In its Analyst Report Travel Digital Identity – Seamless Travel Powered by Digital Identity, Goode Intelligence examines the market for both government and commercial issued travel digital identities around the world.
The report highlights how the travel industry is at the vanguard of digital identity adoption globally, outperforming other sectors for growth with a forecast CAGR of 22 percent over the six-year period 2024 to 2029.
The main goal of travel digital identity is to create a secure and convenient way to verify a traveller’s identity throughout their travels – by air, rail, and sea.
The report covers travel digital identity issued and managed by both government and commercial companies.
Government issued travel digital identity is being driven by the ICAO Digital Travel Credential (DTC) standard and biometric-enabled Entry / Exit Schemes that aim to protect borders and support digital transformation and automation programmes.
Commercial issued travel digital identity, delivered by airlines / airports, train operators and sea operators /ports, excludes border crossing and includes other aspects of travel that manage the traveller journey from couch to gate – part of digital automation. This includes:
- Identity Verification / Proofing
- Ticketing / Boarding Pass management
- Pre-flight security checks
- Self-bag drop
- Access to VIP airport lounge
- Concession shopping (terminal retail)
The report reveals the major trends shaping the travel digital identity landscape for the short, medium, and longer term (2029).
These trends include:
- The importance of global standards established by industry bodies such as ICAO (driving ePassports and Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs) and IATA (driving One ID).
- The importance of ePassports that has established itself as the prime internationally recognised identity documents for identity verification packed full of physical and digital security features that are simply unparalleled in trusted identity and backed up by ICAO’s Public Key Directory (PKD).
- A compelling business case that benefits all parts of the ecosystem from travellers to governments, travel operators and transport hubs, provided by established technology providers.
- AI-powered biometric technology that is based on international standards and certification authorities that is accurate, resistant to presentation attacks including deepfakes, and can operate in the cloud and at the edge.
- The emergence of standards-based Digital Wallets and Verifiable Credentials (VCs) that supports Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel
Alan Goode, founder and CEO of Goode Intelligence and author of the report, said “The report identifies that travel is offering a blueprint in how to digitise identity and provide realisable benefits that that can be replicated by other sectors. Travel offers a great test bed for the wider digital identity market and is a key sector for growth offering a template for how digital identity can be at the centre of the seamless customer (traveller) experience. From onboarding and remote identity verification to in-person contactless verification.”
