Technology to Play Vital Role in Travel Market

It is a smarter world now and all thanks to the technological developments that we have witnessed over the last few decades. Particularly in the travel and tourism business, technology has a great role to play. It is now almost impossible to imagine a journey without the use of it. Whether it’s the travel service provider or the traveler itself, the new tech tools are the necessity for both. And, the marketers are predicting it to be the main driving force to get new business in the coming time. Let’s have a look at some of the travel tech trends, which are supposed to shape the future of travel across the globe:

Smart Gadgets
Can you really imagine a superb holiday without a smartphone, e-reader or camera? Certainly not. While some travelers find it irking to travel with lots of gadgets, these actually help make the journey more predictable and comfortable. A smartphone probably tops the list as it comes with multiple benefits including navigation apps, e-mail access and conference calling features.

Handy & Portable Wi-Fi
Internet is the lifeblood today and having a secure connection all through your journey is the need of the hour. While free internet is available in most renowned cafes, shopping centers and airports as well, these are not as reliable as your own secure connection. Portable Wi-Fi hotspot makes your journey worry-free as it lets you connect to the superfast internet no matter where you travel on earth.

Internet Booking System
Globetrotting has entered a new era with the innovation of internet booking system. Both for travel service providers and for end-users, an online booking engine is no less than a boon. It provides an easy gateway for the customers to search and book travel deals online within no time. On the other hand, such reservation software reduces the expense for the company to keep a separate team to look after the bookings. Also, an advanced online reservation tool helps fetch the best fares as it supports all leading GDS across the world.

Social Media Engagement
Word-of-mouth marketing is probably the best way to get new business and acquire new customer segment. And social media is the best way to reach the targeted customer segment. Recommendation by friends over social networks influence the final decision of the buyers to a great extent. Many popular social networking sites are now advancing their technology so that businesses can use these sites to better promote their services and create a positive brand name in the market.

The recent trends in global travel market indicates that around 85% of the globetrotters search travel deals online and 65% of them use online platforms to book the deals. Whether it’s to book accommodation, rent a car, make an airline reservation or a book cruise journey, an internet booking engine is a must to have technology for the travel service providers. Technological developments are now on the way to define the next phase of travel in the years to come.

Travel Technology: Putting the Customer at the Forefront

“Customer is the King”!! No matter you are into which business, to satisfy the end-user should be the ultimate goal of your business as this ensures long-term business and helps your curb the market competition. However, for the travel industry, the competition is getting tougher with travelers expecting to have an all-inclusive service when they travel. Particularly talking about the airline industry, it is continually shifting through changes in order to meet the customer demands.

The basic equation that we need to understand first is that not all passengers are same and nor do their requirements. Air passengers include a variety of people like couples, students, business professionals, celebrities and the like. And here of course, “one size fits all” strategy won’t work. So, airlines need to consider everyone’s interest and then catalogue their services, amenities and facilities accordingly.

Only by offering lowest fares or last-minute deals, airlines cannot simply ensue that they are offering a value-added service to their customers. From the airline booking process till the customer reach their final destination, the airline performs an active role in the entire process.

Today’s travelers are more mobile and they want on the go service. A secure internet booking system through which customers can book their flights using their mobile devices is perceived as a driving force to generate more leads in the coming time. International consumer surveys made it clear that people prefer booking their flight deals and vacation packages using their mobile device over sitting on a desktop computer to book the travel deals. For the airlines, technology is thus a boon to stimulate business; the more competent an airline booking engine is, the more is the chances for the airline to attract new customers and keep existing ones.

It is quit clear from recent consumer studies that people are ready to pay a higher amount if they get a better service. Along with the pricing factor, the airlines should focus on factors including check-in, boarding, passport control, security and much more.

Considering the customer aspects, we must tell that travel technology can and will surely bring a huge difference in the globetrotting experience of the global travel consumers. Thus, it is the high-time for the airline companies to deploy right technology and enjoy greater customer retention and profit rate. Experts predict that by the next few years, trillions of devices will be connected to mobile networks, and this will add to the travel experience of the people.

The Future of Global Travel Industry and the Role of Technology

Whether its war, pestilence, record debts or high oil prices, nothing can actually extinguish human desire to travel to lands far or near, to explore the unexplored and experience the exotic, to look a distant customer in the eye or stretch near a sempiternal shoreline with a Ruskin Bond book in hand. With man’s desire increases the challenges for the travel industry, but past few years’ observation certainly proves the industry’s agility and creativity to survive such challenges and come up with services, technology, business model and new working culture that proved fruitful to cope up with the situation.

Technology solutions including communication technologies, distribution systems, sensing and identification technologies etc. are perceived by many as the driving force to advance the growth of travel industry in the coming years. From big business houses to small-scale organizations, everyone is considering modern technological developments to help them deliver a more efficient, seamless and engaging experience at all stages of consumer’s journey.

Speculating on the future of travel, marketers believe that trends like globalization of business, growth in global migration, globalization of travel and tourism and rising affluence are some of the prime reasons that will transform the travel industry in the coming time. According to the experts, the future is already here. From planning the travel to sharing the travel experience, technology has its impactful presence in every phase of a person’s travel experience. In the present scenario, social media networks are becoming popular as the potent channels to market travel products and services. In next 5 years, around 76% of globetrotters are expected to book their travel as suggested over the social sites by the people on their network.

In the mid part of 20th century, technological innovations like booking engines showed a rapid growth in air travel market. The popularity of this technology soon made it popular among other divisions of the industry including hotels, travel agencies, cruise liners etc. Today, it’s hard to find a hotel that doesn’t have a website and an online hotel booking engine. It not only makes the entire booking procedure easier for the consumers, but makes it extremely convenient for the hotels to track the customer records and manage the entire reservation system.

Surveys show that cloud computing is gradually becoming popular in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry too. Cloud computing lets the company’s technology infrastructure up and running round the clock. Cloud computing reduces capital expenditures and the need to replicate hardware environment at each location.

The consumerization of technology is changing the way travelers interact, obtain information and purchase travel needs. Surveys show that from March 2012 to March 2013, there has been noticed a 54% increase in the number of Facebook mobile users; this increase has also resulted in a surge of people preferring to opt for travel services and products recommended by their friends over social networking sites. Travel service providers are now becoming more active on social network to reach their potent consumer section.

It’s been also observed that people prefer to search, evaluate and book travel services using their mobile devices. Mobile applications are thus a good way to serve consumer section with a value-added service. Mobile applications make it easy for the consumer to search and book travel deals while on the go. Moreover, mobile applications are greatly replacing hotel concierge services.

A discussion about future travel trends would be incomplete without mentioning about mobile devices and portable internet services. From business travelers to leisure seekers, and from honeymooners to adventure explorers, everyone wants to stay connected 24*7. To meet the growing needs of the travelers, hotels are including WiFi services. But an in-property WiFi wouldn’t be sufficient to serve the travelers, who seek internet everywhere they go; thus, in the coming years WiFi portable hotspots are speculated to replace traditional hotel WiFi services.

By the end of 2016, it is expected that 60% of global travel operations would depend on travel technology that not only meets the requirements of the travelers, but lets the service providers minimize the management hassle and maximize their profit margin.

Travel Technology: Dominating the Global Tourism Business

Technology has been dominating the entire tourism ecosystems for last few decades and the situation now arises where travel providers are expecting more efficient tools and services from the technology firms. This demand is expected to rise in the succeeding years to come to meet the growing demand of the digital market. Travel technology is one of the most rapidly expanding business segments in the world and market evaluators are expecting this growth to double up in the next 5 years due to new technological innovations; these will make the travel experience more efficient and convenient both for the service providers and for the travelers.

However, the entire idea dwells on how efficiently the technology providers integrate the market needs with their innovations. This puts a challenge before the companies as they now need to think from the view points of both the travelers and the service providers. From the travel agents’ point, modern-day innovations have empowered them with technologies that not only save their time and operational costs, but create a wide scope to reach their customers globally. With the help of customized websites, travel booking engines and bulk e-mailing services, the online travel agents not only double up their business, but are successful to create additional revenue by marketing their custom-made ancillary products and services.

Countries like India, China, Australia, Germany, Malaysia, USA and UK have witnessed a rapid growth in the tourism business in last two decades due to the advancement in internet technologies. The internet has created global platform for cultural exchange, which in turn created interest among travel enthusiasts to explore new destinations, untangle hidden world mysteries and journey across the remotest parts of the world to experience ultimate adventure. The digital platforms advertising different world destinations have succeeded in enticing the modern travelers to instantly plan travel, buy tickets and book accommodation; as a result the hospitality business also witnessed a quick boom.

While travel is the big buzzword these days, maintaining the entire travel process has become more complex for the travel agents, accommodation owners, airline operators and other travel service providers. However, as the competition increased in the market, the technology has improved to a point where it helps businesses to provide best customer experience. It minimizes the risk of information inaccuracy, accelerates the operational time and helps disseminate the information in a better manner.

Technologies like GPS, mobile applications, online booking engines etc. have minimized the hassle for travel consumers also. Now the travelers are empowered to search about different destinations on the web, research over the internet to know about different hotel and travel packages, to do the reservations online and to reschedule their journey as and when they want. This not only saves their time, but makes them get the best deal at market best price.

The improvement and implementation of technology in a business increases its operational efficiency and reduces overall costs, thus increasing the revenue returns in a long run. Travel technology has changed the entire scenario of exploring the world and is bringing more opportunities for the service providers and consumers to get the best out of it.