A recent survey carried out by Travel Technology Europe has revealed ‘economic uncertainty’ as the biggest challenge currently facing the travel industry, with 53 per cent of those polled putting it at the top of the list.

This was closely followed by issues surrounding ‘sustainable travel’ and ‘climate change’, with 45 per cent and 44 per cent of respondents respectively, highlighting these as key challenges entering 2020.

Outside of external influences, a large percentage of respondents (40 per cent) identified ‘gaps in technological skills’ within the industry as a key challenge. This ties in with perceived barriers to digital transformation, where, within the same survey, knowledge and skills gaps were highlighted as key factors limiting growth by 75 per cent of respondents.

Key Challenges in percentages:

Commenting on the survey results, David Chapple, group portfolio director for Travel Technology Europe, said:

“At the time of polling, the UK was approaching a general election, with uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the future of the country evidently having an impact on respondents”.

“Uncertainty aside, the findings echo increasing concerns about travel’s impact on climate change as well as the need for creating sustainable travel options. Whilst this is a huge challenge for the industry as a whole; there is much we can do to help facilitate progress in these areas: from introducing more energy efficient technologies, to utilising Big Data in order to identify patterns of behaviour that contribute most to climate change.”

Rob Golledge, head of marketing communications at Amadeus IT and advisor to Travel Technology Europe, added:

“There are lots of ways in which travel technology can help the environment. Consider over tourism for example. There are data analytics tools that show which destinations are up and coming and which have spare capacity to grow. Helping travellers understand that there’s a whole world beyond the usual suspects of Amsterdam, Barcelona and Dubrovnik (just three destinations that have been linked to over tourism) would be a start.”

As well as being identified as a key challenge by the travel technology companies, tour operators, travel agents, hoteliers and TMCs who completed the survey, more ‘eco-friendly, sustainable travel options’ was also highlighted by 47 per cent of respondents as something their own customers were asking for more of.  

Travel Technology Europe is Europe’s dedicated event for travel technology and will be playing host to over 50 experts in all areas of travel technology and marketing who will be sharing their expertise across two days.

The event takes place at London Olympia on 26-27th February 2020, and tickets are free. To register, visit www.traveltechnologyeurope.com.