The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) highlighted the importance of women’s participation in travel and tourism at the Women Deliver Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.

According to the global tourism body, women constitute 54 percent of the workforce. And while Travel & Tourism provides accessible opportunities for women, it also faces disparities such as lower pay and job security. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a loss of 62 million jobs in Travel & Tourism, most of these females.

The event served as a platform to address challenges faced by women in the Travel & Tourism sector, explore strategies to overcome them, and ways to inspire change and promote equal opportunities for women. The conference also emphasized the vital importance of mentorship programs for younger women to unlock their potential for economic transformation through networking, opportunity and resources.

Panel discussions focused on challenges faced by women in various aspects of the business, including barriers to entry, operational obstacles, and ecosystem limitations.

In her conference address, Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said “It is proven that companies that have 50% women in their leadership make more money. This makes even more sense in travel and tourism where women make the buying decisions on where to go on holiday. It also makes good sense to employ women in senior roles; why would you exclude access to 50% of global talent.”

She added that “Rwanda has a great track record with a majority of women MPs in the Parliament. President Kagame addressed the Women Deliver for the first time held in Africa, with real passion and a track record of gender equality.  Putting women center stage in Travel & Tourism will ensure a better future for the sector and the global economy. Currently, more than half of the sector is made up of women. By addressing the barriers and inequalities they face, we can unlock immense potential and drive sustainable growth. The ‘Women Deliver’ event serves as a catalyst for change, bringing together sector leaders, policymakers, and advocates to work collectively towards a more diverse and prosperous future.”

WTTC remains committed to advocating for gender equality, working closely with its members, governments, and industry partners to foster an environment where women have equal opportunities to excel, lead, and shape the future of the travel and tourism sector.

The council continues to urge public and private sectors to play their part in promoting women’s participation in the Travel & Tourism sector. In addition, governments should adopt policies promoting women in senior management, such as mandatory quotas for publicly listed companies and state-owned enterprises. The private sector should also offer targeted professional development programs for women and create networking and mentoring opportunities.

Source: travelpulse

Most talk about generative AI is bombastic. Yes, today’s tech has accuracy and security issues. But that will be resolved within a few years. The tech will then transform hotel revenue management.

Hotel companies hope artificial intelligence (AI) will improve their skill at pricing rooms. Known as revenue management, the field relies on forecasting and is ripe for disruption.

The changes won’t happen overnight. Hotel revenue managers have worries about the security and reliability of today’s generative AI. But within a few years, software makers will likely overcome the flaws and hotels will reap efficiency gains.

“A lot of proposed applications of generative AI feel like solutions in search of a problem, but revenue management is a perfect use case for it,” said Jeff Edwards, a consultant and former IHG executive. “It’s data-intensive, and it’s too complex for humans to manage in real-time.”

Instilling Trust

A big win would be if AI gave hotel decision-makers more confidence in automated rate recommendations.

Today’s revenue management software typically produces tables or spreadsheets, leaving it up to revenue managers to interpret them.

“With all due respect to the vendors, at too many hotels today, people turn off the computer’s rate recommendations because they’re skeptical — especially as a date approaches,” Edwards said.

AI could let managers ask questions via a chat interface, clarifying the assumptions behind any particular rate suggestion in plain English. That could build trust in the recommendations.

Generative AI could push insight into revenue management up the organizational hierarchy, said Darren Koch, chief product officer at Duetto, whose pricing and related tools are used by more than 4,000 hotel and casino resort properties.

“Today you have asset managers and owners who have perceptions of what the value of their asset is … of what the market will pay,” Koch said. “Sometimes those perceptions are vastly wrong.”

“They may think ‘the team is just not executing properly — get me the €1,000 a night that I deserve,’” Koch said. “But in the future, a computer might tell them that they need to renovate their guest rooms because an analysis of guest reviews, scores, and comments show that the average review score is negatively interacting with the rate.”

Rate Forecasts From Social Media Images?

Generative AI will likely uncover signals about travel demand from sources of information humans barely consider, said Ryan King, senior vice president at Shiji Americas, a hotel software services firm.

“The recent advances in AI have shown how much data it can process and structure,” King said. “They’re now able to pull in more data and analyze it and see the impact on pricing.”

Exhibit A: Images posted on social media might someday reveal trending preferences among travelers.

Today’s hotel systems typically assign rates generically to groups of rooms, such as the same rate for all rooms with queen beds. Tomorrow’s tech might enable dynamic pricing for individual rooms. An extra-spacious corner room that’s often appeared on social media could, at least in theory, command higher rates.

“Think of how shared images of specific rooms, or more pictures posted from a specific room type, could make that room more valuable,” King said. “It might even be possible for RMS [revenue management software] platforms to assign specific rates for specific rooms based on how those rooms are perceived.”

In short, the ability of AI models to analyze so-called unstructured data could be a game changer for hotel pricing.

“Generative AI, in particular, really excels with content — text, images, video,” said Jason Pinto, co-founder and chief operating officer of Pace Revenue, part of travel tech startup Flyr.

Better Hotel Pricing

Today’s revenue management often struggles to handle ancillaries and other non-room revenue.

“Generative AI could move us from a more generic view to a more surgical view of revenue management,” Edwards said. “This individual buys a lot of extras and eats at our restaurants and has X-tier status in our loyalty program, so let’s offer them this more relevant rate instead.”

Too often software analyzes if demand for a particular night is increasing and whether rates should rise in response. But the software struggles with questions such as how long to hold aside inventory for a last-minute business traveler who might be willing to pay a high price — or for a wedding party that might spend a lot on non-room services.

Artificial intelligence broadly speaking is pushing revenue management from a rules-based approach to a “probabilistic” one, said Pinto of Pace Revenue. The field is essentially becoming more dynamic and responsive in near-real time, which can help hotels capture the most profitable guests rather than just put heads in beds.

GAIO as the New SEO?

A key part of revenue management is the cost of acquiring guests from different sources. The traditional thinking is that if you need to fill rooms because vacancies are high, you can turn to online travel agencies that appeal to leisure travelers. Your revenue may go up, but the commissions may eat into the profitability of these guests.

Generative AI may help hotels to stop blindly chasing demand.

It may also reshape how hotels acquire guests. Today, online travel agencies and global hotel groups have their marketing efforts set up for a world where Google search dominates. What will happen if new types of chat-based search using large-language models significantly displace today’s online search?

“It’s premature because we don’t know how it’ll be monetized, but it will change search,” said Cindy Estis Green, co-founder and CEO of Kalibri Labs, a hotel data analytics firm. “There will be new practices with new costs that will potentially displace search engine optimization and paid digital.”

It seems possible that if travel buyers change how they search for travel, that might lead to the equivalent of generative AI optimization (GAIO).

“Today, listing on Booking.com, etc., is essentially a cost-effective proxy for appearing high in Google search, especially for smaller hotel companies and independent hotels,” Pinto said. “These players will want to know how to become the property that is the answer to the kind of questions travelers pose to generative AI-based booking systems. Will some ways of generating marketing content about your hotel prove more effective?”

Hotel Revenue Management Upheaval

Generative AI’s large promise will take years to fulfill. Yet early signs are promising.

Cloudbeds, a hotel software system, already uses some tools with generative AI components for its operations as a company. It uses GitHub Copilot, which is generative AI for coding, and Jasper, which is generative AI for copywriting. It also taps generative AI for analyzing customer service requests.

“The practical lift of what we gain from each of those three areas is anywhere from 10% to 20% productivity, which as a CEO I consider really good,” said Cloudbeds founder and CEO Adam Harris. “That shows the potential as the technology is applied in the future to other areas, like revenue management.”

Some analysts doubt there will be a sudden widespread adoption of generative AI in revenue management.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a big bang like OpenAI had with ChatGPT 3,” Koch said. “I’d be surprised if it happened in this industry because of the fragmented nature of the data and technology.”

In other words, revenue management systems are only as good as the data fed into them. Too many hotel companies provide their systems with incomplete pictures because their data is siloed in a mix of systems. Some are physically still on-premise at hotels, rather than in the cloud, and don’t share data well.

There’s an implication to this reality, however. The first hotel companies to unify their data and apply generative AI-based technology have an opportunity to leap ahead of rivals in snatching up more-profitable sources of demand.

In the meantime, there are concerns about “hallucinations” – when AI returns inaccurate information – and security.

“To commercially use it, we need to make sure we can securely use it,” said Brian Kirkland, chief information officer at Choice Hotels, in a Bloomberg TV interview. “How do we get private data sets in there? How do we curate the answers?”

“It’s the thing that everybody’s looking at for it to become commercially viable,” Kirkland said. “It’ll be something that really transforms how we do business.”

Koch at the vendor Duetto echoed the sentiment.

“There’s a lot of information asymmetry today, and I expect that to go away,” he said. “There’s also a lot of emotion, and these enhancements will bring more facts into the conversation.”

Source: Skift

Hotels have mixed feelings about business travel in 2023.

On one hand the corporate travel and groups segment is the main area of focus for hotel revenue teams this year.

But rather than staffing issues, business travel also represents their biggest challenge, according to a new Outlook & Trends 2023 Survey from revenue management software company Duetto.

When hoteliers were asked how they planned to optimize business mix in 2023, the top responses were group business (59.5 percent) followed by corporate business (51.9 percent).

Channel management (48.1 percent), online travel agencies (38 percent), then tour operator, wholesale and fully independent travelers (30.4 percent) followed.

Business travel is returning this year, but Duetto believes the fact it’s unlikely to return 2019 levels weighs heavily. for example, only half of companies located in North America are seeing international bookings recover to their pre-pandemic levels according to the Global Business Travel Association.

When it comes to the challenges hotels face in 2023, business travel came top at 60.8 percent.

Staffing followed at 55.7 percent, ahead of increased costs, government restrictions, lead times and cancellations.

As expected, seeking out sales digitally is a priority when it comes to channel management efforts — but revenue execs could be focusing on the wrong channel if they want to boost their business travel bottom line.

Their top focus for channel management in 2023 are metasearch websites such as Google, TripAdvisor or Kayak. This came out highest at 75.9 percent.

Other areas including loyalty (57 percent); online agency (55.7 percent); “own website” (54.4 percent); and global distribution systems (53.2 percent). Yet it’s these global distribution systems that are commonly used by corporate travel agencies.

Duetto’s survey was carried out from Dec. 1, 2022, to Jan. 16, 2023.

Respondents worked in leisure hotels, business hotels, casino resorts and hostels. Geographically they came from North America (39.5 percent), Europe (21.1 percent), Latin America (21.1 percent), Asia Pacific (14.5 percent), and the Middle East & Africa (3.9 percent).

Source: Skift

Africa’s tourism sector was on an upward trajectory with an average growth of 5% until Covid-19 struck with its devastating effects causing disruption for the global economy and the tourism sector to be specific.

The silver lining in the last 24-36 months has been how partnerships and collaboration for the tourism sector to accelerate recovery.

The power of tourism particularly in Africa cannot be over emphasised enough as it offers an incredible opportunity to transform the lives of many on the continent.  As the United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres succinctly puts it, ‘’Tourism can provide decent jobs, helping to build resilient sustainable, inclusive economies and societies that work for everyone’’.

Recovery of the tourism sector is well underway and shaping up so well. Based on UNWTO’s forward-looking scenarios for 2023, international tourist arrivals could reach 80% to 95% of pre-pandemic levels this year, depending on the extent of the economic slowdown, the ongoing recovery of travel in Asia and the Pacific and the evolution of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, among other factors. The latest UNWTO barometer gives it further impetus as Africa recovered about 65% of pre-pandemic levels.

It is a positive omen that we need to maintain and further up with the needed policies to make the maximum push.

The meetings, incentives, conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector which is One of the fastest-growing sectors of the global tourism industry is an area in Africa that can help sustain the continent’s sector. With the enormous benefits and ROI that it generates, with some little effort and investments, it could be gold for the tourism industry.

Facts

The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates the travel and tourism industry globally to be worth some US$7 trillion.it is estimated that the global MICE industry is worth around US$650 billion to US$700 billion, a sizeable figure. Africa is forecasted to have a paltry market share of 2% of it.

The above staggering data is just the tip of the iceberg which many other multiplier efforts beyond calculable. The illustration makes a serious case for Africa to position MICE in their strategies to drive tourism, their economies, and trade.

Prior to the covid-19 pandemic, several countries expressed the intent of making MICE a core pillar in their development agenda and went further in putting in place the governance structures to get it going. From the growing list of convention bureaus to a dedicated desk for MICE/Business events in itself is a commendable step. Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia are few of the countries have made commitments for mice.

In Africa, powerhouses such as South Africa and Morocco and recent dominant Rwanda have been pace setters in consolidating and growing their market share of the pie.

As the tourism actors begin with their key roadshows and trade events such as meetings Africa, it is incumbent on its leaders and stakeholders to commit themselves to the progress and development of the sector and the continent as a whole.

There cannot be any valid reasons why the continent is still struggling to take a giant step toward the elimination of artificial bottlenecks hampering movement and trade in the region. As so long as Africans are required to travel with a visa within the continent which in itself is not an easy task, the objective of taking advantage of the African continental area is a dead-on-arrival case. There ought to be a paradigm shift from the present situation to an efficient and smart way of doing things in our quest to truly attain the goals of the ”Africa we want” Agenda.

Even though the recent 2022 Africa visa openness report by the Africa development bank indicates improvement in visa facilitation across the continent, it needs a whirlwind of a push to accelerate movement and trade to grow African economies.

African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa in reacting to the latest report said: “This edition links free movement to the development of regional value chains, investments, trade in services and the AfCFTA. There is greater recognition that human mobility is key to Africa’s integration efforts.”

Meetings Africa, a platform created by South African Tourism has been a strong voice and effervescent force in mobilizing the business events industry and offering support and knowledge for Africa to grow this significant market segment. It has with other similar platforms encouraged and supported destinations to invest and commit to mice in its quest to grow tourism.

Now in its 17th year, the event is seeing the highest number of African participants coupled with other novelties to shape the new way of doing things in the industry. It is refreshing and welcoming for the continent to at least see a surge in the appreciation of MICE by decision-makers to drive its economy.  As a private sector-led industry, the profound endorsement of the public sector is very significant as it will encourage the provision of necessary infrastructure to meet the demands of hosting small to mega events thus creating jobs for many in the ecosystem.

Three hundred and five exhibitors representing 15 African countries have confirmed their spots on the Meetings Africa 2023 trade floor. They will have the opportunity to interact with thousands of buyers from around the world expected at the event. The countries represented are Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Seychelles, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi, and Mozambique.

According to South African Tourism Acting CEO, Themba Khumalo, the increase in the number of African exhibitors is an indication that leaders throughout Africa recognize the business events industry as vital to their economy. “As Africa’s economy shifts towards a technological future characterized by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, more nations are building their business events industries to attract foreign investors and businesses.”

Aside from offering the perfect avenue to trade and sign deals, meetings in Africa will unravel the many novelties and innovations developed by African entrepreneurs/groups to make businesses seamless and spur growth. An imperative to develop a robust MICE sector is the ability to be sustainable in all fronts and Africa’s enviable sustainability footprint will be on display during the show in Sandton.

Meetings Africa 2023 will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre from 27 February to 1 March bringing together 350 exhibitors and more than 1,000 buyers to the trading floor.

There will be insightful sessions across all three days at Meetings Africa 2022, with speakers focusing on creating a positive African narrative, the future of meetings, and the challenges business events face because of a lack of airlift in Africa.

Meetings Africa will once again offer the fine opportunity to accelerate the continent’s tourism recovery.

Harnessing the immense resources for the growth of the continent will require intentional and conscious efforts by all and sundry.  Aviation expert, Sean Mendis is optimistic Africa’s aviation sector could see a strong rebound this year provided actionable measures are put in place to make airlines competitive, destinations accessible and build synergies among stakeholders towards a common approach for the realization of air travel objectives.

“In many parts of Africa, notably in West Africa, you find that the taxes charged by governments and authorities on travellers often exceed the fare travellers pay to the airlines to transport them. And when the airline is making $60 while you are paying the government $150 to travel for one hour by air, it immediately depresses the ability of people to be able to travel to the neighbouring countries to do business, explore the neighbouring countries to see the highlights of what the countries have to offer.’’  Sean Mendis.

Making tourism a transformative force for good will mean collaborating with all key stakeholders to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

Source: Vanguard

President Joe Biden hailed cooperation with Africa and said he looked forward to visiting the continent soon as he endeavors to expand ties in a region where China and Russia have been making inroads.

Speaking at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, Biden announced billions of dollars in new commitments on financing and bolstering democracy, and affirmed he supported a permanent seat for the African Union at the Group of 20.

He sought to dissuade the impression his promises could be short-lived, naming a top diplomat to ensure the summit’s commitments are executed. And he said a host of Cabinet officials – along with his wife – would also soon visit Africa to demonstrate American interest there.

“I’m eager to visit your continent,” Biden said to the nearly 50 leaders attending the conference. “Some of you invited me to your countries. I said, ‘Be careful what you wish for because I may show up.’”

“I’m looking forward to seeing many of you in your home countries,” he said.

Biden is hosting this week’s summit hoping to build more robust ties with African nations, stressing US desire to work together instead of simply sending aid and assistance.

“The United States is all in on Africa and all in with Africa,” Biden said Thursday. He said “African voices, African leadership, African innovation” were all necessary to addressing a host of global challenges.

“Africa belongs at the table in every room, in every room where global challenges are being discussed and every institution where discussions are taking place,” he said, noting his support for a seat for Africa both at the G20 and the United Nations Security Council.

“It’s been a long time in coming but it’s gonna come,” he said.

It’s not the first time African leaders have heard a similar message from an American president. President Barack Obama held his own US-Africa Leaders Summit in 2014, complete with gala dinner under a tent on the White House South Lawn. He promised then to take action to help build more prosperity and security in Africa.

But his predecessor former President Donald Trump largely ignored Africa, never visiting the continent and even rudely disparaging certain African nations in a 2018 meeting as “shithole countries.”

Meanwhile, other nations have made inroads on the continent. China has worked to grow trade relations with African nations and has developed major infrastructure projects there. Russia has expanded its military influence, including through mercenaries like the Wagner Group.

Biden avoided specific mention of those countries in his remarks, but he alluded to China’s creeping influence in Africa when discussing new US efforts at providing financing to “build sustainable and inclusive economies” with saddling nations with “back breaking debt payments.”

He said he was working alongside Congress to announce a total of $55 billion for investment in Africa in areas as diverse as rural development and collaboration in outer space.

He said the US would remain focused on leading with values, including support for democracy, respect for the rule of law, commitment to human rights, and emphasizing responsible government.

Earlier this week, Biden met with leaders from several countries holding elections in 2023 to emphasize the importance of free and fair voting.

“We see over and over again that our greatest power is our people,” he said Thursday, announcing $75 million to strengthen transparent government, voter registration and constitutional reform.

He said Ambassador Johnnie Carson, a former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, would lead efforts to “make sure we translate our commitments on paper to progress.”

And he said he was looking forward to going to Africa himself. Biden hasn’t visited Sub-Saharan Africa since taking office.

Source: CNN

Geopolitical uncertainties are singled out in the latest Global Business Travel Forecast, which underscores the volatility the corporate travel industry is experiencing, and perhaps the pointlessness of trying to predict prices in the first place.

While travel prices may not spiral out of control as much as they did in 2022, many factors that impact costs will simply remain out of the hands of travel managers.

Next year could see even more price fluctuations due to geopolitical events, a new report from corporate travel agency CWT and the Global Business Travel Association has warned.

The pair projected back in November 2021 that air fares would rise 3.4 percent in 2022, with that estimate published just months before Russia invaded Ukraine — an event that contributed to jet fuel price increases that were handed down to passengers.

However, the actual rise of the average air fare is expected to be 48.5 percent for 2022, CWT and the association have stated in this year’s joint Global Business Travel Forecast, published Wednesday.

“There are three main forces exerting pressure on the economy, and conversely, the business travel industry,” the report said. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, coupled with other geopolitical uncertainties; inflationary pressures that are pushing costs higher; and the risk of further Covid outbreaks that could restrict business travel.”

Speaking to Skift ahead of the report’s publication, one senior exec warned more implicitly that travel managers should keep track of the rising tension between China and Taiwan. Taiwan’s foreign minister on Tuesday said China’s recent military maneuvers were a game-plan to prepare for an invasion.

“As well as the war in Ukraine, you need to keep an eye on what’s happening in Taiwan with China,” said Richard Johnson, senior director, CWT Solutions Group. “Drawing parallels with what’s happening in Ukraine and Russia at the moment, if there were to be an invasion of Taiwan, that could potentially impact demand for inbound and outbound business travel to and from China.”

One knock-on effect is that airlines would see demand reduced, particularly if there was an embargo, as well as safety risks.

With prices reduced in certain markets, Johnson said vendors would need to recoup their losses.

“You might start to see an offsetting of the reduced demand in such a massive economy as China, by prices increasing elsewhere,” he added. “It’s a difficult one to predict.”

Air fares are predicted to rise 8.4 percent in 2023, according to the Global Business Travel Association.

Meanwhile, hotel prices are expected to rise 18.5 percent in 2022, up to $147 per night — a notable difference on the original 13 percent prediction the annual report made in November last year.

They’re forecast to go up by a further 8.2 percent in 2023. “Hotel prices have already eclipsed 2019 levels in some areas and will do so globally by 2023,” the report said.

Source: Skift

Global travel prices are forecast to continue rising in the remaining months of 2022 and throughout 2023, a report released on Wednesday said.

Rising fuel prices, labour shortages and inflationary pressures on raw material costs are the main drivers of expected price increases, according to the Global Business Travel Forecast 2023.

Prices have risen across all regions in most spending categories, driven by pent-up demand, the desire to build company culture and an uncertain economic outlook.

Air fares have seen a particularly marked post-pandemic upwards shift.

Business travel flight prices fell more than 12 per cent in 2020 from 2019, followed by an additional 26 per cent decline in 2021.

Economy ticket prices fell more than 24 per cent from 2019 to 2021, while premium tickets fell 33 per cent. Prices are expected to increase by 48.5 per cent in 2022, but even with this large increase, prices are expected to remain below pre-pandemic levels until 2023.

After a 48.5 per cent increase in 2022, prices are expected to increase by 8.4 per cent in 2023.

Increased demand and continued price increases for jet fuel which have seen prices more than double in some markets to $160 dollars per barrel, according to S&P Global, are putting upwards pressure on ticket prices.

The overall cost per attendee for meetings and events in 2022 is expected to be about 25 per cent higher than in 2019 and is projected to increase by a further 7 per cent in 2023.

“Demand for business travel and meetings is back with a vengeance, there’s absolutely no doubt about that.” said Patrick Andersen, chief executive of travel management firm CWT which contributed to the report.

“Labour shortages in the travel and hospitality industry, rising commodity prices and greater awareness of responsible travel are all impacting services, but forecast prices are broadly [in line] with 2019.”

Hotel prices are also on the rise after falling 13.3 per cent in 2020 from 2019 and another 9.5 per cent in 2021. The report expects them to rise 18.5 per cent in 2022, followed by an 8.2 per cent increase in 2023.

Hotel prices have already eclipsed 2019 levels in areas such as Europe, Middle East and Africa, and North America — and are expected to do so globally by 2023.

Hotel rate increases were initially driven by strong leisure travel in 2021, but group travel for meetings and corporate events is improving and temporary business travel is picking up a healthy pace, putting further pressure on average daily hotel rates.

An integral part of many trips abroad are car rentals, and after falling 2.5 per cent in 2020 before rising 5.1 per cent in 2021, prices are expected to rise 7.3 per cent in 2022 and to climb a further 6.8 per cent in 2023.

With the automotive industry unable to produce cars at the volume it did before the pandemic — largely due to global supply chain issues — rental agencies are back to buying used vehicles to increase fleet size and are keeping their vehicles for longer periods.

Some agencies are also buying vehicles from carmakers outside of their historically supported brands.

Source: The National

Eighty-two percent of travel executives say that increasing revenue is their top priority over the next two years, according to Accenture recent travel cloud survey. This view is no surprise considering the travel industry is still below 2019 revenue levels. But I think it raises two critical questions. What do customers want from travel companies? And how do travel companies deliver?

What do customers want from travel companies?

Seamless delivery.

Across almost every interaction, we (as customers) feel the strain of travel operations ramping back up. We feel the strain of staff as they cope with old and new demands, lower staffing levels, sickness and fellow travelers’ frustrations. We see the broken stitching between processes and departments across a journey that doesn’t go perfectly. And when we arrive at our destination, we’re relieved it’s over.

While we’re there, we see and feel the seams of hospitality travel technology in ways that weren’t noticeable before. Vouchers feel antiquated. Food waste is conspicuous. Queues are commonplace. Any lack of cleanliness is more noticeable—even though destinations are sparkling. When a switchboard operator asks, “To whom may I direct the call?,” it feels old-fashioned, but not delightfully quaint.

We want travel experiences to feel like other experiences, even though the experiences themselves are fragmented across so many travel service providers. First touch resolution is common across so many B2C industries that we suddenly expect it from travel companies.

And they can’t deliver (yet).

We also want travel companies to excel at upselling services—theirs and others’—that lift our experience through a retail marketplace. Many of us are open to paying for supplemental products and services from travel provider if they improve our experience. These extras could include everything from sports classes and fashion consultations to curated food boxes. Comfort, convenience and brand relevance will influence what actually sticks.

How do travel companies deliver?

In my view, travelers’ new expectations are a call for travel companies to finally break out of the strong process foundations laid at the beginning of the age of rail travel in the 1800s. These processes get in the way of delivering what customers want – new processes and technology is critical to doing this. The good news? Coming out of COVID, 51% of CXOs aspire to pivot into a tech-driven business model1, as part of their strategic priorities over the next two years.

It is certainly easy to say, “Here’s a quick fix. Migrate commercial, operational, and financial systems to the cloud and innovate from there. Today’s problems will be solved.” However, this isn’t true. The travel industry’s needs don’t have scalable quick fixes to these problems. Experience short-falls, contextual upsell problems, and rough seams between departments and providers, are a product of our existing, deeply ingrained ways of doing business in travel.

Right now, travel companies are unlocking smaller opportunities to grow ancillary revenue streams and improve differentiation, while many are avoiding addressing the larger opportunities. Ecosystem partnerships are essential. In fact, 44% of travel executives say that building ecosystem partnerships to combine complementary capabilities is a top business priority today. As digital blurs industry boundaries, there are so many possibilities to deliver multidimensional experiences.

Beyond migration to innovation

To take advantage of these possibilities and further diversify some of their revenue portfolio, travel companies need cloud. And it’s true that travel companies are migrating workloads to cloud and benefiting from cost savings and efficiency. However, those travel companies that go further and activate what we call the “Cloud Continuum” can have much greater success with ecosystem partners.

What does this “Cloud Continuum” mean? 

Cloud can already transform how ecosystem partners work together, making it easier to onboard new capabilities and service providers. It’s the foundation for simplified booking, merchandising discoverability and attribute-based selling, and integrated loyalty programs. In the Cloud Continuum, travel companies will move ever closer to interacting with travelers, combining who they are with their current transactional needs. None of this is possible unless travel companies adopt an ambition to seize cloud’s full potential.

A breakthrough approach to cloud

In our study, my colleagues found that Cloud Continuum companies make up just 12 to 15% of companies globally. Yes, cloud delivers cost savings and efficiencies for them, but their cloud investments are powering continuous reinvention. My colleagues also identified what it takes to become a Cloud Continuum company.

Know where you want to go. With so much pressure to transform experiences and serve “new travelers,” travel companies focus on acting for now instead of developing a flexible strategy over time. It’s essential to understand how cloud should factor into the ecosystem strategy with a realistic view of the gap between the current state and the desired future state.

Establish cloud practices to address your business needs. Continuum travel companies simultaneously focus on non-technology related capabilities across the workforce to smooth the transition and speed positive outcomes. In other words, the business must become infused with the vision of what improvements are possible now, using cloud technologies. Talent and skills development is hugely important because it generates the “pull” that helps improve the business processes driving agility.

Accelerate innovation to deliver exceptional experiences. Cloud Continuum companies make it a top priority to innovate with the experience. The thought shouldn’t be, “What can cloud do?” Rather, decision makers should ask, “What do travelers want from experiences? How do partners want to interact? And at a more technical level, how can cloud enable these expectations?” You can imagine this will require fundamental operating model changes in many travel companies.

Keep committing to the strategy. Cloud Continuum companies have an abundance mentality, not a scarcity mentality. Constantly thinking about costs and limiting resource use is naturally narrow because it ignores the downstream benefits from well-designed innovation and automation. The Cloud Continuum is the opposite of naturally narrow. It pushes leaders to think big and broadly—to go beyond the current state to see the possibilities down the road.

A continuum of new travel revenue opportunities

As we move into the next phase of travel’s revitalization, I expect that we’ll see many fascinating experience bundles from both aviation and hospitality players. The companies that excel here—in making the experiences seamless for the travelers and service providers they work with—will be on the Cloud Continuum, no doubt. They will find an abundance of opportunities to boost revenue.

Source: Accenture