The Promise of Digital Travel
Are we nearly there yet?
We're obviously not there yet. We still require travelers to present their travel documents and boarding passes repeatedly throughout their journey—at check-in, at bag-drop, at the landside/airside boundary, at the security checkpoint, at the border, and again at the departure gate. And then they need to do much of it again when arriving at their destination, collecting their rental car, and checking in at their hotel.
Proven technology
But the reason digital travel isn't a reality today is not because the technology doesn't exist. It does. It works exceptionally well and has been trialed, tested, and deployed worldwide countless times with impressive results.
Regulations fit for purpose
Of course, not every country has a regulatory framework in place to enable digital travel and ensure the right security, privacy, and data protection safeguards are in place. But regulation isn't really what's stopping us from bringing digital travel to life either.
Europe is well advanced in this area, having developed regulatory frameworks for digital identities and digital wallets (i.e., eIDAS). The European Commission has adopted proposals for regulations on an EU Digital Travel Application and the issuance of Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs) for holders of European passports and identity cards. In India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation coordinates the Digi Yatra regulations for the use of a facial recognition system at airport checkpoints so that "passengers no longer need to present physical tickets, boarding passes, or identification documents after registration". In the US, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now welcomes passengers presenting a digital identity at security checkpoints at more than 250 airports nationwide. And US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has launched the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) application, enabling US citizens and permanent residents—and nationals of 42 other countries who are part of the visa waiver program and hold a valid ESTA—to use their digital identity to benefit from dedicated lanes offering a fast-track arrivals process.
International interoperability
So, if it's not technology or regulation, some might think the problem must be 'interoperability'. No, it's not that either. Numerous international trials have demonstrated that passengers can securely and reliably use their digital identity across multiple countries.
Aruba and Curaçao have highly respected digital travel systems in place. Significant testing has been conducted via trials between Canada and the Netherlands. Finland, the United Kingdom, and Croatia recently joined forces to demonstrate how the use of digital identities accelerated border crossings in all three countries. That particular project was celebrated by TIME Magazine, including it in their list of Best Inventions of 2023. And the international high-speed rail operator, Eurostar, launched its SmartCheck pilot program, linking passengers' journey information to their digital identity and enabling a ticketless, barrier-free, automated departure process when traveling from the UK to France, Belgium, or the Netherlands.
Global standards
What's more, the global air transport industry, including border controls effected in airports, conforms to international standards set by the UN Specialized Agency, ICAO. Among many other responsibilities, ICAO sets the global standard for physical travel documents and is leading efforts to finalize the equivalent standard for digital versions (i.e., Digital Travel Credentials). ICAO also operates the Public Key Directory (PKD), an international database of cryptographic keys and certificates for authenticating the digital signatures contained in the biometric passports of more than 100 countries.
What's standing in the way?
Ruling out technology, regulation, and interoperability as the reasons for the global travel and tourism industry's continued reliance on repetitive, manual, and paper-based processes leads us to identify what's really standing in the way of delivering on the promise of digital travel—processes.
Ideal digital travel process
It's absolutely essential that we adopt a passenger-centric view to design the ideal digital travel process.
"Examining, deconstructing, redesigning, and optimizing the entire traveler journey is the single most effective way we can build a global system that works for everyone, everywhere—not just in a few isolated trials and programs for limited numbers of passengers."
From the moment a traveler has a verified (and verifiable) digital identity, we need to ask ourselves: What's the best and easiest way for them to apply for an e-Visa or ETA? How can we optimize the travel booking process to include relevant data from their digital identity, so they don't have to manually input it into an online form? When they arrive at the port, airport, or train station, what's the ideal way for them to check in their bags without having to show their passport or boarding pass? And when they proceed to the security checkpoint, what's the best way to log their arrival and guide them through the screening process? Automated border crossings should be the default, with manual and secondary inspections only required when anomalies are detected or risks need to be mitigated. There should be no need to perform document and boarding pass checks at the departure gate; that step in the process is already being automated and should become the norm. We then need to consider the onward journey processes, such as car rental and hotel accommodation. How can we improve the reservation, collection, and check-in process by utilizing the passenger's digital identity?
Charting a course to the digital future
When we can compellingly answer those questions, we will be well on the way to digital travel. Of course, many of those processes currently involve a myriad of stakeholders, including regulators, visa issuers, airlines, airports, transport operators, ground handlers, security providers, border control authorities, car rental firms, and hotel and tour operators. Bringing together such a broad group of stakeholders and creating the right conditions to develop and challenge ideas demands energy and commitment. But it can and must be done. In fact, it already has. Many years ago, the global airline body, IATA, led the Simplifying Passenger Travel (SPT) initiative, which did precisely that—brought together a myriad of stakeholders to design an ideal process flow. Time has passed, and technology has evolved, but the fundamental premise of coming together to examine issues of common concern and jointly develop global solutions remains unchanged.
All aboard! Next stop, digital travel
Suppose we fall short in driving meaningful collaboration between government and industry. In that case, we will continue to play around the edges, continually testing technologies that we already know work, and create a patchwork of digital travel programs, limited to specific countries, nationalities, ports, and airports. We won’t achieve critical mass. We won’t generate sufficient returns on our investments. Nor will we achieve the efficiencies needed to accommodate future growth in travel and tourism—a vital contributor to economic development, and currently employing 10% of the world's workforce.
In ten years, there will doubtless be some excellent real-life examples of digital travel, but they won't be globally available. And they won't deliver on the promise of enabling travel from anywhere to everywhere without ever needing to show your documents or paperwork. That's the version of digital travel we should be aiming for.
And we need to start right now. Who's coming along for the ride?
© 2025 • augmentiq
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References:
1) eIDAS - Regulation (EU) 2024/1183 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 amending Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 as regards establishing the European Digital Identity Framework.
2) European Digital Travel Application - Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an application for the electronic submission of travel data (‘EU Digital Travel application’) and amending Regulations (EU) 2016/399 and (EU) 2018/1726 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004, as regards the use of digital travel credentials
3) Digi Yatra - https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/digi-yatra-new-digital-experience-air-travellers
4) US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Digital Identity and Facial Comparison Technology - https://www.tsa.gov/digital-id
5) US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Mobile Passport Control (MPC) - https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control
6) Aruba Happy One Pass (AHOP) - https://www.arubahop.com
7) Curaçao Express Pass - https://dicardcuracao.com/
8) TIME Magazine Best Inventions of 2023 - https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2023/6323161/digital-travel-credentials/
9) Eurostar Smart Check (Sky News) - https://news.sky.com/story/eurostar-passengers-from-st-pancras-to-be-able-to-skip-passport-checks-thanks-to-facial-recognition-tech-12922600
10) International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Public Key Directory (PKD) - https://www.icao.int/icao-pkd
11) International Air Transport Association (IATA) - https://www.iata.org
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About the Author: Matthew Finn is the chief executive officer of augmentiq. He has worked at the forefront of security for more than 30 years, with a mission to make travel safer, seamless, and more secure. He was previously Director of Government & Security at SITA, Board Member of Simplifying Passenger Travel at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Editorial Advisory Board Member at Aviation Security International, and Security Liaison at the United Nations.
