New CarTrawler Report Highlights a $70 Billion Dollar Opportunity for the Travel Industry in Airport Mobility

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Jul 26, 2022, 08:00 ET

More than half of travelers would consider booking their transportation to and from the airport through their airline or online travel agent - but availability and awareness is holding them back

DUBLIN, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Airport mobility beyond car rental, or how consumers travel to and from the airport, is a €50-60 billion ($60-70 billion) market opportunity for the travel sector, according to an industry-first survey of 11,500 travelers from CarTrawler, the world's leading B2B travel technology company. Despite the potential market size, there has been minimal data on the economics, and no research on traveler's airport mobility preferences. This report sets out to understand the opportunities that the travel industry has to tap into the market.

The report, The Airport Mobility Opportunity, found 60% of airport journeys are made by either private car or rental car for North American travelers. While the travel industry has focused largely on car rental when it comes to airport mobility, there are seven times as many at-airport transfer bookings (including private transfer, ride-hailing, taxi, and shared shuttle) as there are at-airport car rental bookings — creating space for online travel agencies, airlines, hotels and travel management companies to help travelers reach their final mile.

Travelers are already looking to their airlines and travel agencies for airport mobility options, with more than half of them reporting that they would consider booking their airport transfer with their airline (51%) or online travel agent (60%). The biggest hurdles in doing so however are a lack of options and awareness. Only 44 of the top 100 airlines offer mobility options outside of car rental. For those that do offer a mobility option, travelers' awareness of those options is low, with nearly a third (30%) of travelers reporting that they do not consider airlines for mobility because they were not aware they offered those options.

"There is clear, pent up demand among travelers to stick with their airline or travel agency for their entire airport journey, not just the flight itself," said Aileen McCormack, Chief Commercial Officer at CarTrawler. "Travel companies that want to surpass the competition should pay attention to the evolving needs of travelers, and actively address gaps in both offerings and awareness — creating a more seamless travel experience while maximizing ancillary revenue. This CarTrawler report shows just how significant the opportunity is for airlines and OTAs to offer that enhanced travel experience, grow revenue and truly own the last mile."

For more information about CarTrawler, visit www.cartrawler.com.

About CarTrawler
CarTrawler is the leading global B2B provider of car rental and mobility solutions to the travel industry. Our purpose is to drive successful partnerships.

CarTrawler's end-to-end technology platform expands our airline and travel partners' offering to their customers, creating substantial ancillary revenue opportunities. We provide unrivalled breadth and depth of content worldwide, including car rental, private airport transfer and ride-hailing services.

CarTrawler creates innovative, data-led solutions for some of the largest travel brands in the world, including United Airlines, American Express, easyJet, Alaska Airlines, SWISS, Hotels.com and Emirates. As a B2B company we focus solely on helping our airline and travel partners build their brands, not our own.

SOURCE CarTrawler