Travel is changing at a faster pace than any time. There are two main drivers – the need to adapt to changes in human behaviors and the need for greater sustainability.

Optibus’ report identifies four key public transportation priorities: driver recruitment/safety (36%), zero-emission fleets (87% within five years), real-time monitoring (43%), and AI integration (96% exploring but only 6% using). Based on 231 global professionals’ feedback, major challenges include workforce shortages (49%), electrification infrastructure delays (80%), and losses from inadequate real-time tools (68%). Recommendations focus on driver retention, electrification planning, passenger experience, and cybersecurity.

Deloitte’s 2025 Travel Industry Outlook examines continued travel industry growth and innovation trends, focusing on AI integration, personalized merchandising, and international travel imbalances. The report highlights generative AI’s doubling adoption to 16% of travelers, the industry’s shift toward attribute-based selling, and the growing gap between US outbound and inbound travel volumes. It also discusses potential policy impacts from the new administration on disposable income, M&A activity, labor availability, and international travel patterns.

PwC’s report examines the aviation industry’s strong recovery, challenges from geopolitical tensions, and operational hurdles like supply chain issues. It forecasts a modest rise in profitability, passenger traffic recovery to 2019 levels, and greater AI adoption for optimisation and sustainability. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and environmental reporting will shape industry priorities.

McKinsey’s May 2024 report outlines key trends driving the tourism and hospitality recovery post-pandemic, including domestic and intraregional travel growth, shifting luxury traveller profiles, and increasing demand for experiential tourism. It highlights the need for strategic preparation to manage rising tourist flows, emphasising data-driven strategies and infrastructure improvements. [McKinsey & Company May 2024]

In 2022, a gradual reopening of business travel has led to businesses taking a fresh look at how they can make sure staff are safe and secure when they are travelling. The challenges of global travel increased during the pandemic.

The global pandemic brought travel to a halt, at a time when the sector was already facing huge competition from Internet-based start-ups with agile technology and fast, personalised customer service. Radical change is necessary for organisations to survive and even thrive.

Travel is back—so say news stories and corporate earnings calls since the summer of 2021. There are caveats though, and they represent a large share of industry revenue. International travel still awaits an improved pandemic situation and less daunting border restrictions.

Two mutually reinforcing enablers can create a cycle of positive reinforcement to accelerate transport decarbonization: A standardized book-and-claim framework enables demand for green offerings by separating physical products from virtual credits, while green supply-chain coalitions improve the cost and accessibility of green offerings.

Business leaders should always be on the lookout for the latest trends affecting their industry today, and into the future. But the trick isn’t just to identify these innovations, but to develop strategies to leverage new technologies for their customers.

Aerospace companies face rising demand and operational challenges, making sustainability and digital transformation more necessary than ever. We can begin to see the possibilities of tomorrow within the recovery of today, across areas such as the power of digital, new technologies, supply chain transformation and enterprise resilience.

The way we travel from place to place is changing at a faster pace than any time since the proliferation of automobiles, trains, and airplanes during the last century. There are two main drivers – the need to adapt to changes in human behaviors and the need for greater sustainability.