The Future of Travel: A New Era of Booking and Experiences
Get ready for a revolutionary change in the way we travel in the next decade. A recent report by Omio, a travel app and website, reveals that social media and entertainment channels will become the primary ways to book travel. This will significantly reduce the time and effort needed for planning trips.
The Omio Future Journeys Report, created in collaboration with The Future Laboratory, highlights innovative ways we might think about and book travel by 2035. One of the biggest changes will be in how we experience travel, shifting the focus from simply moving from Point A to Point B to creating a more personalized and immersive journey.
Martin Raymond, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, explains: “Instead of just getting from A to B, it’s about how the entire journey feels and adapts along the way.”
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American Airlines planes waiting for passengers at Miami International Airport
By 2035, travel and tourism will contribute over $17 trillion to the global economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.
Travel platforms will evolve beyond simple transactions. They will focus on personalized experiences by incorporating travelers’ emotions and needs into trips.
Omio has shown impressive growth recently, with 30% year-over-year increase. It now sells around 80,000 tickets daily. Their data reveals 900 million website visitors generating one billion travel searches.
Ryanair Boeing 737-800 Takes Off from Santander, Spain
Steve Kuo, Senior Managing Director and Technology Group Head at Hercules Capital, credits the success of the platform to its scaling efforts. Hercules Capital invested $120 million into the platform, which recently expanded its ticket sales to Southeast Asia. Additionally, it now includes low-cost brands like FlixBus and Ryanair, as well as ferry services—offering more options than other online travel agencies.
Omio’s recent travel report reflects insights from industry experts and analyzes the latest travel trends. The report focuses on the future of travel, particularly for Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024). Having grown up with mobile devices, this generation will likely approach travel planning differently. For them, the world will seem more connected and accessible than ever before.
Book as you “binge”
Tourism Boom in Taormina, Sicily
Taormina, Sicily, has experienced a surge in tourism after being featured in the HBO series The White Lotus.
This trend shows how Hollywood films and TV shows influence travelers’ destinations. The White Lotus has driven visitors to locations like Maui, Sicily, and Thailand after each season aired. Social media influencers also play a big role, sharing their favorite spots and inspiring travel decisions.
And it’s effective.
The growing interest in southern Italy has prompted airlines like Delta and United to introduce new flights to Sicily (Catania and Palermo). In addition, American Airlines, along with Delta and United, have added nonstop flights to Naples, boosting access to southern Italy.
Booking a trip can become as easy as a swipe and click while enjoying your favorite entertainment.
Omio predicts that travel platforms will merge with entertainment, allowing viewers to book trips instantly through a swipe. You can reserve a trip directly from the content you’re watching, without planning ahead. These itineraries can be saved or shared with friends.
Roya Zeitoune, YouTube’s head of culture and trends for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, notes that YouTube is already the second largest online search engine for travel.
Zeitoune also highlights that people trust authentic, unpolished content more than highly produced material. Rather than planning trips, travelers may simply stumble upon destinations that align with their interests as they go about their daily routines.
Artificial intelligence takes control
AI-Powered Travel: Personalized Experiences Await You
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way we plan and enjoy vacations. With AI-driven tools, travel itineraries are no longer generic. Instead, they are personalized based on your budget, interests, and even mood.
In the near future, interactions with travel services—whether through social media, booking platforms, or messaging—will be tailored to reflect your unique preferences and emotions. AI will make these interactions feel more connected and relevant to you.
However, there’s a downside. Many travel brands are relying on automated customer support systems or outsourcing services overseas. While this can speed up responses, bots aren’t always the best at providing accurate answers, which can sometimes lead to frustration.
On the bright side, AI is here to stay—and it can work in your favor. By understanding your habits and favorite activities, AI can suggest more personalized itineraries, helping you avoid crowded destinations and discover hidden gems that fit your style.
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A beach in Ao Nang, Thailand, one of the regions of the world that has seen popularity following HBO’s The White Lotus.
Where you go should be places that resonate with you emotionally, not only the cheapest or most beautiful. AI can even integrate preferences like where you like to sit on the plane or train, the types of food you like to eat and your preferred loyalty programs (and the earning and redemption habits you have).
What Hilton’s 2025 Trend Report shows is that 78% of travelers want to book all of their travel online without interacting with someone. And a similar number of people want to use their mobile device to help manage their travel (and any potential disruption along the way). Omio’s report continues this theme with data from Euromonitor International, saying that by 2029, 73% of travel sales will be conducted online.
For example, should a weather disruption, traffic congestion or local strike affect a particular trip, AI can quickly help reroute a complicated journey based on price and personal mood.
Intermodal travel grows
Mobile devices can help travelers adjust their travel plans while enroute. Omio’s app aggregates all of your tickets and reservations into one place.
Intermodal travel refers to the concept of using two or more modes of transportation on the same journey. This could also include using what the report calls “micromobility,” referring to electric bikes and scooters.
While taking a rideshare or bus to the airport, flying to a destination via plane and then hopping a train to your hotel is nothing new, booking it all in one place is still not an easy practice. Omio’s system does this already and sends emails or texts before, during and after the journey to provide updates and assistance.
It also emails you the tickets or boarding documents you need for travel on non-air tickets so that no additional check in is needed. You simply print or save the boarding pass to your phone, which is something that most other travel platforms have yet to integrate into their offering. It is all digitally synced into one place.
Instead of carrying extra bags, Omio’s report suggests more people will use services that have curated bundles of clothes and other items needed for a trip waiting for you at the destination.
Another travel simplification noted within the report predicts that people will travel lighter, often with just a carry-on, to make intermodal transport easier. For smaller budgets, AI can help suggest an entire start-to-finish itinerary with more trains or public transport options than flights.
It also highlights Japan Airlines’ existing Any Wear, Anywhere program as the way of the future, suggesting that travelers could even be able to pre-book curated bundles of clothes and accessories waiting for them at their destination. This can help reduce what you carry as well as carbon emissions when we travel. From clothes to baby strollers, the possibilities can radically help to improve the logistics of intermodal travel.
Recent protests have pushed back against tourists visiting some of Europe’s most popular capitals like Barcelona. Here, crowds of tourists walk alone La Rambla, a street infamous for crowds (and pickpockets).
McKinsey & Co. data within Omio’s report also underlines the problem of overtourism. As many as 80% of travelers only visit 10% of the world’s tourist destinations. These are the kinds of targets that AI can help to address by shifting attention to other destinations or promoting off-season travel to popular tourist spots.
Artificial intelligence and travel can intersect to improve the journey along every step of the way, and booking platforms that integrate it will be especially appealing to Gen Alpha travelers.