Travel Tech: Digital travel
meets the border

Immigration requirements are putting travellers off visiting destinations across the world, and Africans are the hardest hit.

The International Air Transport Association’s 2026 Global Passenger Survey finds that 43% of respondents globally have been discouraged from visiting a destination by its entry requirements, up dramatically from 33% last year. Among African respondents, the figure reaches an astonishing 52%, the highest of any region.

This is despite African travellers being ready to use their faces to get through airport checkpoints. The survey, which draws on 10,665 respondents from more than 200 countries, reveals that 82% of travellers from this continent would share biometric information to avoid repeatedly producing a passport or boarding pass. Even more, 87%, would consider using a digital passport for online check-in.

Being discouraged from travelling could mean abandoning a holiday, but it could equally mean giving up on a business opportunity or a visit to family. African travellers’ thirst for easier access reflects how much can depend on getting permission to cross a border.

The need is obvious: governments and airlines have to make digital approvals work across the organisations that decide who can board an aircraft and who can enter a country.

Complexity accounts for 53% of complaints among those deterred globally, far ahead of the second-ranked factor, cost, at 17%.

An electronic visa promises to spare the applicant much of the work associated with a paper application. Its value also depends on what happens after approval, when an airline must establish that the document gives its holder permission to travel.

“Passengers want to apply for visas online and complete immigration procedures before they reach the airport,” says Nick Careen, IATA’s senior vice-president for operations, safety and security. “eVisas can deliver that, but airlines can only verify them efficiently if governments use common standards.”

Globally, 86% of respondents said they would share immigration information digitally before departure to speed up processing. Another 45% want to complete immigration procedures before reaching the airport. Resolving eligibility in advance would give passengers a chance to deal with a problem before it compromises a flight.

Biometrics offer a similar opportunity to reduce repeated checks. Among passengers willing to share biometric information, three-quarters prefer a single registration in advance. Requiring them to enrol again at successive stages would squander much of the benefit.

Experience of the technology is spreading, with 58% of respondents having used it during an airport journey in the past year, up from 50% in 2025. Satisfaction among those users reached 87%, compared with 70% for border control and immigration.

Passengers also want control over their personal information. Data breaches concern 59% of respondents, and 49% worry about information being shared with other organisations. Clear information about access and deletion should be part of enrolment, so passengers know what they have signed away, at least virtually.

AI is already changing how travellers choose the journeys that bring them into these systems. In Africa, 52% of respondents said they have used it for travel planning, compared with 35% in Europe. The Middle East leads at 72%.

This gives airlines ample incentive to examine how their flights appear in recommendations. Airlines now have to compete for bookings through AI as well as their own websites and apps. Their fares need to be accurate in those recommendations, with a straightforward link to buy the ticket. A recommendation becomes a wasted sales opportunity if the passenger has to start the search again on the airline’s website, as is so often the case.

“People are using AI to plan their travel,” says Careen. “It’s important for airlines not only to ensure their offerings show up in AI, but also to develop convenient links to convert an AI conversation into a real booking.”

African travellers’ readiness to use these technologies gives the industry a chance to improve access throughout a journey.

An electronic approval that an airline struggles to verify can leave a passenger facing the same uncertainty as a paper application. The number of countries offering the service gives governments plenty of experience to draw on when fixing that problem.

“More than 100 countries issue eVisas, yet there is little consistency in how they are checked,” says Careen. “The tools to fix that already exist, and governments should adopt them.”

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, editor of GadgetWings, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.