They are followed by holidaymakers from the US, Germany, Korea, and Australia, who have also already made travel plans well in advance. Also making up the top 10 early bookers for 2025 are France, Denmark, Canada, Thailand, and Taiwan.

And, it appears that booking early is an increasing trend among travellers who could be keen to ensure the exact trip they want is available, or that they can better prioritize and manage their travel budget. Early bird bookings have grown for Britain, when compared with bookings made during 2023 for 2024, according to 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 data, which is made up of bookings made for Q1 2025 up to end March 2024. Korea, Thailand, and Taiwan are also more likely this year to have made plans for next year.

While they didn鈥檛 quite make the top 10 early birds, bookings from Spain and Japan for 2025 are also seeing an upwards trend. In Latin America, Brazil comes out top for early bird bookers, with the US as the preferred destination booked followed by domestic trips booked within Brazil. While not making the top bookers globally, Israel comes out in first place for advance bookings from the Middle East.

Top early bird destinations for 2025

So, where are these early birds going? Well, some are travelling domestically, while others are making travel plans that take them much further afield.

Globally, the top destination already booked for 2025 is the US. Many travelers are also keen to enjoy some winter sunshine, with Thailand coming in at number two. Singapore, Japan, Britain, Australia, South Africa, Vietnam, and India also all make the top 10 most popular destinations for 2025, booked for Q1 2025 up to end March 2024. Thailand, Spain, Singapore, Japan, Britain, Vietnam, and India are also all enjoying more bookings already made for 2025 when compared to the same period in 2023 for 2024.

Britain鈥檚 favorite 2025 destinations

With Britain heading the early bird bookers, let鈥檚 take a dive into where British travelers are choosing to go. Out of the top 10 destinations, all but two are long haul. Travelers may prefer to plan their long-haul trips further in advance, with short haul plans still to be made. The US comes out top when it comes to destinations already booked by British travelers. This is followed by Spain in the number two slot, Thailand, India, Singapore, the Maldives, United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa, Iceland, and Australia.

Given that the 澳门三肖三码 data looks at bookings during Q1 when it will still be cold in the UK, it seems British holidaymakers are, on the whole, keen to escape the British weather for some warmth. However, they aren鈥檛 afraid of a bit of cold weather either, with Iceland also a popular destination. There are more early bird bookings, compared to the previous year, for the US, Spain, Thailand, India, the Maldives, and the UAE. Not quite making the top 10 are Barbados, and Sri Lanka, with Sri Lanka gaining in popularity.

Who is going to Thailand in 2025?

Like other global destinations, Thailand has a defined strategy to attract increasing numbers of tourists from target countries, including the introduction of visa-free stays for select nations. And, given that Thailand is, according to 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 data, among the fastest growing destinations for early bookers, where is Thailand attracting its early birds from?

Unsurprisingly, most of the travelers to Thailand are those from 鈥榗old weather鈥� countries seeking some sunshine, with the top 10 comprised of Britain in the number one slot. This is followed by Thailand itself, likely to be travelers choosing multi-center trips, or flying from Bangkok to one of Thailand鈥檚 other popular destinations upon arrival, in particular Phuket. Then, it鈥檚 Germany at number three, followed by Denmark, which recently gave Thailand the title of 鈥榖est destination outside Europe鈥� at the Danish travel awards. France, Taiwan, Korea, the Netherlands, Austria, and Sweden make up the rest of the top 10, with many countries choosing to book their trip to Thailand further in advance.

Prioritizing travel

What is clear is that people around the world are prioritizing travel, and they want to be sure they already have 2025 mapped out. Travelers often book in advance to enable effective budgeting, or to ensure they can secure the exact destination and accommodation that they want. Booking well in advance also tends to be a sign of confidence among travelers. During, and immediately after the pandemic, travelers were planning their trips closer to the time of actual travel, whereas that trend is now turning around, with greater advance booking windows. Travelers are now feeling confident enough to book well in advance, and by booking now for 2025, they have plenty of time to really think about what they want to do at their destination, and to anticipate the enjoyment of their 2025 travels.

*Data source: 澳门三肖三码 Market Intelligence MIDT analysis looking at bookings made up to March 31, 2024 for Q1 bookings in 2025, when compared to the same time period the previous year.

Short on time? Watch our 60-second video for key takeaways.

In today鈥檚 dynamic airline landscape, where competition is fierce, margins slim and consumer choice abundant, airlines must prioritize the end-to-end traveler experience to not only survive but thrive.

When 澳门三肖三码 set out to develop our strategy to enable industry transformation and greater traveler-centricity, we started by asking our airline partners what they needed to better meet the needs of travelers in a modern airline retailing world.

Listening to the needs of our airline partners 鈥� both FSCs and LCCs 鈥� our strategy became clear. Build a retail travel marketplace that enables airlines to:

These three principles that underpin our strategy 鈥� choice, intelligence and ease 鈥� emerged from our countless workshops, meetings and conversations with airline executives.

Choice

The ability to sell a broader range of products and services 鈥� and to control where and how these offerings are retailed 鈥� is fundamental to the way most airlines wish to conduct business in the future. An offer and order model will enable airlines to retail their full range of air products and services both directly and indirectly.

In the open retail environment that the industry is now entering, airlines have the ability to evolve beyond the traditional 鈥榓ir + air ancillary鈥� product model and diversify the range of products and services they sell. This will create new revenue streams, while ensuring customers are presented with a broader range of choices.

Intelligence

It鈥檚 undoubtedly a good thing that airlines will have the ability to offer more choices to travelers. But in a world where choice abounds, it鈥檚 critical to ensure that travel shoppers are not overwhelmed by options. The choices (offers) presented must be relevant, personalized and contextualized to successfully convert into orders. While optimization of individual products is available today, the near future lies in optimizing a multi-product bundle, thus offering competitively priced one-stop shopping for travelers.

For the most advanced capabilities in this space, 澳门三肖三码 looked to the intersection of science and technology 鈥� more specifically Google鈥檚 best-of-breed AI/ML and experimentation model. This class-defining technology algorithmically ensures that only the most 鈥榠ntelligent鈥� offers are created and presented to consumers, reducing decision fatigue and optimizing the likelihood of turning an offer into revenue for the airline.

Bringing together 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 deep industry expertise, with Google Cloud鈥檚 state-of-the-art AI technology and advanced machine learning capabilities, will enable airlines to take retailing and customer experiences to the next level.

Mike Reyes, SVP Product Management, 澳门三肖三码

Advanced experimentation is one of the key differentiators of 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 solution, and we鈥檙e using it to determine which intelligent retail offers to create and present to individual consumers to maximize the probability of conversion. We let science help answer retailers鈥� age-old questions 鈥榳hat does the customer want鈥� and 鈥榳hat is its value to the customer鈥�. It鈥檚 one of the things that sets our solution apart 鈥� and will help our airline partners achieve their retailing ambitions.

Ease

More complex offers and higher conversion bring the challenge of ensuring seamless order fulfillment at scale. 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 retail travel marketplace is designed to ease this complexity. For airlines, greater workflow automation will improve efficiency by eliminating repetitive tasks and synchronizing orders as a master record.

Maintaining trip equilibrium, which means preserving offer and order integrity throughout the travel experience, is a strategic priority for 澳门三肖三码. As the industry transition towards a retail-powered future accelerates, and more complex offers become the norm, we believe a focus on trip equilibrium will become increasingly important.

澳门三肖三码 is also making things easier by providing an open test and learn capability (think of it as a 鈥榮andbox鈥�) as an integral part of our solution. We鈥檙e putting airlines in control by giving them access to APIs in a test environment where they can experiment whenever they choose before applying them in a live environment 鈥� maximizing agility and accelerating speed to market.

Travelers will enjoy a streamlined experience, including greater control of their own experience through more self-service options, in addition to existing full-service helpdesk support. When travel plans change unexpectedly, travelers will be notified automatically, minimizing any inconvenience. Reaccommodation will be synched across all aspects of the trip, even at scale, with self-service capabilities available should the airline and/or traveler prefer.

Whether it鈥檚 sourcing the broadest choice of travel offers, applying intelligence to refine those down to exactly what each traveler is looking for, or delivering an easy experience for travelers and travel providers, 澳门三肖三码 is building the right technology toolkit for the job. We鈥檝e worked closely with industry bodies and our airline partners to build a suite of products tailored to the needs of our customers in an open, retail-powered future.

Learn more about 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 strategy and transition pathway to modern airline retailing.

About the Author

Andrew Thorpe is part of the 澳门三肖三码 team exploring what the future of travel will look like and how airlines can succeed with offer- and order-enabled retailing.

澳门三肖三码-connected travel agencies can shop, book and service NDC content from these airlines that includes this expanded array of passenger types. When plans change, we understand that servicing capabilities are critical to keep travelers 鈥� and your operations 鈥� moving efficiently. To that end, our multi-passenger workflows support cancelling, voiding, and refunding NDC orders.

If you are already shopping and booking multi-passenger NDC content from these airlines 鈥斕�Aeromexico,听American Airlines,听Avianca Group airlines,听Finnair,听LOT Polish Airlines,听Lufthansa Group airlines,听Malaysia Airlines,听Qantas,听Qatar Airways,听Scandinavian Airlines,听Singapore Airlines听补苍诲听United Airlines听鈥� through the 澳门三肖三码 marketplace, you鈥檒l automatically have access to the new multi-passenger capabilities.

Key capabilities available through 澳门三肖三码 APIs

Get started with NDC

Currently, 19 airlines distribute their NDC offers through the 澳门三肖三码 marketplace. To add NDC offers to your content mix, visit 澳门三肖三码 Central Marketplace and follow each airline鈥檚 activation instructions.

If you鈥檙e a GetThere customer, please contact your GetThere representative to discuss how to turn on NDC in your GetThere instance.

If you鈥檙e interested in learning more about the 澳门三肖三码 NDC airline IT offering, please contact your 澳门三肖三码 account representative.

By 

Legacy code is a ubiquitous challenge for software developers, especially in enterprise environments, where systems often have a long lifespan and legacy code . This accumulation creates a particular set of challenges, but with the right strategies and techniques, it can be effectively managed and modernized.

I am proud to work for an organization that is approaching its 200-year anniversary. This rich heritage brings many benefits, and comes with great responsibility towards our customers and employees, and to our impact on society. It also means that our technology estate is an eclectic mix of cloud-native tools and apps, real-time data streams, and rapidly-evolving digital journeys; alongside mainframe data processing, and decades-old business applications. This is part of our heritage, it is a fact of life, and it is an issue that we are learning to embrace.

The simplest approach for managing legacy code is to avoid its creation in the first place, through an evergreen approach with early and continual maintenance. However, in this case we will discuss how to recover when that has not happened, exploring various approaches for managing legacy code within an enterprise.

EBOOK

Free guide for engineering leaders

• Understand why it鈥檚 important to address legacy code and learn steps on how to do this
• Focus on the positive outcomes and potential benefits that can be achieved by doing this
• Enable your engineering org to be more agile and proactive in the long run.

Understanding legacy code

Legacy code is old, and often written using outdated technologies or practices, or it was developed for a business context that no longer exists. This code can be difficult to comprehend, maintain, and extend, and can often include vulnerabilities which add to the cyber threat landscape.

This sort of code exists in every organization, and it accumulates over time as new features are added, technologies and standards change, organizational structures and business models evolve, and engineers come and go.

The main challenges created by legacy code are:

Maintenance difficulty: Legacy code is often challenging to maintain. It may lack documentation, has coding standards violations, or depends on deprecated external libraries.

Risk of bugs and vulnerabilities: As legacy code ages, there is a risk of new bugs developing and of vulnerabilities becoming exploitable. This can be a significant concern, especially in security-sensitive industries.

Cost of change: Legacy code can be difficult to change, making it challenging or time-consuming to implement new features, fix bugs, or adapt to evolving business requirements.

Knowledge gaps: Over time, the engineers who originally developed the code may leave the organization. This creates knowledge gaps, making it challenging for new team members to understand and work with the legacy code. Furthermore, when developers do have enough knowledge to manage the code, they can often become key-person dependencies.

With a clear understanding of what legacy code is and the challenges it presents, let鈥檚 explore some strategies and tips for managing it effectively.

6 steps to address legacy code

The following approach is presented as steps in a process, which suggests they should be sequential. However this may not always be possible and will depend upon your context and starting point. However, the step-based approach is intentional, as there is benefit in starting by understanding your purpose and intention, and putting in-place strategies and guardrails, before starting to refactor code.

Step 1: Define and agree your intention

Why are you addressing your legacy code? What problems are you trying to address? What risks are you mitigating? Challenges will vary based on your organization and context, but defining and documenting the purpose behind your activity will guide your teams and inform your decisions in subsequent steps. Key considerations include:

• Prioritization: Work closely with stakeholders to prioritize tasks based on the scale of negative impact they are creating, and ensure that critical issues are addressed promptly.
• Cost/benefit analysis: Communicate the potential risks and benefits of changes to stakeholders, allowing them to make informed decisions.  can help with this.

Step 2: Invest time in documentation and code analysis

Documentation is often lacking in legacy codebases. Before making any changes, invest time in understanding the existing codebase.

• Code-base analysis: Perform a thorough analysis of the codebase to identify areas of concern, including code that needs refactoring, potential security vulnerabilities, and obsolete dependencies.
• Identify code smells: Look for code smells such as long functions, duplicated code, and excessive dependencies. These are clear indicators of areas that could benefit from refactoring.
• Code documentation: Document the code as you go, or agree to a self-documenting approach. The code鈥檚 functionality should be clear, sequence diagrams can be generated automatically, and any unusual or non-standard practices, and reasons behind specific design decisions, should be documented.
• Dependency inventory: Create an inventory of all external dependencies used by the legacy code. Check if these dependencies have newer, more secure versions available.

It is important to recognize that this is an area where AI-based tools are beginning to deliver an impactful role. There are a number of tools (Mintlify, Stenography, Theneo and others) which can automatically generate documentation based on code, and others (Codeball, Metabob, and Datadog鈥檚 Codiga), which can automate code analysis, for example.

Step 3: Identify your remediation approach

Based on your analysis, and with reference to the intentions that you defined in the first step, consider your approach to address legacy code. It can be tempting to throw old code away and , but this is often the most expensive, and highest-risk option.

• Technology stack evaluation: Assess whether the  and needs an upgrade. This may involve migrating to newer programming languages, frameworks, or databases.
• Consider a gradual refactoring approach:  without changing its external behavior. This is generally done function-by-function, iteratively decomposing or redeveloping your application. In the context of legacy code, gradual refactoring is a powerful strategy, . 
• Microservices and containerization: Consider breaking monolithic applications into smaller, more manageable mini- or microservices. Containerization technologies like Docker can help with this.
• Consider a fa莽ade between systems: To protect interactions between systems during your changes, an  or fa莽ade can translate and preserve communication. This can be supplemented with automated tests and strong monitoring tooling.
• Cloud adoption: Explore cloud services and platforms for hosting, scaling, and managing applications. Cloud migration can improve flexibility and scalability.

Step 4: Build the right team

• Choose the right people: A good engineer should see themselves as a problem solver, first and foremost, and addressing legacy code is a problem to address. Often, software teams benefit from  with a variety of technical skills and experiences, rather than a specific technology (e.g. Java, Angular, .NET). The team will also generally require access to a functional or business subject matter expert, to understand the functionality and data flows of the software.
• Pair programming: Encourage experienced developers to work closely with those less familiar with the legacy code. Pair programming can help transfer knowledge effectively.
• Training and onboarding: Develop training programs and materials for new team members to quickly get up to speed on the legacy codebase. Consider a mentorship program where experienced developers mentor junior team members.
• Documentation standards: Implement documentation standards for new code, with a focus on self-documenting, human-readable code. As mentioned above, there is an increasing prevalence of generative AI tooling to support this.

As with any software development, , team culture, and processes will be key to a successful delivery.

Step 5: Prepare your safety nets

Legacy code can be fragile, and changes may introduce unforeseen issues. Effective risk management and .

Thankfully, it is often true that the same good practices that are used for modern code development will bring the same benefits to a legacy code context. Additionally AI-assisted tools can guide or automate the creation of test scripts.

• Testing: Test-driven development is good practice, whether for new code or when refactoring existing code. Start by creating a suite of tests for the existing code, which will serve as a safety net when you start making changes.
• Test automation: Invest in test automation to cover critical functionality and regressions. This reduces the risk of introducing new bugs during maintenance or refactoring.
• Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD): Implement CI/CD pipelines to automate building, testing, and deploying code changes, reducing the manual error-prone steps.
• Rollback plans: Always have rollback plans in place in case a change leads to unforeseen issues. Being able to quickly revert to a stable state is crucial.
• Maintain a change log: Keep a detailed change log of all refactoring activities, including what was changed and why. This helps in tracking improvements and their impact.

Step 6: Refactoring

Once your strategy is agreed, and your team and safety nets are in-place, iterative code refactoring can start. 

• Isolate refactoring: Refactor small, isolated pieces of code one at a time. This minimizes the risk of introducing new bugs and makes the process more manageable.
• Code reviews: Incorporate code reviews into the refactoring process. A fresh pair of eyes can catch issues and provide valuable insights, as well as helping with knowledge sharing, training, and the avoidance of key person dependencies.
• Dependency updates: Regularly update external dependencies to their latest stable versions to fix security vulnerabilities and benefit from new features. Tools such as Dependabot, Aikido, and GreenKeeper can help to automate this process.
• Transparent communication: Keep stakeholders informed about the progress of code management, the reasons behind changes, and the potential impact on business operations.

Final thoughts

Legacy code is a challenge that every enterprise software development team must face. However, with the right strategies and techniques, it is possible to manage, refactor, and modernize legacy code effectively. The key is to approach the process with a clear strategy, open communication, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

In the ever-evolving world of software development, the ability to manage legacy code is a skill that every enterprise should cultivate. With careful planning and a commitment to best practices, along with a rapidly-evolving, AI-enabled toolset, even the most challenging legacy codebases can be tamed and brought into alignment with modern development standards, and then maintained effectively to avoid the issue recurring.

Ever wondered what travel industry experts consider when booking their own trips? 澳门三肖三码 has surveyed its own global workforce to provide insights into possible industry traveller trends for 2024.

As the pace of evolution in the travel ecosystem continues to accelerate, industry expertise is more valuable than ever. Combining the insights of hundreds of 澳门三肖三码 team members globally alongside 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 data analytics, 澳门三肖三码 has taken a deep dive into how these individuals plan to travel in 2024. For these team members, the survey results indicate:

1. Increased confidence among travelers surveyed, with more people booking at least three months in advance for leisure trips.
2. More than three-quarters of travelers surveyed are planning at least two vacations and more than a fifth say they are taking four or five leisure trips.
3. Nearly 90% of travelers surveyed are spending about the same or more on travel than they did in 2023, with Gen Z increasing their budget the most.
4. 2024 appears to be the year that revenge travel will come into its own for travelers surveyed in Asia Pacific.
5. Long-haul is expected to be in the cards for more travelers in 2024, with more than half surveyed either choosing long-haul or saying distance doesn鈥檛 matter to them.
6. Gen Z surveyed travelers in particular are concerned about losing their luggage, and are purchasing insurance to guard against it.
7. Surveyed travelers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa are looking for family-orientated destinations while those in North America are focused on couples鈥� trips.

Increased confidence 

澳门三肖三码鈥檚 survey found most 澳门三肖三码 team members are intending to travel in 2024, with most planning at least two leisure trips (Fig. 1.0). 

Fig. 1.0 

As compared to previous years, the survey indicates that travelers at 澳门三肖三码 are demonstrating higher travel confidence, with most air tickets for leisure travel purchased at least three months in advance. (Fig. 1.2). The results suggest that most respondents are showing they are no longer concerned about the kind of travel uncertainty experienced during the pandemic and are happy to make longer-term plans. Air ticket prices are also likely to be motivating travelers to buy further out to better plan their budgets and potentially cut costs.

People traveling for leisure tend to buy tickets earlier, mostly at least 3 months before the trip. However, corporate travel needs are different, according to the 澳门三肖三码 survey, with most tickets for business trips bought just 2 to 4 weeks before (Fig 1.2).

Fig 1.2

Gen Z are increasing their budget most

Respondents are willing to spend more on their travels in 2024. Our data shows that most 澳门三肖三码 travelers are planning to spend the same amount or even more than they did on air travel in 2023 (Fig 1.3). This is supported by a similar survey done by . Air fares reached a price tipping point in 2022 and have somewhat reduced, so the survey results indicate that this increase in budget is not simply down to respondents鈥� 鈥渉aving鈥� to spend more but 鈥渨anting鈥� to spend more to make the most of their trips.

Fig 1.3

Gen Zs at 澳门三肖三码, who perhaps have greater disposable incomes as they may be yet to have dependents of their own, indicated that they are willing to spend more, with most saying they would spend 鈥榮lightly more than 2023鈥� compared to Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y who mostly said they would spend 鈥榓bout the same as 2023鈥� (Fig 1.4).

Fig 1.4 

Respondents in Asia Pacific (APAC) said they had a higher budget and more plans for 2024 leisure travels (Fig 1.5) as compared to other regions. This could be because parts of APAC were slower to ease pandemic-related travel restrictions than other global destinations. Unlike the rest of the world which has already experienced 鈥淩evenge Travelling鈥�, 2024 may be the year where we see APAC countries enjoy spikes in revenge travel.  

Fig 1.5

Travel companions

Trips for couples are the most popular among respondents for 2024, followed by trips with friends. However, survey results indicate that there is a significantly higher percentage of people in Europe and the Middle East (EMEA) looking at trips with kids under 12 years old as compared to the rest of the world, though they all have couple trips ranked at first (Fig 2.0). Based on the survey results, it seems that travelers in EMEA have family-orientated destinations in mind for 2024, while others have romantic, couples鈥� locations on their wishlist.  

Fig 2.0

Travel preferences and priorities 

Respondents are focused on practicality. Our survey shows that destination, activity available and cost are the most important factors people consider when planning 2024 leisure trips. Meanwhile, sustainability was also a consideration for many, with all respondents saying they would pay up to 5% more for a more sustainable option, and a significant proportion saying they would be happy to pay up to 15% more to carbon offset their journey.  

Seat selection and guarding against lost luggage 

Leisure and business respondents have different priorities when it comes to ancillaries. The survey results indicate that corporate travelers prefer to travel light so check-in luggage is less important to them, while in-flight meals are more important to leisure travelers. (Fig 3.0). Seat selection was ranked the most important for survey respondents for both business and leisure travel as comfort is a universal preference for many. Most survey respondents prefer having aisle or window seats as they believe it gives them more freedom of space compared to middle seats. For leisure travelers, respondents prefer to sit with family members, while business travelers are often keen to sit towards the front of the plane so they can get off quickly.

Fig 3.0 

澳门三肖三码 data corroborates this finding with analysis showing a greater percentage of leisure travelers choose to purchase baggage ancillaries, compared to business travelers for whom seat selection is by far the most important extra.  

Fig 3.1 

There are also geographical differences. Respondents in the US are more inclined to buy insurance for flight changes and cancellation and not medical insurance, whereas the majority of the world is more inclined to buy medical insurance (Fig 3.2).

Fig 3.2

As for Gen Z respondents, they have different concerns, namely regarding lost or stolen baggage. This could be due to increased instances of lost baggage after the pandemic, with public consciousness of the issue increasing. (Fig 3.3). 

Fig 3.3

With increased travel confidence, more trips, bigger budgets and careful planning, 澳门三肖三码 travelers are looking forward to where the rest of 2024 takes them.

*Online traveler sentiment survey comprising 25 questions with responses from over 700 global 澳门三肖三码 team members of various age groups, along with in-person interviews for deeper perspectives. Additional insights from 澳门三肖三码 data.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss this highly relevant matter during a panel discussion at the Phocuswright Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, moderated by Laura Chadwick, President & CEO, The Travel Technology Association and joined by Robert Cole, CEO, RockCheetah, and Lara Tennyson, Head of US Federal Affairs, Booking Holdings. Here are my main take-aways from our conversation between panel members and numerous industry participants that attended the event.

Transparency is Crucial

One of the primary concerns with AI is the lack of transparency. Users need to know when they are interacting with AI, especially in the case of AI chatbots. Transparency builds trust and helps users understand the limits of AI capabilities. It enables them to make informed decisions and ensures that AI systems are not misused or misunderstood. Companies like Booking.com and Priceline have taken steps to ensure transparency by clearly indicating when users are interacting with AI-powered systems.

Another important aspect is knowing the sources and origins of information that AI powered systems are basing their answers (or recommendations) on. Explainable AI (or XAI) is an active field of research and given the problems associated with 鈥渉allucinations鈥� with Generative AI models that are built to optimize next word prediction tasks 鈥� the importance of generating and explaining the results will be important to users and help improve the acceptance of such AI algorithms in the long term.

Accuracy is Essential

AI models, particularly large language models, are not infallible. They rely on vast amounts of data, and inaccuracies can occur. It is crucial for companies to continuously work on improving the accuracy of their AI systems. This requires ongoing monitoring, testing, and refinement. Booking.com, for example, emphasizes the importance of accuracy in its AI systems and invests in continuous improvement to provide reliable information to its customers. While traditional AI and statistical techniques have built in safeguards to guarantee and optimize accuracy 鈥� generative AI models still have challenges with respect to hallucinations and mathematical calculations. Important advances in fine-tuning, retrieval augmented generation (RAG) as well as newer conformal mapping techniques are promising avenues to reduce these adverse effects and increase the overall capabilities of generative AI systems.

Anticipating the Future

The future of AI is uncertain, and it is crucial to have the right guardrails in place to avoid potential pitfalls. As technology evolves, regulations must keep pace. Governments worldwide are actively working on AI regulations, and it is essential to strike a balance between enabling innovation and ensuring responsible use of AI, most importantly relative to security and governance. The EU, Biden administration (see ) and Congress in the United States are actively engaging in understanding AI technology and creating impactful policies (see NIST ). Private companies such as Google (who recently introduced their ) are also active in this field and working to incorporate security and compliance related issues that arise with the use of such AI systems into an overall security related processes for software systems.

Collaboration and Input from Diverse Perspectives

The development of AI regulations requires collaboration and input from various stakeholders. Government agencies, industry experts, civil society groups, nonprofits, and startups must all have a seat at the table. The US government, through AI Insight forums and AI councils, is actively seeking input from diverse views and expertise. We are part of organizations like the Travel Technology Association to help ensure that regulations are comprehensive, inclusive, and a balance between regulation and innovation.

Balancing Innovation with Regulation

Regulation plays a crucial role in creating a level playing field and ensuring responsible AI practices. However, striking the right balance between regulation and innovation is essential. Overregulation can stifle innovation, particularly for startups and smaller companies that may not have the resources to comply with extensive regulatory requirements. It is important to consider the potential impact on competition and encourage a fair and open market for AI technologies. Given the capital required to develop LLMs (large language models) a variety of open-source initiatives have also sprung up in parallel 鈥� and several participants expressed a fear of regulatory capture where large industry players with deep pockets would influence regulations that safeguard their interests and stifle innovation that may be crucial to solve some of the problems identified above.

Protecting Consumer Interests

Responsible AI should prioritize consumer protection and data privacy. Companies must adhere to robust principles, including self-determined decision-making, human supervision, data protection, privacy, consumer protection, and fair competition. These principles should be integrated into AI systems from the very beginning, irrespective of the industry. Governments need to create meaningful and impactful policies that safeguard consumer interests while fostering innovation. This is especially important in the travel vertical where PII (personal identifiable information) and PCI (payment card industry) data along with information such passport information etc. are often used, stored, and transmitted across passenger service and departure control systems 鈥� that interact with users through a variety of interfaces.

Global Collaboration and Interoperability

AI is a global phenomenon, and regulations must reflect this reality. Collaboration between different countries and regions is crucial to ensure interoperability and avoid fragmented regulatory frameworks. The US and European Union (EU) are actively engaged in discussions on AI regulations through forums like the Trade and Technology Council. Harmonizing regulations and creating interoperable standards will facilitate the responsible use of AI technologies across borders.

The Role of Startups and Incumbents

Startups and incumbents both have a role to play in the AI landscape. Startups often bring fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and agile approaches to problem-solving. They can disrupt traditional models and drive industry-wide transformation. Incumbents, on the other hand, have the advantage of resources, data, and infrastructure. They can provide stability, scale, and expertise. Collaboration between startups and incumbents can lead to synergistic outcomes, fostering innovation while leveraging existing industry knowledge and resources.

Ongoing Education and Learning

As AI continues to evolve, ongoing education and learning are vital. Policymakers, industry professionals, and consumers need to stay informed about the latest developments in AI technology and its implications. Understanding the potential risks and benefits of AI will enable informed decision-making and effective regulation. Platforms like podcasts, industry conferences, and open forums provide opportunities for sharing knowledge and fostering dialogue.

Striking a Balance Between Security and Innovation

AI presents both security risks and innovative opportunities. While there is a need to protect AI systems from malicious use, it is equally important to promote innovation and harness the potential benefits of AI. Striking a balance between security measures and innovation-friendly policies will ensure responsible AI practices without stifling progress.

Building Trust and Ethical AI

Responsible AI goes beyond regulatory compliance. It encompasses building trust with users, ensuring ethical AI practices, and prioritizing the well-being of individuals and society. Companies must adopt ethical guidelines and frameworks that promote fairness, accountability, and transparency in their AI systems. By prioritizing responsible AI, organizations can foster trust among users and contribute to the positive impact of AI on the travel industry.

The Future of Responsible AI

The future of responsible AI lies in a multifaceted approach that combines regulatory measures, collaboration, innovation, and ongoing education. Governments, industry players, and consumers must work together to shape regulations that strike the right balance between enabling innovation and ensuring ethical, secure, and transparent AI practices. By doing so, AI can drive the transformation of the travel industry, providing personalized, efficient, and responsible experiences for travelers worldwide.

In summary, the state of responsible AI and the role of regulation are critical considerations in the travel industry and beyond. Transparency, accuracy, collaboration, and a balanced approach to regulation and innovation are key principles that shape the future of responsible AI. By prioritizing consumer interests, fostering global collaboration, and promoting ethical practices, the travel industry can leverage the power of AI to enhance customer experiences while ensuring responsible and secure use of this transformative technology.

About the Author

Sundar Narasimhan, SVP President 澳门三肖三码 Labs 锛� Product Strategy

Virgin Atlantic Flight 100 flying from London to New York

November is a big month for clean aviation! Virgin Atlantic is running the world鈥檚 first transatlantic flight powered solely by sustainable aviation fuels, today.  It took off at 11:50am from London Heathrow for New York JFK.   

This is an important milestone 鈥� it demonstrates to the world that a greener way of flying is possible   

However, there are huge supply and cost challenges to overcome before we can expect to see widespread use of sustainable jet fuels. Back in the early 2010s, IATA announced a goal to have 10% of the aviation industry running on SAF by 2017[1] 鈥� But fast-forward to 2023, and SAF makes up only 0.1% of jet fuel globally![2] We literally had millions of tonnes more work to do than we thought!

The UK government is one that鈥檚 getting behind SAF; today鈥檚 flight has been supported by government funding.听 In addition, it pledges that it鈥檒l have听听under construction by 2025.听 At the Aviation Carbon event earlier this month, Aviation and Maritime Minister Baroness Vere promised that she will introduce a SAF mandate by 2025 that will commit to 10% of the country鈥檚 jet fuel coming from SAF by the end of the decade.听 In the meantime, the Baroness told an audience of airline executives to 鈥渕odernise their operations鈥� to cut emissions fast, including via their technology.

1. SAF is produced from more sustainable sources 鈥� including used cooking oil, agricultural waste, oils from plants and nuts, forestry and gas from steel mills.  

2. SAF could reduce CO2 emissions by 80% compared to conventional jet fuels 

Jet fuels made from fossil fuels add to the overall level of CO2 in the atmosphere by emitting carbon that had been previously locked away.  In contrast, the feedstocks of SAF do not compete with food crops, nor require use of resources like water or land, and do not cause deforestation or biodiversity loss.

3. United Airlines is currently the world鈥檚 largest consumer of sustainable aviation fuels 

The airline will have used 10 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel in 2023 鈥� about three times more than 2022 and 10 times more than in 2019.  However, this still only accounts for 1% of its total fuel consumption!

4. More than 370,000 planes have flown using sustainable aviation fuels since 2016[3] 

Many planes today use a hybrid mix of sustainable fuels with conventional fuels.  If you travel a lot, chances are you鈥檝e already flown on one! 

5. More than 40 airlines and 13 major airports already use and supply SAF

This number is growing fast and the demand for SAF is growing, too. 

6. SAF production tripled in 2022 to 300 million liters (240,000 tonnes)

As a result, the number of SAF producers is rapidly growing.  IATA forecasts that, by 2030, we will be producing 30 billion liters (24 billion tonnes)! 

And finally鈥�

7. The first test flight using 100% SAF actually flew in 2008

Boeing and Virgin Atlantic teamed up to fly the first-ever biofuel-powered flight, a Boeing 747 from London to Amsterdam, on fuels blended in one engine derived from oil in Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts. 

This shows how long we鈥檝e been trying to make SAF a reality鈥� but it seems we鈥檙e finally turning a very sharp corner!

[1] Dirk Singer, Simpliflying, November 2023

[2] World Economic Forum, November 2020

[3] IATA, 2022 

Every winner of the Global Responsible Tourism Awards has already won a regional award in order to be considered, so is a finalist from hundreds of submissions around the world. The awards shine a light on some of the very best responsible tourism initiatives in the world, where lessons learnt are measured and tracked and the results can inspire many other businesses and organisations to truly drive change on a global scale. The winners include new ways of creating tourism networks, tracking carbon and developing deeper connections between visitors and communities.

Information about all winners can be found at . The eight 2023 Global Responsible Tourism Award winners are:

Best for nature-positive tourism:  Wildlife Act, South Africa includes a tour operator recruiting wildlife ecotourists, together with a non-profit and Fair Trade registered trust which specialises in the safe capture, transportation and reintroduction of endangered species into new areas. Up to 500 conservation volunteers  a year get far more than the typical eco-tourism experience by playing an active role in genuine conservation. Activities include daily wildlife monitoring, rescuing and treating animals caught in snares, translocating animals to other reserves when necessary and essential data collection to inform management decisions, fighting against wildlife poaching, education and awareness of conservation in Africa and providing the means to support it while getting actively involved. 

Best for meaningful connections (joint winner): Uthando, South Africa runs 鈥渞espectful, life-changing philanthropic education excursions鈥� around Cape Town visiting community development projects. Each tour varies according to community needs and could include visits to musicians, artisans, agricultural projects and schools. Uthando means love and the project strives to be an example of inspirational travel that connects visitors with communities in an authentic and culturally sensitive way that leaves a lasting positive impact for visitors and locals alike. More than $250,000 was raised in 2022 and  is then used by the community projects as well as on projects such as building early development centres have also been built. The most recent centre was built from 1700 tyres, plastic bottles, and film set waste bricks. 

Best for meaningful connections (joint winner): Soar Excursions, Ahmedabad, Gujarat describes itself as 鈥渄edicated to offering meaningful, experiential, and responsible tourism experiences to a diverse range of clients鈥�, which includes pleasure tourists, craft and heritage professionals, international students, and research scholars. It provides customised and curated slow travel options in Gujarat and immersive tours offer experiences, ranging from bicycling through the Rann of Kutch to exploring modernist architecture in Gujarat to walking alongside the nomadic Mirasi community, or textile tours and workshops connecting visitors with local communities. Soar Excursions is a small specialist carrying between 150 and 200 guests each year, with five core team members. 

Best for diversity and inclusion: The Batuc Network, from Bahia in Brazil, brings together quilombolas (Afro-Brazilian communities formed by runaway slaves), indigenous people, family farmers, fishermen, riverside dwellers, shepherds, land reform settlers, and urban collectives. The network uses tourism to generate work and income and as an instrument of resistance and transformation. Members offer sustainable, responsible, and regenerative tourism for economic benefit and to strengthen marginalised communities attracting around 140,000 domestic, international and diaspora visitors in 2021. The Batuc Network is recognized throughout Brazil as a pioneer in efforts to promote justice for the black, quilombola and indigenous populations through tourism. 

Best for local sourcing, craft and food (joint winner): Ngwenya Glass is an outstanding craft enterprise in Estwatini which re-purposes old bottles into handmade glass ornaments and tableware melting up to one ton of broken bottles daily, in a furnace that is predominately fuelled by used cooking oil. Ngwenya Glass attracts fifty thousand international tourists on guided tours yearly, who can watch waste glass being turned into 鈥減roducts with purpose鈥� as pieces are mouth-blown or hand sculpted by talented Swazi artisans. Thirteen other boutique shops are also hosted in the indigenous garden, all selling locally produced art and craft, including artisanal chocolate and gin shops. In 2007 Ngwenya Glass started collaborating with other Swazi handcraft producers, also involved in tourism in the Kingdom, resulting in the eSwatini Fair Trade (SWIFT). 

Best for local sourcing, craft and food (joint winner): The work undertaken by the Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission, Government of Keralahas ensured that more than 25,000 households in Kerala benefit from tourism. A village life experiences programme connects visitors directly with craft workers enabling them to buy directly from producers. The Responsible Tourism Mission also promotes the ethnic and traditional foods of each locality through tourism, providing authentic local food experiences enjoyed in local homes for tourists, and generating additional income for those households that participate. The Kerala Agritourism Network, part of the Responsible Tourism Mission, connects small-scale farmers to the tourism sector, generating additional income for the farmers and ensuring local availability of fresh agricultural products to the tourism industry.  

Best for tackling plastic waste: Lemala Camps and Lodges in Tanzania has removed single-use plastic from its camps but guests arrive with waste plastic and expect Lemala to dispose of it on their behalf.  Lemala has responded to that challenge and turned it into an opportunity by upcycling waste plastic and turning it into school desks and chairs for future generations. Working with Dunia Design, Lemala has removed more than 100 tons of plastic from the parks and produced 75 recycled school desks that have been donated to Chief Lebolo鈥檚 School and the Nainokanoka Primary School at Ngorongoro. Lemala also uses 100% biodegradable and plastic-free lunch boxes utilising dried banana leaves collected and assembled by single mothers in a community between Tarangire and Ngoronogoro. 

Best for addressing climate change: Weeva is an innovative data-driven software that measures sustainability based on conservation, community, commerce and culture. Weeva users can manage their carbon footprint by measuring and reporting their resource use. Weeva recognises that businesses will have different starting points, facing different issues in a world diverse in geography, climate and culture, and they have made it easy to begin. Businesses can get started by entering relevant data into the Weeva system; whether that鈥檚 the litres of petrol or diesel that month, kilowatt hours of solar energy produced, or employee engagement survey scores. 

At 澳门三肖三码, we鈥檝e built a comprehensive virtual payments solution to streamline operations, improve security and compliance, and keep your cash flowing. Read on to explore the drawbacks of existing payment methods, the benefits of virtual payments, the role of an orchestration engine, and how OTAs can get more from supplier payments with 澳门三肖三码.

• Current payment options aren鈥檛 fit for purpose  
• Virtual payments are the way to go
• Optimize virtual payments with an orchestration engine
• Get started quickly with 澳门三肖三码 Virtual Payments

Current payment options aren鈥檛 fit for purpose 

Your engineering team is busy. Managing supplier payments is another challenge to consider in addition to delivering exceptional travel customer experiences. However, traditional supplier payment options aren鈥檛 fit for purpose for modern OTAs that need to scale fast, access deep data insights, and provide seamless customer experiences without relying on manual operations. Here are a few payment methods and the challenges they present:

• Customer credit card. Passing customer credit card details directly to suppliers for them to process rather than accepting payments yourself can confuse customers when merchant details on their bank statements don鈥檛 match the OTA platform and when payments are split between multiple suppliers. 
• Cash payment. This method provides no cash flow which is particularly pertinent for bookings taking place months in advance. It also limits rebate opportunities for OTAs.  
• Bank transfer via invoice. This complicates treasury management and payments are rarely integrated into existing workflows, limiting the amount of aggregated data, and making manual reconciliation more difficult. 

In addition to contending with traditional payment methods, you face both business and technical challenges to ensure seamless, cost-effective supplier payments.

Business challenges 

• Missed revenue and cashflow opportunities. Managing rebates, surcharges, and processing fees across payment providers and methods is a balancing act that can restrict your cashflow and leave you paying more than you need to and missing income opportunities.
• Operational overload. You can鈥檛 scale if you face internal hurdles when finance team members are overwhelmed with manual processes, reconciliation, and reporting, particularly during peak times.
• Restricted international expansion. To grow your business across countries and regions, you need to build and maintain relationships with global providers and consider effective currency conversion to avoid costly exchange rates.
• Regulatory compliance. Navigating the payments landscape requires following evolving regulatory compliance standards, notably PCI DSS globally and EU鈥檚 Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in Europe.
• Risk of supplier bankruptcy. You face an inherent risk with financial stability of suppliers, making you potentially liable for refunds or facing unrecovered funds. You also face an increasing threat of fraud that opens you up to lost revenue, breeches of regulations, and fines.

Technical challenges

• Systems integration. Traditional payment systems need significant upfront integration and ongoing maintenance to ensure seamless data flows with existing OTA infrastructure.
• Industry know-how. You need to stay up to date with the intricacies of international industry compliance, best practice, and international nuances across the sprawling payments ecosystem consisting of banks, payment gateways, card networks, fintech providers, and more.
• Limited data insights. Manual processes, poorly connected systems, and siloed data make it difficult to understand performance and make decisions to improve operations.
• Build vs buy decisions. Building your own payment solution gives you flexibility but the resources needed to develop and maintain the infrastructure in addition to orchestration and reconciliation layers shouldn鈥檛 be underestimated.

Virtual payments are the way to go

OTA tech leaders who prioritize virtual payment solutions can alleviate the challenges of traditional payment methods and improve security, compliance, processing times, and transaction tracking and reporting.

Virtual payments aren鈥檛 new 鈥� they鈥檝e been around since the mid-2000鈥檚 鈥� but OTAs are increasingly adopting this method to pay suppliers as they鈥檙e under pressure in today鈥檚 competitive marketplace to optimize revenue opportunities, automate processes, offer greater data insights, and operate at a global scale across regions and currencies. You can unlock these benefits with 澳门三肖三码 Virtual Payments:

• Grow revenue and lower costs. Improve your cashflow by paying suppliers at optimal times, maximizing rebates, avoiding surcharges, and using the best payment method for each transaction. 
• Automated operations and data reporting. Process payments faster and save your finance team days usually spent on manual processing, reconciliation, reporting and data interrogation with automated workflows.
• Support for international growth. Process transactions for global suppliers and optimize currency exchange fees by matching virtual cards to the most appropriate supplier account and payment gateway.
• Improved security, compliance, and protection. Your money is safe with strict PCI DSS compliance protocols including penetration testing to protect payments in addition to rules-based transaction authorization and travel-specific spend categories and merchant codes to mitigates the risk of fraud.
• Faster integration and easier maintenance. Cut technical integration time from months to as little as four to six weeks without needing to build and maintain dozens of technical connections with payment gateways, card issuers, banks etc. Then empower your finance team to manage business rules themselves within the user interface without intervention from your engineering team.
• Leverage payments and travel industry expertise. Access 澳门三肖三码鈥檚 deep knowledge of the travel and payment industries and relationships with global payment providers without needing to train and hire internal experts or build your own industry connections.

Optimize virtual payments with an orchestration engine

An orchestration engine is the key to effectively managing supplier payments. It鈥檚 a core function of 澳门三肖三码 Virtual Payments that intelligently routes payments across issuers, schemes and cards based on spend type, supplier ID, supplier amount, currency and more. By using a ready-built orchestration engine with associated reconciliation platform, you鈥檒l benefit from seamless payment processing with failover protection, automated redirects, load balancing, and block functionality.  

Failover protection. When a payment gateway or card issuer fails due to software bugs, infrastructure outages, or other unforeseen problems it can lead to transaction failures or delays, lost revenue, and an erosion of trust. These instances typically need manual intervention from OTAs to identify and reissue missed payments. Failover protection is a safety net, intelligently routing payments between issuers, products, and accounts. This redundancy minimizes downtime and ensures resilience so you don鈥檛 miss payments that can cause late payment fees or lost rebates.  

Automated redirects. Suppliers often need to be paid to or from specific accounts to maintain relevant budget allocations, leverage financial benefits with banks, or manage currency-specific transactions. Automated redirects based on predefined criteria makes sure your payments are accurate and compliant with financial policies without the need for manual interventions which take time and can introduce human error.  

Load balancing. To meet specific contracting obligations or hit spend targets with issuers get the best rebates, you need to strategically distribute payments. Loads can be assigned based on revenue, interchange, funds available (credit/debit), and card types. The weighting across the payment ecosystem can be updated in the user interface in just a couple of minutes to maximize revenue opportunities. 

Block functionality. You need control over your payments to avoid breaches of contract or internal OTA policy. For example, blocking payments to specific regions due to sanctions or ensuring adherence to internal spending limits. Block functionality allows your finance team to set specific restrictions or rules, preventing unauthorized or non-compliant transactions to safeguard against potential financial and legal repercussions. 

Get started quickly with 澳门三肖三码 Virtual Payments  

Instead of investing engineering time into maintaining a technically complex payments platform with evolving security, compliance, and risk considerations, you can access a ready-built solution to meet ambitious growth needs. 

Why 澳门三肖三码 Virtual Payments? You get more than other solutions: 50+ currencies, 90+ countries, top 5 global card schemes, and 70+ banks. Get in touch with 澳门三肖三码 payments experts today to explore how you can quickly integrate the solution into your tech and payments stack to reduce complexity, consolidate reporting, streamline workflows, and make more money from rebates. 

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 

One in ten jobs worldwide are in the tourism sector (WTTC) and many of these are in developing countries, with a significant contribution to GDP. To support SDG 8, the industry must prioritise decent work conditions and fair wages, uplifting marginalised communities and promoting inclusive growth. We can also shine a light on more sustainable travel options, so that travel agencies and travellers can make better choices.

Goal 13: Climate Action

Aviation is a high-emitting sector, responsible for 2.5 per cent of global carbon emissions and as an industry, travel must move towards net zero carbon emissions. In the longer term, advancements in biofuels, hybrid-electric propulsion systems, and more efficient aircraft designs show potential for a more sustainable aviation future. In the short to medium term investments in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and technology that helps airlines set the fastest routes, reduce unnecessary weight, and empowers travellers to make more sustainable flight choices are all possible solutions. 

Society and business are being asked to 鈥渃lose every loophole that enables delay and glorifies inaction鈥� on work to create a sustainable future.  Environmentally and socially and through collaboration, innovation and a whole system approach, this is an area where the travel sector can have a major impact.

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production 

Tourism accounts for approximately eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions (source The Guardian), with the average hotel guest generating about 1.5kg of waste per night (Green Hotelier). To align with SDG 12, the industry needs to adopt sustainable technologies, reduce plastic usage, and promote responsible sourcing, water and waste management strategies.

Goal 14: Life Below Water & Goal 15: Life on Land 

Tourism-related activities contribute to approximately 80 per cent of marine pollution from land-based sources* (United Nations) and the annual cost of biodiversity loss due to tourism is estimated to be around $490 billion (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity). It鈥檚 vital that the industry takes a nature-based approach to sustainability, minimising disturbances to wildlife and supporting conservation efforts in order to support SDGs 14 and 15. 

Goal 5: Gender Equality, Goal 1: No Poverty and Goal 10: Reduced Inequality 

Women make up around 54 per cent of the global tourism workforce (UN Women). However, they earn 10-15 per cent less than men on average in the tourism industry (World Tourism Organization). The travel industry can support SDGs 5, 1 and 10 by promoting gender diversity and equal opportunities, thus empowering women and girls to reach their potential. We can also work hard to ensure that a larger slice of the tourism pie directly benefits local communities.  

Goal 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions 

Travel is often described as a bridge between cultures and according to the World Tourism Organisation, 80 per cent of people believe that travel promotes cross-cultural understanding and peace. Some of the best travel experiences are those where we experience meaningful connections with people and destinations, and through responsible travel we can contribute to a more peaceful and interconnected world.    

In short, the travel industry鈥檚 potential to support the UN鈥檚 Sustainable Development Goals is vast. We can make data-driven decisions to prioritise decent work and economic growth, adopt responsible consumption and production practices and take climate action. In collaboration, the industry can lead the way in embracing sustainability, becoming a force for positive change that supports the wellbeing of our planet and all its inhabitants. At 澳门三肖三码, our work in sustainability is underpinned by the SDGs and by collaborating with our partners, customers and peers across the industry, together, we can make more sustainable travel happen. 

A pivotal moment for business travel

A new era in corporate travel is emerging post-pandemic to adapt to new ways of working around the world. Globally, more than 40% of employees work from home or in a hybrid modelⁱ. And, companies are increasingly laser-focused on how travel can deliver maximum business value in this new ecosystem.

So now, more than ever, it鈥檚 essential to fully understand how the corporate travel environment is changing and what we, as an industry, must continue to focus on.

At this pivotal moment for business travel, 澳门三肖三码 has taken a dive into our own corporate travel data to identify some of the trends we are seeing in the business travel sphere; finding that corporate travelers are:

1. Taking longer business trips to maximize the value of each journey
2. Planning further ahead for business travel
3. Taking more opportunities to upgrade to a higher cabin class

The shape of corporate travel recovery 

What is clear is that business travel is coming back. But it鈥檚 coming back differently. We鈥檙e not where we were pre-pandemic in terms of the quantity of corporate travel, but the signs are positive. Industry surveys indicate that corporate demand is expected to be healthy in the coming quarters.  

According to data analytics from ForwardKeysⁱⁱ, for example, business travel recovery is set to overtake leisure bookings recovery this year. Meanwhile Deloitte research in the US and Europe suggests corporate travel may make a full recovery in 2024ⁱⁱⁱ. In addition, Delta Air Lines said its own recent corporate survey showed 93% of businesses expect to increase travel in the second half of 2023, with several of the so-far least-recovered sectors conveying optimism for increased travel^iv.

More long-stay trips 

Corporate travelers appear to be staying longer when they make a business trip. 

The data indicates that they want to ensure they can make the most of their trip whenever they decide the time is right to make one. As a result, they appear to want to pack in as much as possible during their stay.  

It seems corporate travelers are also thinking carefully about what is just right in terms of length of stay. They appear to want to take the optimal length of trip to fit in everything they can, without overstaying. 

The sweet spot for most corporate travelers, according to our 澳门三肖三码 analysis, is a stay of two to three days, although there have also been slight increases in the four-to-seven-day stay ranges.听

Planning ahead听

During the pandemic, it was close to impossible to make travel plans, whether leisure or corporate. 

However, our analysis indicates that corporations and their travelers are now making longer-term plans. They鈥檙e booking further out for business trips than they did pre-pandemic. That means they can book and put together their schedules much further in advance, really taking the time to consider what they want to get out of their trip, and giving themselves time to carefully plan. 

Our analysis indicates that the majority of business trips are booked within the 15-to-30-days-out timeframe, and there鈥檚 also been an increase in bookings made more than 31 days out.  

Corporate travelers are feeling more confident about making plans further ahead of time, and are taking that lead-in time to make plans and set up meetings. Longer booking windows may also be down to regularity of trips to the office for remote workers, and to help corporations to get the best prices, and budget accordingly.听听

A higher class of travel听听

While the picture has remained pretty stable for domestic travel, when it comes to international trips, Travel Management Companies (TMCs) are noting a slightly higher share of premium fares.

A shift in top corporate destinations 

Top domestic corporate routes remain largely the same when comparing pre-pandemic with 2023. There鈥檚 still a strong focus on Australia, India, the US, and South Africa, with routes from Paris and mining routes in Australia gaining traffic. For international routes, the top route of London to Paris remains unchanged, with destinations from and to Singapore also doing well. Middle Eastern routes have gained strength while Nordic routes have also increased traffic. Unsurprisingly, given ongoing conflict, journeys to and from Russia are seeing a dip in corporate traffic, as are Chinese routes, where travel restrictions were slow to ease.

Considerations for the travel industry 

The corporate travel industry is more dynamic and complex than ever. To stay relevant and flourish, corporate travel sellers and Travel Management Companies need to think differently, embrace change, and innovate with new solutions and strategies. They need the right technology to manage companies鈥� approaches to travel.

While business travelers are seeking a carefully considered corporate travel experience, the travel ecosystem has to make certain its own offerings are just as thoughtful and impactful if we are to help ensure that the corporate travel sector continues to recover, grow, and evolve in a way that maximizes revenue for the industry while creating true personalization and value for companies and their travelers.

^[1]

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澳门三肖三码-connected travel agencies can shop, book and service NDC content from these airlines that includes this expanded array of passenger types. When plans change, we understand that servicing capabilities are critical to keep travelers 鈥� and your operations 鈥� moving efficiently. To that end, our multi-passenger workflows support cancelling, voiding, and refunding NDC orders.

If you are already shopping and booking NDC content from these airlines 鈥� which include Avianca, Avianca Costa Rica, Avianca Ecuador and Avianca El Salvador 鈥� through the 澳门三肖三码 marketplace, you鈥檒l automatically have access to the new multi-passenger capabilities.

As other NDC airlines activate multi-passenger capabilities, we鈥檒l be sure to let you know.

Get started with NDC

Currently, 15 airlines distribute their NDC offers through the 澳门三肖三码 marketplace. To add NDC offers to your content mix, visit 澳门三肖三码 Central Marketplace and follow each airline鈥檚 activation instructions.

If you鈥檙e a GetThere customer, please contact your GetThere representative to discuss how to turn on NDC in your GetThere instance.

If you鈥檙e interested in learning more about the 澳门三肖三码 NDC airline IT offering, please contact your 澳门三肖三码 account representative.