The global travel industry performed better than most other economic sectors in 2018, beating GDP gains in most markets. According to Phocuswright’s latest travel research report, Global Online Travel Overview 2019, total travel bookings increased a projected 7.3% to US$1.4 trillion. Critical to global travel companies, online travel bookings are growing twice as fast as the overall market.

Each year, the U.S. leisure travel population fluctuates due to economic conditions as well as personal factors. A strong economy usually correlates with growth, while a weak economy can spur a decline, as some Americans opt to forego leisure travel altogether. 2018 bucked the trends. According to Phocuswright’s recent travel research report series, U.S. Consumer Travel 2019, not as many Americans traveled for leisure, but other indicators suggest consumer confidence remains high, even among those who stayed home.

Amazon launched flights in India in May 2019. Big news? Definitely. Amazon's reentry into travel was much anticipated after its ill-fated effort to build a hotel business in 2014. According to Phocuswright's latest travel research report, Why Amazon's Flight Launch in India Doesn't Mean That Amazon Is the Next Big Global OTA, the mere size of the global travel market, US$1.5 trillion in 2019, is too big to ignore. This travel launch fits right in with Amazon's mission of meeting the A to Z of customers' shopping needs.

Increasingly, travelers operate in an ongoing travel inspiration stage. For travel companies and destinations, more opportunities than ever before are available to engage customers with content. More opportunities are accessible to discover new destinations for consideration. Travelers who seek to visit a new destination will prioritize the places that they have always dreamt of seeing, ticking a box off their travel bucket list. According to Phocuswright’s travel research report Destination Decision: How Travelers Choose Where to Go , across the 7 markets studied, "always wanted to visit" was the top reason a traveler who visited a new destination on their last trip considered that location.

ONE Order is likely to revolutionize airlines' commercial operations and the broader supporting industry - but slowly. It will allow the industry to move away from a proprietary, technology-dependent model that still uses digitized paper-based processes, to one where airlines and their partners interact in real-time to deliver a customer-centric experience.

One of Europe's most influential online travel markets is set to leave the European Union. How will the U.K. go it alone, and which markets and major players will feel the brunt of Brexit? A group of experts came together at Phocuswright Europe 2019 to discuss new borders and old partnerships, fresh challenges and smart solutions, as well as practical ways to maneuver around the surrounding legislation. It's obvious that Brexit and its ongoing uncertainties remain a key challenge for the travel industry across Europe.

We're halfway through 2019 and the global Phocuswright analyst team continues to produce reports at an unprecedented rate. It's a perfect time to highlight the trends and data that shape our research and reflect the ever-evolving dynamics of online travel. This is what's defining the global travel market in 2019.

Travelers from these markets only take a few leisure trips a year, but travel is rarely far from their minds. Mobile devices mean that information is always at their fingertips, and travelers are eating it up. Destinations and travel marketers need to consistently entice travelers to remain top of mind.

Though there are several shared themes across markets in the destination-decision process, different travel markets will always have particularities. However, no market stands out as strongly from the herd as Chinese travelers. According to Phocuswright’s latest research on how travelers choose where to go, how Chinese travelers view themselves, how they research destinations, what influences them, and what they seek in a destination paints a picture unlike the rest.

Travelers carefully consider many destination attributes during their decision-making process. Whether gathering information about available activities, lodging options, cost, weather, culture, customs and more, travelers contemplate many components when assessing if a place will align with personal desires and requirements.