

• Future travel customers will be more informed, savvy and discerning about resources and destinations than ever before, Amadeus says. These customers will have higher expectations and be more demanding about service.

• Amadeus also believes the recession may have accelerated the global economy’s shift toward Eastern countries and this may correlate with a dramatic upswing in travelers from those nations.

• Amadeus asked the expert panel about the significance of user reviews to brand loyalty and learned that 73 percent believe user-generated reviews are a positive force while only 13 percent see these customer reviews as a threat to brand reputation.

• Those polled say access to user reviews and other information on the Internet means travelers will expect more personalized service from travel agencies. And, with more information at their fingertips, customers will become more adventurous with destinations.

Amadeus says it polled 30 executives and travel-industry leaders, plus 2,719 travel professionals to pinpoint trends accelerated by the economic downturn.

By David Wilkening