Dubai: Around 32 per cent of UAE travellers prefer using the phone as a method of payment to cash or credit cards, according to a new study released by Amadeus, the global IT solutions provider for the travel and tourism industry.
The study titled From Chaos to Collaboration, states that UAE travellers are "increasingly becoming mobile savvy" as they prefer to make payments and seek information "in a visual format on the device". It outlines the way new technologies and social change will transform travel by 2020.
It said that the study challenges the industry to overcome the uncertainty and stress of modern-day travel through the application of new technologies.
Amadeus' report said that 94 per cent of the UAE travellers surveyed preferred using visual applications that reflect the physical world on the mobile device. High mobile penetration in the UAE has been cited in the study as a key reason for travellers' readiness to use advanced mobile applications at payment points. "Traveller needs are seeing a dramatic change in the UAE with customers preferring advanced mobile applications and devices to conduct transactions. This reflects evolving changes in consumer lifestyles and travel requirements. The travel sector is also beginning to realise that the world is changing and travellers will increasingly expect intelligent information exchange," Humayon Baig, regional marketing manager for Amadeus in charge of the UAE, Oman and Bahrain, said.
