Expedia and Egencia today launch the Future of Travel report, an examination of business and leisure travel across five continents, with 8,535 adults quizzed on their travel habits, preferences and expectations. In addition, a variety of travel industry experts from across the world provided insight and analysis on the findings.

The Future of Travel report was commissioned to draw insights from generational and geographical differences regarding travel. At a time when the travel industry is experiencing a shift in geographical and technological focus (from PC to multi-platforms), the report specifically looks at how technology and new market demands will shape the travel industry.

The report explores Millennial travellers (travellers born between the early 80s and mid 90s) in detail to discover how Millennials will impact the travel landscape as they gain decision-making power at work and purchase power in their personal lives.

Key insights from the report for the UK include:
*  The convergence of business and leisure travel:  They are more likely to extend a business trip into a personal holiday than older employees are. 56% % of British Millennials have done so, vs. only 22% of those over 35.
*  Data sharing: 61% of British Millennial respondents save data (such as passport details, credit card information and contact details) online to streamline the travel booking process, compared to only 38% of non-Millennials. Furthermore, 86% of Millennials would be more inclined to store additional data in return for incentive rewards compared to just 51% of non Millennials.
*  Reviews: 90% of British Millennials admit that travel reviews are important for leisure travel, compared to 73% of non-Millennial travellers. Furthermore, 75% of Millennials agree this is also important for Business travel, compared to just 57% of non-Millennials.

Gary Morrison, SVP and Head of Retail, Expedia Worldwide commented: “On the cusp of a technological revolution for the travel industry, we wanted to take a deeper look at how we can better address and anticipate the evolving needs of this Millennial generation.  The importance of mobile to these travellers is already having a huge impact on travel booking. For Expedia, that has meant a new responsive design approach. By anticipating and preparing for new trends, we continue to support and delight travellers. With our unparalleled insight into emerging travel patterns, together with the technology and expertise to respond fast, we will continue to do so well into the future.”

Rob Greyber, President of Egencia added in regards to business travel: “Millennials want to travel smarter and adopt new technology faster. Technology is accelerating this trend by making business travel ‘personal’ again.  By providing contextualized, multiplatform travel solutions and services on the go, like Egencia TripNavigator®, we are directly supporting the future traveller’s need for speed, flexibility and instant access to global travel content.”