The travel industry has spent a decade improving the digital journey, yet one of its most fragile moments still comes at the point of arrival: landing at a destination and trying to get online. Those first five minutes can shape everything that follows, from maps and transfers to check-in and customer support, and when connectivity fails the journey can feel fragmented before it has properly begun. Here, Hamish White, CEO of eSIM software provider Mobilise, explains why the arrival moment is becoming a travel experience metric rather than a telecoms detail.
The modern travel experience is, in many respects, a genuinely impressive digital achievement. Booking, check-in, boarding and baggage tracking have all been transformed by technology. Yet land at an unfamiliar airport and the experience often fractures. Roaming charges still prompt travellers to switch their data off, while airport Wi-Fi often relies on registration screens, unstable connections and limited coverage. For all the progress made in the digital travel journey, connectivity at the point of arrival has remained stubbornly analogue.
For solo travellers, families navigating unfamiliar airports and business passengers working to tight schedules, that window of disconnection carries genuine risk. An inability to confirm a transfer, reach a host or access a booking reference is not a minor friction. It can undermine the wider travel experience, creating frustration that travellers may associate with the journey as a whole, even when the root cause sits with the underlying network.
Connectivity beyond data
According to the Mobile World Live eSIM Survey Report 2026, “60 per cent of eSIM users had used an eSIM service while travelling abroad in the previous 12 months”, showing a clear need for digital connectivity when travelling. However, data alone does not fully support the realities of modern travel. Passengers also need to make calls, receive verification messages and contact drivers, hotels or support teams in real time. As a result, travel connectivity is beginning to move beyond data-only eSIM services towards models that combine data, voice and app-based communication.
Travellers are no longer looking for connectivity at a single point in their journey, but continuity from departure to arrival and onwards. The expectation is not simply to get online, but to remain connected without interruption or unnecessary effort. As digital journeys become more tightly integrated across airlines, travel platforms and hospitality providers, any break in that continuity feels increasingly out of place, exposing connectivity as one of the remaining areas where the travel experience has yet to align with broader digital expectations.
Crucially, this is no longer something the travel industry has to leave entirely to external connectivity providers. Advances in eSIM and embedded connectivity mean airlines, OTAs and hospitality groups can increasingly bring connectivity into their own digital ecosystems and take greater ownership of the first interaction on arrival. By doing so, they can reduce dependence on fragmented third-party touchpoints at a critical moment and treat connectivity as part of the customer experience rather than a separate telecoms service.
For telecoms and travel providers, the opportunity sits at the intersection of connectivity, customer experience and platform strategy. Travel brands have already invested heavily in digital touchpoints, from booking apps and loyalty schemes to real-time travel updates and mobile support. Yet these services depend on reliable connectivity at the point of use. As eSIM adoption grows and embedded connectivity becomes easier to integrate, the question for the travel sector is shifting from whether travellers can get online to who owns that connected experience.
Embedding connectivity into the travel journey
Technology providers are beginning to respond to this shift by helping travel brands embed connectivity into the platforms travellers already use. Mobilise’s HERO® Travel Suite is one example, enabling airlines, OTAs and hospitality providers to integrate eSIM and voice connectivity into their own digital environments rather than treating it as a separate service.
In practice, this means travellers can purchase and activate connectivity before departure, then arrive with access already in place rather than relying on roaming decisions, airport Wi-Fi or local SIM purchases. For travel brands, the significance lies less in the technology itself and more in the ability to make connectivity part of the wider digital journey.
For travel providers, the implications extend beyond convenience. Bringing connectivity into their own ecosystem allows them to maintain a direct relationship with the traveller at a moment that has traditionally sat outside their control. Instead of losing visibility once a passenger clears arrivals, travel brands can remain part of the journey and offer continuity that aligns with the rest of the digital experience they have already built.
For passengers, the expectation is simple: connectivity that works immediately, without effort or uncertainty. For the travel industry, the opportunity is to rethink one of the most overlooked moments in the journey and treat it as part of the customer experience from the outset. As more of travel becomes digital, the first few minutes after landing may become one of the clearest tests of whether that digital journey is truly connected.
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