Customer experience continues to be a significant differentiator for businesses in all sectors. However, for some industries, the ability to offer excellent interactions could be the key to survival.
During the last couple of years, the pandemic and its accompanying restrictions have disastrously impacted the travel and hospitality sector. Consumers are willing to return to the industry when lockdowns and rules soften, so companies must work harder to regain trust.
While 2021 performance in the travel sector improved over 2020, it’s still 35% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
To revive a sense of excitement and opportunity in the “experience” industry, brands must rethink everything they thought they knew about CX strategies.
Using CX to Revive Travel and Hospitality
Travel and hospitality companies are responding to unprecedented change on a global scale. Over 2020 and 2021, everything from how we book trips to the countries available for travel began to turn upside down. Consumer trust dwindled to practically nothing, and endless flights, train trips and busses were cancelled.
Now, we’re heading into a future where the travel and hospitality industry may be able to start a slow yet steady path to recovery. However, industry experts like McKinsey believe this revival will only be possible if built on a solid foundation of customer experience.
Brands of all sizes must consider how they can tailor their services and products to suit a new series of priorities and demands from their target audience. Just some of the significant challenges facing travel and hospitality groups today include the following:
- Trust and safety: Even when the threat of the pandemic begins to subside, it will be years before consumers feel entirely safe travelling to different locations and accessing hospitality services. Companies must ensure they’re implementing as many tools as possible to serve their customers in a way considered safe, hygienic, and trustworthy.
- Evolving rules and regulations: Aside from staying up-to-date with consumer expectations, hospitality and travel companies must also ensure they follow the latest rules and regulations introduced by local and national governments.
- Distributed teams: Hospitality and travel companies have long worked with highly flexible, distributed teams, working in the field, on the floor, and face-to-face with customers. As we head into the future, these teams will continue to grow increasingly versatile, with more people working remotely and in mobile environments.
- Omnichannel communications: Customers increasingly seek ways to communicate with their travel and hospitality solution providers. This has led to the introduction of more two-way messaging experiences instead of voice or face-to-face interactions. Video may also be a valuable investment for some brands in the future.
The Trends Influencing Travel and Hospitality
Travel and hospitality companies will rely on CX technology as they search for ways to improve the customer experience consistently. Whether it’s a hotel providing a safe and welcoming stay to travellers or an airline keeping customers up-to-date about delays, the right technology can make a world of difference.