I NEWS IBiometrics are
I NEWS IBiometrics are here… nowBiometrics are actually more of a reality fortravellers than many people may realise,according to Phocuswright's latest travelresearch report on tech, Travel Evolutions inVoice Recognition & Biometrics.While biometrics - themeasurement and analysisof body characteristicsthrough techniques suchas digital fingerprintmatching, retinaland facial scanningand recognition,unique heartrateEKGs, gesticulation,and piezoelectric crystaldetection (a measure ofcertain biochemical levels) - may seem morefuturistic or something out of a movie, if youleave the United States on a commercialflight, chances are you may have alreadyhad your face scanned. Reportedfigures have gone from 2million passengers scannedin April 2019 to 25 millionin August 2019. AndChina already relieson facial recognitiontechnology to enableeverything fromsecurity to commercialtransactions© Darien LizardPERCo CL15 biometriccontroller for accesscontrol systemEurope destined to be #1for online distributionAccording to Phocuswright, Europe isset to have the highest online penetrationof any region from 2021, while 2019 gavethe European travel industry plenty ofopportunities to demonstrate its resilience.The recent travel research by Phocuswright,entitled the Europe Online Travel Overview2019, the sudden collapse of one of theregion's biggest travel brands, the loomingexit of the UK from the European Union, andmyriad challenges in the airline segmenteach threatened to derail growth.Despite these and other formidable issues,Europe's travel market grew roughly 2% in2019 to €296bn. Though the fallout fromthese challenges will no doubt extend into2020 and beyond, travel continues to be akey element of the European lifestyle and thecontinent remains an attractive destinationfor travellers everywhere. Hence, the overallmarket is still projected to climb over thenext several years.These gains, however, are not reflectedequally across all distribution channels.Offline bookings continue to decline asEuropean consumers seek out onlineplatforms both to plan and purchase theirleisure trips. For the first time, more than halfof all European travel bookings were madeonline in 2019.Led by Europe's two largest markets — theUK and Germany — online bookings areprojected to continue to climb. By 2021,Europe will, says Phocuswright, surpass theUS to have the highest online penetration ofany regionOnline Travel Penetration by Regon, 2017-2022ITB BERLIN NEWS 01 • WEDNESDAY 4 TH MARCH 2020 7
