Technology such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, mixed reality, blockchain and quantum computing are ‘the engines of our future’, said Shane O’Flaherty, global director of Travel and Transportation, Microsoft.
Technology has disrupted the travel industry, changed travel habits and the way companies do business.
Technology such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things, mixed reality, blockchain and quantum computing are ‘the engines of our future’, said Shane O’Flaherty, global director of Travel and Transportation, Microsoft.
“We encourage everyone to embrace and take advantage of technology as it can drive digital transformation,” he said. “There will be more change in the next 10 years than in the last 250 years.”
Companies have a treasure trove of data and it is about how they make use of the data to optimise operations and drive a better customer experience.
“Think about your data and how you are going to harness that to drive next-generation decisions,” he advised.
This includes optimising operations to become proactive instead of reactive, planning for something in that event that it fails and fixing it before the customer ever encounters it.
Don’t neglect employees too.
“Empower employees to have superpowers and more information at their fingertips than customers,” he said.
Cognitive services can also give product solutions a human side. For instance, multi-language digital assistants can augment customer engagement, chatbots can be used for consumer-facing and employee-facing services.
Don’t forget to plan for changing consumer behaviour too.
High smartphone usage in the region is fundamentally changing how consumers interact with digital travel companies, said Hermione Joye, Head of Industry, Travel APAC, Google.
Users also research about travel across multiple platforms, using Google search, maps and YouTube.
It is up to the travel industry to meet the customers at their level.
“The customer is curious, impatient and demanding,” she said.
She went on to elaborate that customers want more content, want it immediately and it has to be relevant.
About 69% of travellers report greater loyalty to travel brands that personalise experiences and 36% are willing to pay more for a travel brand that personalises experiences.
“Serve your customers based on their needs,” she advised. “Travel brands need to offer users assistive experiences.”
Some examples of these include ensuring that information loads quickly, keeping track of preferences, enabling one-click booking, integrating payment methods seamlessly, always being present and to follow up with customers.
This article is part of Travel Weekly Asia’s special report from ITB Asia 2018.