Travel technology now spans booking, payment, identity, airport processing, accommodation platforms and connected devices. The figures below distinguish survey preferences from observed activity and identify the relevant population, geography and measurement period.
Key Travel Technology Statistics
The most useful cross-section of the available travel technology data is:
- In 2024, 71% of global IATA survey respondents said they booked travel online or through a mobile app.
- In 2024, 53% of global IATA survey respondents preferred an airline website or app for booking, while 16% preferred human interaction.
- In 2024, 79% of global IATA survey respondents preferred credit or debit cards for travel payments.
- In 2024, 20% of global IATA survey respondents preferred digital wallets for travel payments.
- In 2024, 85% of global IATA survey respondents were willing to share passport or visa data before departure to speed airport processing.
- In 2024, 89% of global IATA survey respondents expressed interest in a trusted-traveller program to expedite security screening.
- In 2024, 46% of global IATA survey respondents had experienced airport processes using biometric identification.
- In 2024, 84% of global IATA biometric users were satisfied with the experience.
- In 2024, 50% of global IATA survey respondents were concerned about data protection in biometric travel processing.
- In 2025, 50% of travelers in IATA’s global survey reported using biometric identification at airports, compared with 46% in 2024.
- In 2025, 78% of IATA survey respondents wanted one app combining a digital wallet, passport and loyalty cards.
- In 2025, 88% of IATA survey respondents said real-time luggage tracking would make them feel more confident.
- In 2024, 854.1 million nights were spent in EU short-term rentals booked through four major online platforms.
- From 2023 to 2024, EU platform-booked short-term-rental nights rose 18.8%.
- In 2024, 67% of ACI survey respondents planned to travel as frequently or more often than in 2023.
- In 2024, 78% of ACI survey respondents were interested in ready-to-fly options such as remote check-in and pre-clearance.
- In 2024, 38% of EU online shoppers bought transport services from an enterprise.
- In 2024, 33% of EU online shoppers bought rented accommodation from an enterprise through a website or app.
Contents
- Key Travel Technology Statistics
- Online Booking, Payment and Trip-Planning Statistics
- Airport Biometrics and Digital Identity Data
- Smartphone, Wallet and Baggage-Tracking Trends
- Online Accommodation Platform Statistics
- Digital Travel Experience and Readiness
- Wider Digital Economy, AI and Device Lifecycle Context
Online Booking, Payment and Trip-Planning Statistics
The 2024 IATA passenger survey measures stated behavior and preferences among global survey respondents, not the share of every travel transaction. It found that 71% said they booked travel online or via a mobile app, while 53% preferred an airline website or app for booking and 16% preferred human interaction.
Separately, 32% wanted all travel information consolidated in one place during pre-travel planning; that is a stated preference, not evidence of actual unified-itinerary use. IATA, “Passengers Want Convenience and Technology to Improve Processes, Regional Preferences Diverging”
Payment preferences show a strong card lead alongside meaningful digital-wallet interest:
- 79% preferred credit or debit cards, compared with 20% who preferred digital wallets and 7% who preferred instant payment solutions such as IATA Pay.
- Convenience was cited by 70% as the main reason for choosing a payment method, ahead of benefits at 39% and security at 33%.
- Under-25 passengers preferred digital wallets at 51%, versus 20% across the global sample.
The reasons are not additive because respondents could select multiple answers, and preferences do not equal completed transaction volume. Airport choice also remained practical: 68% ranked airport proximity as their top departure-airport priority, compared with 33% for minimizing total travel time and 25% for ticket price. IATA, “Passengers Want Convenience and Technology to Improve Processes, Regional Preferences Diverging”
Airport Biometrics and Digital Identity Data
Digital identity interest was high in the 2024 IATA survey, but willingness and experience should not be confused with universal deployment. 85% were willing to share passport or visa data before departure to speed processing, while 89% expressed interest in a trusted-traveller program to expedite security screening.
Pre-airport processing preferences included 45% wanting immigration procedures completed before reaching the airport and 36% wanting check-in completed before reaching the airport. A further 70% said advance bag check-in would make them more likely to check a bag; this is a hypothetical behavioral response, not observed bag-check behavior.
Biometric experience and acceptance were measured separately:
| 2024 IATA measure | Result | Population or definition |
|---|---|---|
| Experienced airport biometric processes | 46% | Global survey respondents |
| Reported biometric use at entry or exit immigration | 43% | Global survey respondents |
| Satisfied with biometric experience | 84% | Respondents who used airport biometrics |
| Preferred biometrics to passports and boarding passes | 75% | Global survey respondents |
| Concerned about data protection | 50% | Global survey respondents |
| More open if data security were assured | 39% | Global survey respondents |
The same survey found that 70% wanted to reach the boarding gate within 30 minutes when traveling with carry-on luggage only, while 74% expected the airport process to take no longer than 45 minutes with checked baggage. These are passenger expectations rather than measured service-level results. IATA, “Passengers Want Convenience and Technology to Improve Processes, Regional Preferences Diverging”; IATA, “Key Trends in Passenger Behavior”
Smartphone, Wallet and Baggage-Tracking Trends
The smartphone is increasingly described as a combined travel credential and navigation tool. In 2024, 77% of all IATA survey respondents expressed interest in a smartphone containing a digital wallet, passport and loyalty cards for booking, payment and airport navigation; among under-25 passengers, the figure was 90%.
Age comparisons also show how preferences vary within the global sample:
- Under-25 passengers preferred biometrics over passports and boarding passes at 48%, compared with 43% among passengers aged 56–75.
- Under-25 passengers were more open to biometrics when data security was assured at 50%, compared with 39% globally.
IATA’s explicitly labeled 2025 results provide a separate year of measurement. 50% of travelers reported using biometric identification at airports in 2025, up from 46% in 2024, although sample composition and survey design should be checked before interpreting the difference as a causal trend.
Satisfaction among 2025 biometric users was 86%, and 78% wanted one app combining a digital wallet, passport and loyalty cards. IATA, “Key Trends in Passenger Behavior”; IATA Global Passenger Survey
Baggage technology has a strong expectation signal: 88% of 2025 IATA survey respondents said real-time luggage tracking would make them feel more confident. This does not measure a reduction in baggage loss or delay, so it should be read as a hypothetical confidence effect. IATA Global Passenger Survey
Online Accommodation Platform Statistics
Eurostat’s experimental platform-tourism data measure short-stay accommodation booked through Airbnb, Booking, Expedia Group or TripAdvisor. They do not cover all accommodation, all tourism or every form of travel technology.
EU guests spent 854.1 million nights in these platform-booked short-term rentals in 2024, up from 719.0 million in 2023; Eurostat reports the increase as 18.8%. Monthly growth varied, with March 2024 up 48.0% year over year, May up 31.7%, August up 21.6% and November up 21.5%, while April fell 1.8%; Easter timing partly affected the unusual March-April pattern.
Regional Q3 2024 results illustrate the scale differences without representing total tourism nights:
| EU NUTS 2 region | Q3 2024 platform-booked guest nights | Change from Q3 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Jadranska Hrvatska, Croatia | 25.2 million | +6.0% |
| Andalucía, Spain | 17.2 million | +23.1% |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France | 15.6 million | +26.2% |
Eurostat, “New records set by online booking platforms in 2024”
Digital Travel Experience and Readiness
ACI’s 2024 Global Traveller Survey covered more than 4,125 air travellers across 30 countries, specifically people who had flown at least once in the previous 12 months. Its findings measure intentions and interest rather than completed travel or technology adoption.
67% planned to travel as frequently or more often in 2024 than in 2023, indicating continued demand in the surveyed air-traveler population. Technology-related readiness was also prominent: 78% were interested in ready-to-fly options such as remote check-in and pre-clearance.
The ready-to-fly result is a grouped concept in ACI’s release, so it does not identify a single product, app or airport process. It is best interpreted alongside the IATA findings on pre-airport immigration, check-in, biometrics and consolidated travel information rather than as a directly comparable adoption rate. ACI World, “Latest Global Traveller Survey reveals increasing expectations for wellbeing and premium experiences”
Wider Digital Economy, AI and Device Lifecycle Context
Eurostat’s wider digitalisation measures provide context, but they are not travel-only indicators. In the EU, 78% of people reported buying or ordering goods or services online in 2025, up from 62% in 2015.
Among EU online shoppers in 2024, 38% bought transport services from an enterprise and 33% bought rented accommodation from an enterprise through a website or app. The denominators differ from the IATA and ACI surveys, and the enterprise accommodation category is not equivalent to every peer-to-peer or platform booking.
Digital capability and friction were also measured across the wider online economy:
- In 2025, 35% of EU online shoppers encountered problems when shopping through a website or app, and 20% reported slower delivery than indicated as a problem; these are general e-commerce results, not travel punctuality measures.
- In 2025, 35% of EU internet users aged 16–74 used generative AI tools: 27% privately, 16% professionally and 10% for formal education, with purposes able to overlap.
- Generative-AI use was 65% among EU internet users aged 16–24, 40% among ages 25–54 and 14% among ages 55–74 in 2025; these are general AI rates, not travel-planning use.
- In 2025, 24% of EU enterprises with at least 10 persons engaged in e-sales, including 48% of large businesses and 23% of SMEs.
- In 2025, 95% of those EU enterprises had broadband internet access, including 94% of SMEs and 99% of large businesses; connectivity availability does not prove travel-technology deployment.
Device lifecycle data add a practical constraint for mobile travel services. In 2024, 11% of EU people recycled an old mobile phone or smartphone, 18% gave or sold it outside the household, 51% kept it at home and 2% threw it away without recycling.
These figures describe disposal outcomes, not travel-device ownership or replacement rates. Eurostat, “Digitalisation in Europe – 2026 edition”