Adobe and Econsultancy have carried out an in depth study of Digital Trends in Travel and Hospitality Sectors, conducted in Q3 of 2017 and based on a survey of more 600 marketing executives, and reveals industry strengths and weaknesses in a new report.
The report shows that mobile sales represent approximately one-third of travel-related sales, and that share is growing by nearly 15% year-on-year.
A key driver of success for travel companies over the next decade will be their ability to adapt to mobile-first interaction at every phase of the customer journey, from travel decision-making to service fulfillment, by developing the necessary infrastructure and customer experience strategy.
The research shows found that 57% of marketing executives reported being happy with their ability to collect customer first-party data, but they are struggling to put the data they gather to target customers more effectively or adequately integrating “offline” data from third parties.
The report encourages travel brands to think beyond UX improvements, to the core purpose of new technologies for consumers: reducing the time between desire and completed action. This desire for speedy results means people will be using natural language or voice for a greater number of their queries.
While a lot of the focus on personalization has been on data-gathering and application, the study finds that the greatest hurdle to delivering on personalization is the human element. Primarily this is because of a resistance to change in the corporate culture. Since each of the departments managing customer relationships—marketing, sales, customer service—have independent requirements for one part of the relationship, there are times when the aims may be crossed, with inadequate exchange of information or a failure to reach consensus on the strategies to follow. Companies can encounter further problems based on teams protecting their silos, even justifying their existence.
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