This is a golden decade for travel, with a great opportunity for travel players to provide more personalised services.
That was one of the conclusions of a thought leadership study on factors shaping the future of travel by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Amadeus. 
The bright future of the travel industry in Africa was also the message local GM, Peter Long, put to finalists and winners at the technology company’s gala awards evening in Sandton last week.
Personalisation was the future, he said. In the Oxford Economics report the conclusion was that the use of mobile devices by travellers is growing exponentially. Personalisation was key and apps could be tailored to reflect individual contexts such as preferences during certain times of the day or at certain locations.
Long also showed how the research indicated that travel in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) was expected to grow at rates that dwarfed developed countries. It was the aviation sector that could be expected to grow the fastest, he said. 
Peter added that while Amadeus was engaged in 48 countries in Africa, South Africa was still clearly the springboard for sub-Saharan Africa.
The Oxford Economics report showed that growth in overnight visitor flows by region shows that between 2002 to 2012 Asia had an average annual growth of 8, 5%, MEA had 8, 4%, Europe showed 2,1% growth and the America 3, 7%. It was also forecasted that between 2013 and 2023 Asia would see growth of 15, 1%, MEA 11, 9%, Europe 3, 9% and Americas would see growth of 6, 4%.