Filed Under Travelers

How Is It that Panama Broke Up with Tourists?

Not long ago, Panama loved tourists (…and tax evaders, but that’s another story).

Now, the lunatic country is willing to welcome travelers, adventurers, culture seekers, trendsetters, birders, sun chasers, sloth lovers, enthusiasts, and the curious, but not tourists (which, BTW, have tripled in the last ten years).

Ok, the background music has slightly improved, local people look aged, and animals are far more… animals, but do you really notice much difference?

T&A: Do Travelers Really Need a Boring Remote Control?

To understand what most travel companies really think and expect from you, you’d better read between the lines when they are in “B2B mode”. Take for example this revealing phrase from one of EyeforTravel’s reports:

According to Reck, GetYourGuide sees the mobile phone becoming a remote control with which travelers can select whatever they want to do in a destination at any time, with instant booking available.

Exactly, be humble, sit down, and choose your fictitious experience from the menu. This is what tours and activities today are all about. It’s kind of an old dial TV with many identical channels. The Netflixization of travel is here to stay but, of course, you can always decide to turn it off until the programming changes.

Digital Travelers: Just Who Are They Anyway?

If you are a data junky like us, you will certainly appreciate the fresh Global Digital Traveler Research 2017 by Travelport, based on interviews with 11,000 travelers from 19 countries worldwide. Here’s a snapshot of the key findings.

Travelport's Global Digital Traveler Research
Key Findings of the Global Digital Traveler Research – Infographic by Travelport

Taking a closer look, we were particularly impressed with the following results:

– 60% said they would be lost without their smartphone, but 43% would switch off all devices (so, at least 3% is already lost and where are the moderates here?)
– 68% of Indonesian travelers book their trip on a mobile device (jeez, really?)
– 63% of senior travelers (those over 55) “know exactly what they want” when researching a trip (the wisdom of age… yeah sure, but how sad is that?)

Anyway, the report also includes a list of the most digitally-dependent countries and the top ten are not exactly the ones you would expect. In fact, the ranking looks like this: 1) India, 2) China, 3) Indonesia, 4) Brazil, 5) Saudi Arabia, 6) Mexico, 7) South Africa, 8) United Arab Emirates, 9) Colombia, 10) Italy.

To find out more, download Travelport’s Global Digital Traveler Research.