Orchestrating Seamless Travel through AI and biometrics
In this article...
- Biometrics is becoming the backbone of seamless travel
- Trusted identity connects every stage of the journey
- AI has the power to elevate travel experiences when grounded in real-time journey context
- True travel transformation depends on connecting stakeholders across the end-to-end journey
If you’ve recently opened a bank account it’s likely you didn’t visit a branch. Instead, you probably applied online and verified your identity with biometrics. The experience of opening an account has improved significantly for customers and become more efficient for banks.
The combination of digital identity and biometrics is poised to have far greater impact on travel. This combination not only reduces friction associated with travelers identifying multiple times during a journey, but it also ties the entire trip (digital and physical) together.
That’s why Amadeus has been investing in biometrics and digital identity for many years. It’s also why we intend to accelerate our strategy by acquiring IDEMIA Public Security (IPS), subject to closing. This is another step in how Amadeus is orchestrating seamless journeys end-to-end.
Amadeus’ strategy is to orchestrate the traveler’s journey – but what does that mean?
In practice orchestration is about coordinating a journey provided by several different organizations e.g. airlines, a hotel, a car rental firm, and a wide cast of supporting players like airports, ground handlers, border authorities, and payments companies.
The goal is ensuring information is available when and where it’s needed so the best possible decisions can be taken and an excellent experience delivered for the traveler. Amadeus doesn’t do this alone. Our role is connecting the travel ecosystem and supporting our customers to remove friction during the journey.
Identity: the trusted foundation that brings it all together
It’s hard to overstate the importance of identity in travel. When an airline knows who you are, it can personalize your offer and tailor your experience. If the gate agent knows you’ve completed security they can decide to delay departure until you board. If a government knows you’ll be arriving it can undertake background checks in advance so you can cross the border more easily. If the car rental firm is sure it’s you it can release the key automatically without a queue. The hotel can offer self-service check-in and personalize your stay.
Biometric touchpoints throughout the journey establish trust at every step. This infrastructure ties different stages of the journey together so we can remove friction and improve the traveler experience.
One example is our collaboration with Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration, where our Seamless Corridor is now live at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport. For eligible travelers, this means a fully frictionless arrival experience, no stopping for border checks, no documents to present, no queues, with AI-powered biometrics verifying identities on the move.
Convergence of the digital and physical worlds: AI + biometrics
Amadeus is not a standalone application or a point solution. We operate as the neutral embedded execution layer of the travel industry. By connecting hundreds of systems and workflows that have developed over decades our technology provides a level of integration, system connectivity and trusted data AI depends on to deliver value in travel.
Embedding an identity layer across physical journey touchpoints takes this proposition to the next level - unlocking exciting new AI use cases. Imagine agentic AI providing a personalized plan during disruption, informed by a trusted view of your specific stage of the journey. Biometric touchpoints deliver digital signals during the journey - AI interprets them to improve the experience at every step.
Keeping pace with consumer expectations
As we have seen, travelers are now used to biometric experiences in other areas of their lives – be that opening a bank account, online age verification or even just accessing a mobile phone. Travelers expect the same technology to simplify their journeys, to be able to manage ever more aspects of their lives from smart devices that harness digital identity.
It is essential the travel industry has the ability to offer a fully digital identity verification option during the journey. Biometric-enabled touchpoints along the journey are a necessity if the promise of a travel experience managed from a digital identity wallet is to be realized. As mobile wallets increasingly support travel use cases, travelers will be able move through key touchpoints by tapping their phone or simply presenting their face.
We are working to build that experience, not least with our ambition to acquire IPS, but through steps we are taking across the travel ecosystem.
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