Travel industry taps technology to win customers

Mobile bookings set to double in the next two years! - Are you tapping into the potential to win customers?

According to Carlson Wagonlit Travel’s (CWT) research, mobile bookings are set to more than double in the next two years.¹According to another study conducted by Expedia, one in three millennial business travelers use their phone for making hotel bookings. Unlike the initial trend, mobile bookings are not restricted to last minute deals anymore, but are becoming a preferred mode of making complex purchase decisions with high involvement travel products.²

An increasing number of travelers prefer mobile devices and features:

To take pictures and share vacation experiences online with friends and family
To make bookings on the go
To receive travel alerts
To maintain well-being, productivity and compliance with travel policy
To check reviews online

The younger generation is tech savvy. They like to share things in real time. They want to be the first one to explore new technology that comes to the market. This generation likes to stay connected all the time. It is the world to them. They want everything now. As a result, they generate huge amounts of data footprints in the form of customer information, behavior, preferences, likes and dislikes. Such a variety and amount of data when harvested and cultivated using analytics can provide valuable customer insights that can be used by the travel industry to continuously innovate and improve customer experience. Using the right combination of technologies can help these companies to better engage their customers, streamline processes and raise revenues.

Here are a few examples of what companies in the industry can do by employing appropriate technology:

Royal Caribbean overhauled its reservation and pricing system last year and applied data analytics to extract valuable insights about customer preferences. This has improved their operational efficiency, enabled them to come up with new combination packages, and pricing packages.³
Roughly, 45% of online customer visits are abandoned midway. By using analytics to understand their behavior, companies can accordingly engage them and potentially convert 15%-20% of abandoned transactions to sales.⁴
An increasing number of travelers are hitting the road on their own. As a result, electronic wearable and car dashboard are the next platform that will witness a wave in mobile travel. Companies can look at developing apps to take advantage this and collect relevant information.⁵
Cruise or tour companies can use swiping machines and membership/ reward cards to collect information related to customer preferences while onboard such as their favorite drinks, music they like to hear, types of leisure activities they prefer and more. Companies can then use this information to personalize services to each customer, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.

Share with us such technology-driven ideas that you as a travel company has used to improve customer satisfaction or better engage with them, or plan to do.

About the Author

DeviPrasad Rambhatla, goes by Devi, leads Wipro’s Hospitality, Travel, Transportation and Public Sector (HTTP) Business Unit globally. His responsibilities include strategy, business growth, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and P&L management.

Devi, a diehard Wiproite, sports enthusiast, public speaker and above all, no stranger to the wonderful world of transportation. His career started off at GE Transportation Systems, where he had in-depth coverage of several US and Canadian railroads, and his collaboration with major airlines, through his stint as the Client Partner at Boeing. In his role as the Global Head of HTTP, he spearheaded Wipro’s 25% CAGR growth in this vertical by bringing in segment-wise focus in Travel, Transportation, and Hospitality.

Devi has been instrumental in building platforms and IP for leverage, given all pervasive digital transformation in HTTP. He also expanded the repertoire of services from Wipro to include not just cost savings services, but that significantly help clients in bringing in newer revenue streams and enhancing customer experience.

Devi holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and systems engineering. He attended Wharton school of business, for his diploma in Client Engagement.

In his free time, Devi still aspires to be a stand-up comedian.

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