Global Online Travel Payment 2021

The latest report Global Online Travel Payment 2021 confirms that technology-driven solutions in travel payments are something that will likely help the travel industry to recover after the major disruptions due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Furthermore, as alternative payment methods are making inroads, Buy Now Pay Later solutions to attract additional attention of travelers around the world.

The travel industry realized the importance of technology in payments during the COVID-19 pandemic

One general trend in online travel during the pandemic is the increasing use of technologies in payments. According to a September 2020 survey cited in this publication, more than seven in ten airlines globally plan to implement or advance mobile touchless payments by 2023. Moreover, in 2020, close to half of the global tourists stated that technology-driven solutions are a key confidence booster in travel; and a further four in ten of them noted that contactless payments, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Venmo, would make their travel experience better during the COVID-19 health crisis. With that, in 2020, almost one in five travelers worldwide left a travel-related purchase unpaid as a contactless payment option was not available. Additionally, a significant share of travelers in Canada, the US, Japan, and the UK found “ease of paying” to be a factor that substantially impacted their travel decisions in 2020, and, in particular, a choice of a travel agent or a tour operator.

Buy Now Pay Later solutions attracted online travelers worldwide in 2020

Another trend on the online travel payment scene is towards Buy Now Pay Later solutions. According to figures cited in the new market report, the availability of a BNPL option in 2021 was an important factor for almost a quarter of travelers worldwide when booking a service related to a trip. Moreover, in the Asia-Pacific area, over two in ten travelers opted for this payment method when it came to traveling during the health crisis, and the share of Chinese tourists using it was more than double the regional average.

Report Coverage

• This report covers the online travel (leisure and unmanaged business) market with a focus on payment methods and trends. It takes into account a wide definition of the travel segment, including transportation, accommodation, tour packages and others. The definitions used by the original sources cited in this report may vary.
• All global regions are covered in this report, including Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America.

Report Structure

• The global chapter opens the report, including an overview of global market developments and trends.
• The rest of the report is divided by regions. The regions are presented in the order of descending total online travel sales.
• Within each region, regional information is included first, where available, and the countries are also presented in the order of descending online travel sales.
• Where no comparable sales figures were available, other related criteria such as total E-Commerce sales, online shopper and Internet penetration were applied.
• In the country sections, the following information is covered, where available: online travel sales, payment methods used or preferred to book travel and while traveling, the importance of payment methods selection to online travel bookers, payment methods offered by selected leading websites in the travel category.
• Where no travel-specific payment method ranking was available, a ranking of payment methods generally used in E-Commerce in this country was included as a benchmark. Data availability varied by country, hence not all of the above information points were covered for each of the markets.

Please note: For this report, the purchase of an Enterprise license allows up to ten worldwide users of an organization access to the report