Mobile devices remain vital while demand for new technologies such as voice search, e-payment and digital room keys grows, according to Travelport’s 2018 Digital Traveler Survey.

The study, which surveyed 16,000 travellers from 25 countries, showed that around the world, mobile devices are seen to be as vital for travel as for other aspects of life.

Almost half of those surveyed have booked and paid for an entire or part of a trip through their smartphone. Nine in 10 respondents have travel-related apps, with maps, airlines, weather and social media ones topping the list of favourites.

While mobile remains crucial, travellers want a consolidated experience. On average, travellers use 10-12 apps throughout the searching, booking and traveling parts of their trip, the study showed.

The top three most important features identified by leisure travellers in their travel apps are the ability to search & book flights (68%), real-time flight alerts throughout their journey (64%) and being able to see an entire trip itinerary in one place (67%).

Only around a fifth of travelers currently use itinerary management tools.

Among the emerging technologies are voice-search. Over half of global travellers use voice to search either during booking or whilst traveling – up 3% from last year.

Over two thirds (68%) of Indonesian travellers use voice search, such as Apple Siri or Amazon Alexa. However, in Japan, Singapore and some parts of Europe, the proportion of travellers using voice search is less than 45%.

Almost half of all respondents rated the ability to pay using Apple/Android pay (Touch ID) is important or very important.

Over half of business travellers surveyed said they wanted to be able to check in to their hotel via an app, rather than at a reception desk. Some 50% also want to use a digital room key to unlock their hotel room door from their phone.

Most respondents said they would use biometric scanning to reduce the need for waiting in security lines. This proportion is particularly high among Asian countries, with 80% in Singapore and 84% in Indonesia indicating that preference. Over two-thirds of travelers think digital boarding passes make travel easier.

India and Indonesia took top spots in a ranking of countries with the most digitally-advanced travellers. India has been top for the second year in a row, and Indonesia was ranked third last year.

The standings are based on a combination of the main indicators of digital usage for travel-related purposes by travelers in each country. For example, India’s top position is maintained due to 69% of the country’s travellers using voice search, over 60% wanting digital room keys and 88% saying they are influenced to travel by friends on social media.

Asia is set grow its market share of global Muslim travel spend to 22% or US$34 billion by the end of the decade, with non-Muslim destinations including China, Thailand and Singapore claiming a large percentage of this inbound expenditure, according to new research.

The Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth Projection: 2017-2020 report by Salam Standard further revealed that the GDP impact of Muslim travel in Asia is forecast to hit US$33 billion by 2020, up 27% from US$26.2 billion in 2017.

As a region of outbound Muslim travellers, Asia is starting to generate significant Muslim travel expenditure, which reached US$21 billion in 2017, or 21% of the global share, and is forecast to hit the US$29.6 billion mark by 2020.

“Asia is one of the top regions driving the growth of the global Muslim travel market, fuelled by a young and aspirational population and an increasingly-affluent middle class who are hungry to travel the world in a faith-compatible way, whether for business or leisure,” said Faeez Fadhlillah, co-founder and CEO of Salam Standard and Muslim-friendly hotel booking portal, Tripfez.

Muslim travellers from Malaysia, Indonesia and China will lead the way, according to Salam Standard, contributing 17% of the total global outbound spend by 2020 and outpacing European countries included in the study, who will contribute just 15% between them.

While Asia is a big feeder of Muslim travellers, the report urges Asian destinations to also look outside the region to key Muslim travel source markets in order to better capitalise on global growth trends.

The GDP impact of the global Muslim travel sector is projected to reach US$183 billion by 2020, up from US$148 billion in 2017.

Notably, the Middle East generated the majority of global outbound spend (61%) at US$62.2 billion. This is expected to reach US$72 billion by 2020, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE forecast to contribute 41% of the total Muslim travel spend worldwide by that date.

“One in three people worldwide will identify as Muslim by 2060 and to disregard this trend would be foolhardy,” said Faeez.

“With the Muslim population growth at 70% compared to the global average of 32%, the Muslim travel market presents many untapped opportunities for countries and organisations that successfully address its needs – and an enormous threat for those who ignore it.”

The full Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth Projection: 2017-2020 report will be launched on Salam Standard on November 6 during WTM in London.

Messaging, or “conversational commerce”, is poised to be one of the hottest trends shaping travel in 2019, according to Facebook’s global travel strategy and planning lead, Nikhliesh Ponde.

At the Facebook’s APAC Travel Summit in Singapore, it was revealed that people and businesses around the world now exchange over 10 billion messages each month.

This preference for messaging is even more pronounced in Asia-Pacific, where 87 per cent of smartphone owners use a messaging app every month.

“We recently conducted a global survey and found that people in emerging markets are twice as likely as those in mature markets to message a business at least once a month. People increasingly expect businesses to be available via messaging apps. This is a dynamic that travel businesses in Asia-Pacific are poised to leverage, given these are mobile-first markets,” Ponde added.

Some leading brands have already taken the leap by using WhatsApp to send timely notifications and offer customer support. First movers include leading airlines such as Singapore Airlines and travel planning websites like MakeMyTrip.com.

Messaging can also play a much deeper role as it draws people and businesses together into an ongoing conversation, said Meghan Joseph, client partner, Facebook Singapore.

“Consumers today visit numerous travel-related touch points over a few weeks when making a travel purchase. It’s much easier to make travel decisions when you have a personal and direct conversation – this is something that messaging can enable,” Joseph said.

The insights carry greater weight considering the emergence of a new middle class in Asia-Pacific. Nearly one in every two Internet users in Asia travels abroad at least once a year, the highest proportion of any region in the world.

Four of the five fastest-growing cities by travel and tourism GDP contribution over the past decade are located in China, WTTC found in its annual Cities Report.

Of the 72 cities deemed most important for tourism in the WTTC report, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Guangzhou took top spots as the fastest growing in the past 10 years, while Shanghai is ranked as the largest city by travel and tourism in 2017.

Chinese cities have matured rapidly over the past decade, and are forecast to continue dominating the growth charts between 2017 and 2027. Shanghai, for example, went from being the eighth largest city in terms of travel and tourism GDP in 2007 to become the largest in 2017 – a position it is expected to maintain until 2027.

Meanwhile, the rapid growth of Guangzhou will take it to fourth place, and Chongqing is forecast to join the top 15 for the first time, WTTC posits. This comes following a period of sustained infrastructure development, including investments in airports and extensive product development.

The Chinese domestic and outbound markets will drive growth in the coming decade, with the majority of top performers maintaining their positions. Chinese cities will continue to lead, although a slowdown in growth is expected.

With the exception of Marrakech, the cities in the top 10 ranking of fastest growing travel & tourism GDP in the coming decade are in Asia-Pacific.

Considering 2017 alone, Cairo (34.4%) was the fast-growing city in terms of travel and tourism GDP contribution, followed by Macau (14.2%).

The world’s top 10 cities in terms of tourism market size in 2017 are Shanghai (US$35 billion), Beijing (US$32.5 billion), Paris (US$28 billion), Orlando (US$24.8 billion), New York (US$24.8 billion), Tokyo (US$21.7 billion), Bangkok (US$21.3 billion), Mexico City (US$19.7 billion), Las Vegas (US$19.5 billion) and Shenzhen (US$19 billion).

Looking at job creation, the world’s top 10 cities are Jakarta, Beijing, Mexico City, Shanghai, Bangkok, Chongqing, Delhi, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City and Shenzhen.

WTTC president and CEO Gloria Guevara commented: “With 54% of the world’s population living in urban areas, cities have become global economic hubs, driving growth and innovation. They attract huge quantities of people who travel to experience their culture, do business and live. This growth has also resulted in a rise in city tourism – a trend which is forecasted to maintain momentum.”