The travel industry could create 100 million new jobs in the next 10 years if it supported by infrastructure investments and biometrics and other technologies are deployed to make travelling more efficient and safe, tourism officials said at the recent World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) summit in Buenos Aires, TravelPulse reports.

 

Officials also said during the summit that one in every five jobs created in 2017 was related to tourism and travel, but 47 percent of tourism jobs will eventually be automated.

 

The WTTC conference was heavily focused on biometric technology and its applications in the travel and tourism industries, according to TravelPulse. WTTC President and CEO Guevara Manzo said in the lead-up to the summit that the implementation of biometric technology is the sector’s single biggest opportunity in 2018.

 

A recent survey from OAG showed the majority of travelers want to use biometrics to facilitate the travel experience, and a number of countries, such as China and Australia, are in the process of implementing facial recognition for air travel, while Mexico has deployed fingerprint kiosks in airports. A SITA executive recently said that air travel using biometrics and no paper documentation will soon be possible in India.