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Investment Plans
Since the widespread return of demand for air travel, payments leaders have worked hard to ensure their organizations can capture returning spend and offer a differentiated payments experience. Indeed, Airport Council International’s latest Air Travel Outlook found numbers would reach 8.6 billion passengers in 2023, or 94.2% of 2019 levels. In 2024, the same study forecasts 9.4 billion passengers, or 102.5% of volumes seen in 2019, underlining the speed and scale that demand is returning.
Remaining at the forefront of their discipline continues to be the challenge for payments leaders in travel.
They must ensure their organization’s payments strategy meets changing traveler demands to pay in new ways. That they can support growth strategies in new markets by offering a smooth payments experience. Increasingly, multi-market travel companies are also asking how they can use payments orchestration capabilities to reduce complexity, access new partners more easily, and harness AI to make better payments decisions.
Travel companies are moving to align their payments strategy with their commercial strategy, so payments decisions are made based on the nature of the underlying purchase or trip in question.
Airlines are accelerating plans to become ‘modern retailers’ and making significant investments into their broader retailing capabilities. This is driving a focus on how payments can support this transformation to the new ‘Offer & Order’ world under the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) plans for airline retailing.
Payments leaders
plan a significant
increase in investment.
Payments leaders told researchers their organizations are investing to remain at the forefront of this fast-paced discipline. Some 89% of payments leaders plan ‘at least moderate’ investment in their organization, with 32% planning to invest ‘aggressively’ over the coming 12 months.
Looking more specifically at investment in payments, 81% of respondents that answered our survey said they will spend ‘the same or more’ over the coming 12 months when compared to the prior year.
A significant 49% will spend more and only 4% will spend less.
On average, payments leaders intend to increase investment by 12% over the coming twelve months, showing the continued value their organizations place on delivering a smooth payments experience.
0%
‘conservative’ in their investment plans
0%
planning ‘at least’
moderate investment
0%
planning to invest
‘aggressively’ in the
coming year
This 12% investment growth in payments comes at a time when travel companies are investing broadly across their organizations to capture the rebound in demand.
We’re seeing customers want to enter new markets, invest in their retailing capabilities and more closely partner across the industry. Payments enables all three areas and that’s why senior leaders at travel firms are modernizing this area of their companies.”
Jean-Christophe Lacour
SVP, Global Head of Products and Delivery
Outpayce from Amadeus
User experience drives investment in payments.
Payments leaders told researchers they have multiple objectives in mind when investing in payments. However, improving the user experience was the standout driver, with three-quarters of respondents (75%) citing this.
Some 64% said ‘reducing the cost of payments’ is an important short-term objective, followed by ‘increasing revenue through improved payments capabilities’ (60%) and ‘innovation’ (32%).
Overall, research suggests there is widespread appetite among the payments leaders surveyed for increased investment in 2024, with ambitions centered on improving the user experience and reducing the cost of payments.
The broader travel industry is digitally transforming. From airlines’ retailing ambitions to a renewed focus on the guest experience in hospitality. Modernizing how the industry handles payments is a key enabler for these strategic goals and presents opportunities to grow revenue and reduce cost in the process.”
Jean-Christophe Lacour
SVP, Global Head of Products and Delivery
Outpayce from Amadeus
