There is nothing more interesting than understanding what makes travelers tick. In Amadeus’ latest research, it reveals four Traveler Tribes based on a detailed understanding of traveler mindset, rather than age, sex, and location. Today, I’m excited to take a deep-dive into the one of the Traveler Tribes – the Pioneering Pathfinders.
There is nothing more interesting than understanding what makes travelers tick. In Amadeus’ latest research, it reveals four Traveler Tribes based on a detailed understanding of traveler mindset, rather than age, sex, and location. Today, I’m excited to take a deep-dive into the one of the Traveler Tribes – the Pioneering Pathfinders.
Pioneering Pathfinders will account for 43% of travelers in 2033, making them the largest Traveler Tribe globally, and is the most tech-savvy. As someone who is interested in cutting-edge technology, and a travel enthusiast at heart, this Traveler Tribe somewhat resonates with me. I’m intrigued to find out how they think travel will evolve over the coming decade. How will the Pioneering Pathfinders expect to get to the airport in a decade, for example, or will they allow AI to plan part of their trip? How about onboard a flight, what services will they expect, how will they pay for them and how will the plane be powered?
Understanding what makes a Pioneering Pathfinders tick will ultimately help us as an industry come together and make the experience of travel better.
The Pioneering Pathfinders in 2023: Fast-paced lifestyle
So, what does this Traveler Tribe look like?
Comparatively young, the Pioneering Pathfinders have above average incomes and live fast-paced lives, always looking for their next big adventure. Relatively settled, with two thirds living with a partner and children, they are nonetheless a forward-looking Traveler Tribe, with many owning virtual reality headsets and smart speakers. Open to calculated risks, they may also have invested in stocks, NFTs and cryptocurrency.
While tech-savvy, Pioneering Pathfinders do not buy the latest devices for show - they are all about functionality. With a family to care for and competing demands on their time, wellbeing is key to their thinking. This Traveler Tribe also has an emerging sensitive side; they care about the planet, owning electric vehicles and volunteering in the community.
Travel experience: Tech trailblazers with an eye for sustainability
A primary focus for Traveler Tribes 2033 is to allow our industry to anticipate how it might evolve over the coming decade. With 43 per cent of all travelers falling into the Pioneering Pathfinders Traveler Tribe, our understanding of this group will be vital. What can we expect?
Planning
When it comes to planning, Pioneering Pathfinders prefer having a plan to being impulsive – they like to be in control. For this reason, more than half of this Traveler Tribe would like to see AI take a greater role than humans in planning travel by 2033 – they trust technology to deliver on their wishes.
With fast-paced lives, they see AI-based planning as a time-saving tool, with many willing to share data on earlier trips and medical history, as well as their biometric profile, in order to get maximum benefit. Pioneering Pathfinders are willing to share data with travel players including airlines, hotels and healthcare providers to reduce stress and boost wellbeing.
Transportation
The chance to travel in a more sustainable way is one of the most exciting prospects about 2033 for the Pioneering Pathfinders. While they expect plane travel to dominate short-distance trips early next decade, there is also a belief adverse environmental impacts will be reduced by using biofuels.
Indeed, some 83 per cent of this Traveler Tribe are willing to pay more for a biofuel flight than a fossil fuel one. Pioneering Pathfinders also consider what goes in the plane, and they are unwilling to accept more comfortable airline interiors if it comes at a cost to the planet.
Accommodation
When it comes to deciding where to stay, more than two thirds of Pioneering Pathfinders prefer global hotel brands to local offerings, with a similar number choosing bigger, well-known brands to more independent properties.
However, within these boundaries, this Traveler Tribe will seek places that offer new experiences; being that hearing their favorite song played as they enter their room or receiving unique experiential recommendations from employees. This extends to eco-hotels, where Pioneering Pathfinders expect sustainable accommodation to mirror their own behaviors by, for example, serving organic food or only allowing electronic cars into the car park.
Payment
In a sign of their belief in the transformative power of technology, Pioneering Pathfinders will be comfortable with new forms of payment by 2033. Compared to other Traveler Tribes, they are already more open to paying for travel using cryptocurrency and within a virtual reality – products many of them own already in 2023.
How can we win over the Pioneering Pathfinders?
Half sustainability superheroes and half technology trailblazers, the Pioneering Pathfinders are the Traveler Tribe who will make sustainable travel trendy and encourage others to embrace technology as we move toward 2033. But was does this mean for the travel industry, how should we interact with this group?
By being open to calculated to risk and sensitive to the world around them, the Pioneering Pathfinders have positioned themselves as a Traveler Tribe we need to cooperate with. They can help us spread the message about sustainable travel and how AI and data sharing can power travel in the future.
It’s in our interest to partner with the Pioneering Pathfinders, not just because of their mindset, but because of their size. The best way to get people to adopt a new behavior is for them to see other people do it – and this is set to be a large crowd.
The Pioneering Pathfinders’ outlook on life outside of sustainability adds to their value as a messenger even further. They are tech-savvy, successful and confident. They will thus be able to promote sustainable travel and the benefits of technological advancements, such as AI, in a way that is inaccessible to other Traveler Tribes.
Which Traveler Tribe are you?
Does the description of the Pioneering Pathfinders sound familiar? Do you fit the bill, or do you identify with a different Traveler Tribe? Perhaps even more than one? We have developed a quiz to help you find out where you fit in. Click 'Take the quiz!' below.
If you want to find out more about Traveler Tribes 2033, the research we undertook, our wider ambitions for the project and a lot more, I’d encourage you tovisit ourtheme page , or download thefull report .
Which Traveler Tribe are you?
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