A great year for travel

Thanks to you, our partners and a global travel community, the industry has not only bounced back from the pandemic – it has, once more, shown its tremendous potential to truly connect the world. More than 10 million customers booked a trip on Omio in 2023, and most of you on our apps. With more people traveling, Omio’s mission to make travel seamless and more sustainable is ever more important. With Omio, booking ground transport – buses, ferries, trains – is as easy as ordering a book on Amazon.

We remain committed to connecting the world, no matter the destination or mode of transport, by making discovering, planning and booking travel incredibly easy.

As I reflect on Omio and how we can best serve you, our customers, I believe these predictions will be important for travel this year:

• 2024 will be the year that we see an accelerated adoption of multimodal travel. Whether we realize it or not, most of our trips are already multimodal, with shuttles to the airport, buses at our final destination or comparing if a train is better than a flight. Bringing all modes of transport together, in one app, will create more awareness as well as more accessibility and accelerate a further shift in user behavior. And to make sure that every single trip goes off without a hitch, we at Omio have invested heavily to create a world class customer service team that is ready to stand by should there ever be an issue.
• Sustainability is top of mind – which means you are more open-minded to different modes of transport. The resurgence of the European night trains is proof! Omio brings together data on trains, buses, flights and ferries (and has just integrated both the ÖBB night trains and the European Sleeper) – so we are optimistic about being ready for this moment, allowing you to make truly informed choices.
• Travel will continue to be more important than owning physical goods – and big events in Europe are on the horizon: From Taylor Swift concerts to Eurocup to the Olympics … Consumers continue to spend more on experiences. 2024 will be an exciting year where we explore more places, take more journeys, and expand our horizons while experiencing more cultures. By connecting the transport networks of 37 countries already (and adding more!), Omio can power even the most ambitious travel plan and get you to wherever you need to be, seamlessly. Thanks to our travel discovery product, Rome2Rio, travel planning has never been easier – have you tried the Rome2Rio trip planner which we have launched as a beta version?
• Globally and across industries, we see a bigger push towards more competition. Within Europe, market deregulation in the transport sector has already happened in Spain, Italy and France. This benefits you, the consumer, giving you more travel options, generally better quality and a better price. Travel will remain at the forefront of these conversations. Building the foundation to allow more customers to choose how they get from a to b will be good for you but also for the planet.

Here’s to a bright 2024 and beyond,

Naren Shaam
CEO of Omio