Online travel company eDreams ODIGEO has polled 10,000 customers across the USA, UK and Europe to reveal the ways consumers predict how travel will look in 20 years’ time.

According to data gathered from the survey, among the top of the customer’s wish list for flight travel services are open spaces with games, cinema and entertainment (56%); free Wi-Fi and streaming services on-board (54%);  food delivery on-board to eat favourite foods (52%);  faster / supersonic planes (52%) and access to beds in all classes (50%).

Moreover, 81% of respondents believe that technological developments could hold travel prices down and 56% believe that a simple demand for low-cost fares will make travel less expensive.

Travel and technology

Regarding travel and technology, 67% of the American respondents think memories will be stored through virtual reality (VR) while 45% think travellers will still be printing hard copy photographs.

When it comes to desires for the travel industry, 65% hope for reduced airport queues by having facial recognition tools in place so passport check-in is not required, 54% hope to have a robot concierge-type service that looks after the entire trip, and 46% hope for personalised destination guides, which reflects a growing trend for personalisation and bespoke travel.

Of all technology advances, 56% think travel in space will be possible in 20 years’ time, 45% hope for travel in time, 40% for teleportation and 37% to be able to choose the weather at arrival on holidays.

Language barriers

73% of USA respondents believe language barriers might become a thing of the past and overcome by technological devices that offer simultaneous translation and 59% think English will be more widely spoken worldwide.

When comparing the global data as a whole, only 7% of USA customers still believe travellers will need to learn languages as we do today to overcome language barriers, the lowest percentage among all countries polled. They are followed by Italy (8%), Germany (9%) and Portugal (10%). In contrast with the English with 23%.

The overall consensus is those language barriers will be overcome by technology.