We live in the digital era now, where technologies transform the way people interact, and even influence the decisions they make. You get at least a glimpse of it every day in the form of customer service kiosks, self-serve check out stations etc. Retailers like Walmart have been leveraging technological advancements to change the way customers shop – by giving them more control from the moment they step foot in the store. Consumers bag and pay for the items, without the need for a store employee assisting them.
So, shoppers get to control their shopping experience while the store can reduce human errors, cut down personnel costs, and enhances the experience of their customers.
Now apply that logic to the travel industry. The whole landscape of the industry has changed thanks to digital technology. Travelers now have the power to customize their travel plans and control how and when they can make travel plans. And they don’t need to approach brick-and-mortar travel agencies for this. They can make plans, and arrange everything themselves seamlessly at their own pace.
Let’s see how digital technology brought forth such a metamorphosis.
Social Media Platforms
The average traveler today has started relying more on online environments to realize his travel dreams. These environments include social media websites, travel portals, travel review websites, travel blogs etc. All of them combined changed the way travelers research, make plans, and recommend good destinations to others. They get input from people who’ve been to those places before. All of it just a few mouse clicks away.
However, travel companies, generally, haven’t completely realized how user-generated content and social media platforms can impact customers’ decisions. Their interactions with a traveler end the moment the latter returns home. Nevertheless, social media and review sites still managed to change the way a travel company does business. They can re-evaluate their offers depending on online reviews and social media posts, and even change the standard products or services they offer; even increase their brand visibility with some well-planned social media marketing strategies.
Personalization
Travel companies have seen the importance of personalizing their offers based on consumer preference. New age technologies like Big Data facilitate this. This gives a great experience to customers, and drives the business. The technology mines data to infer customer preferences with which the company can offer a personalized travel package to the customer. The customer, on the other hand, won’t have to plow through search results to find an interesting travel package.
This would also make them feel that the travel company is aligned with their interests, and hence reliable, consequently increasing the likelihood of customers recommending the company to their friends and family. Today’s traveler is more tech-savvy. So leveraging digital technologies to personalize offers gives the company a great advantage while providing customers with a convenient and comfortable purchasing experience at the same time.
Mobile Devices
People extensively use mobile devices now in both their personal and professional lives. Travelers rely on hand-held devices ranging from smartphones to tablets for researching, purchasing, and reviewing travel packages. This emphasizes the significance of responsiveness in a travel company’s website, and the company’s brand visibility in the digital realm.
To win today’s game, they will have to play by the rules and use digital technologies to respond to customers who found them with that technology in the first place. With the industry getting consistently digitized, a travel company that doesn’t embrace mobile disruption will lose to their competition in a short time.
Conclusion
We could say that the rapid advancement of digital technologies and the change in purchase patterns forced travel companies to adapt. But it is nevertheless beneficial to businesses that can give a comfortable and reliable shopping experience to consumers.
The travel industry’s present evolution thanks to digital technologies is but just a beginning. With AR, VR, and IoT starting to gain popularity, the trend will surely change in the near future making interactions more immersive, where travelers can realize their dreams in imaginative ways.
