A global study commissioned by Amadeus suggests that global travellers are amenable to using a digital health passport as a means of opening up travel again. The “good news” study found that an overwhelming 91 percent of travellers surveyed said they would be comfortable using the tool for future trips.
According to Amadeus, the recent study, which sampled the opinions of over 9,000 travellers in France, Spain, Germany, India, UAE, Russia, Singapore, UK, and US (though not Canada), was designed to demonstrate the importance of understanding traveller concerns around privacy, ease of use, and security.
And while the survey also reported that 41% of respondents were keen to book international travel within six weeks of restrictions lifting, it also offered a cautionary note with over nine in 10 (93%) travellers having some concerns around how their health data for travel would be stored.
Nevertheless, Amadeus believes the “encouraging research” provides an incentive to accelerate plans for digital health passports that will help to address traveller concerns. Such as:
When asked about the receptiveness to storing and sharing digital health data, survey results show:
• 74% of travellers surveyed would be willing to store their travel health data electronically if it enabled them to pass through the airport faster with fewer face-to-face interactions
• 72% of travellers surveyed would be willing to store their travel health data electronically if it enabled them to travel to more destinations
• 68% of travellers agreed they would be more likely to share their health data if the airlines they most frequently travel with offered a way to store their travel health data.
Although receptiveness to sharing data is high, the travel industry needs to consider traveller concerns around the use of data. The three main concerns travellers have are:
• Security risks with personal information being hacked (38%)
• Privacy concerns around what health information needs to be shared (35%)
• Lack of transparency and control over where the data is shared (30%).
The survey also explored what solutions might alleviate concerns around digital health data and travel in the future and results showed:
• 42% of travellers said a travel app that could be used across the whole journey would greatly improve their overall travel experience and reassure them their information is all in one place
• 41% of travellers agree a travel app would reduce their stress around travel
• 62% of travellers would be more likely to use an app to store their health data if a travel company partnered with a trusted healthcare company.
The research is the second in a series of traveller surveys, where Amadeus takes a regular checkpoint on traveller sentiment and concerns to help the industry rebuild travel in the most effective way.
The “2020 Rethink Travel Survey” revealed how technology can help to increase traveller confidence and Amadeus revisited this question to see how traveller confidence has changed since September 2020: 91% of travellers now say that technology will increase their confidence to travel, an increase from 84% in September 2020.
When asked which technology would increase confidence to travel in the next 12 months, mobile solutions were highlighted as a popular option, with the top three technologies including:
• Mobile applications that provide on-trip notifications and alerts (45%)
• Contactless mobile payments (e.g., Apple or Google Pay, Paypal, Venmo) (44%)
• Mobile boarding (e.g., having your boarding pass on your mobile phone) (43%)
“There is no doubt that COVID-19 will continue to shape the way we travel for the months ahead, just as it influences so many other areas of our lives,” says Decius Valmorbida, President, Travel, Amadeus. “Yet, while there are still uncertainties, research like this reinforces my optimism that we will build back travel better than before. Collaboration across governments and our industry is the key to restarting travel, as we deliver on traveller expectations outlined in this Rebuild Travel digital health survey, deploying the right technology to enable a truly connected and contactless journey.”