Research Centre

Kaleido’s new survey-based research delves deep into the world of international travel and connectivity. Our extensive research, conducted in April 2026, spans 20 influential travel markets, capturing the essence of modern travel behaviours and connectivity preferences.

The questionnaire was developed by Kaleido in partnership with industry stakeholders. This deck contains feedback from 15+ questions focused on travel SIM/eSIM usage drivers, travel eSIM preference and average spend, purchase intent by vendor type, and future usage outlook amongst current and non-users.

The research provides the latest travel and connectivity outlook from a leisure and business traveller perspective, with a specific focus on preference for travel SIMs, eSIMs, and roaming services.

The survey was completed by over 5,000 respondents from 20 leading travel markets including:

In summary, readers will get the following insights from the report:

• Rising awareness of travel SIMs/eSIMs and changing user attitudes, including shifting preferences toward travel eSIM adoption.
• Understand how travellers purchase and activate an additional SIM, including physical SIM cards, app-based eSIM activation, and QR code eSIM activation.
• Breakdown of traveller spend behaviours, including average travel eSIM spend per trip.
• Breakdown of traveller data usage behaviour, including average data usage per trip in terms of GB vs Unlimited plans.
• Overview of the travel eSIM providers used by travellers in the past 24 months across markets, covering 64 leading companies.
• Understand when leisure and business travellers purchase travel connectivity, including roaming, eSIMs, and physical SIMs, and whether purchases are made in the home market, while departing, on arrival, or after reaching the destination.
• Current purchase preferences and distribution channels for travel eSIM providers, indicating popular travel eSIM providers across these markets. 
• Current payment channels for leisure and business travel connectivity. 
• Comparative insights into ease of purchase and future intent to use various travel connectivity methods, including roaming, local SIMs and travel SIMs.
• Insights on traveller demand for SMS and voice services alongside travel eSIM data services.
• Understand what leisure and business travellers typically do with their travel eSIM after a trip, including whether they keep it, reuse it, delete it, or purchase a new eSIM next time.
• Understand leisure and business travellers’ preferences for future travel eSIM use, including single installed eSIMs, global eSIMs, regional eSIMs, and separate eSIMs for each trip or destination.

Access the Report:

Our exclusive Bespoke Travel Connectivity Market Strategy, Country Analysis & Survey Data consultation is your passport to unparalleled success in the ever-evolving world of travel connectivity. 

Contact our Consulting Team for meticulously curated statistics, recommendations, focus market trends, and analyses that will guide your every move. From in-depth country analysis that unveils hidden opportunities to cutting-edge survey data that captures the pulse of your target market, collaborate with our analysts to develop a roadmap to strategic triumph. 

Request your Bespoke Travel Connectivity Market Strategy, Country Analysis & Survey Data consulting with our expert team today and witness your brand’s transformation into an industry innovator.

Access All Kaleido Travel eSIM Insights:

The report forms part of Kaleido’s Travel eSIM Research Package.

The package contains all insights from Kaleido on Travel eSIM, including full survey findings from Kaleido’s annual research, granular competitive intelligence, all market sizing and forecasts, strategic recommendations and impacts of travel eSIM on the wider roaming and eSIM ecosystems.