travel tech insights

For travel agents, the ability to offer customers quick and efficient search responses is similar to running a marathon - you have to be steady and consistent, but you also have to be fast and nimble, especially in today’s global travel and tourism landscape. A travel agency’s ability to drive sales and profitability depends on utilizing a booking engine with a powerful search component to help customers sift through the multitude of products and services in order to find the product that best suits their needs.

However, it’s not just about assisting customers through the metaphorical jungle of travel offers - it’s about decreasing the amount of time customers devote to this task. In today’s hyper-connected travel industry, travelers expect agents to respond quickly and comprehensively to inquiries, which makes search response perhaps one of the more most important value propositions of advanced booking and reservations systems. In an era when so many travelers can research and complete bookings with the technology they carry in their pocket on a daily basis, the onus is on travel agents to deploy booking systems with enough computing power to return advanced searches in a competitive enough manner.

The back office. It’s a curious space - akin to a No Man’s Land - within the travel industry that doesn’t receive much play or attention either from travel companies or those operating within the tourism sector. In today’s world, an interesting dichotomy of focus has developed within the travel industry as to how travel companies direct their resources: Customer-facing activities such as managing customer relations via social media, or optimizing the services and products offered by deploying software solutions in conjunction with suppliers or distributors.

The back office, however, where a majority of a travel company’s operational activities such as invoicing, procurement, and payroll are housed, is often overlooked by travel companies as they work to remain competitive and profitable in the aforementioned customer-facing arenas.

Reach into your pocket, pull out your smartphone, and this is what you’re likely to find: an MP3 player; a GPS device; a calendar; an internet web browser; a video player; and perhaps even a platform for paying for goods and services at the POS in any given supermarket or megamart. In short, you’ll find a suite of applications capable of performing a series of complex tasks and functions designed to make your life easier, more convenient, and more connected, all of which are top priority for many of us in today’s fast-paced, digital world.

There was a time, though it may be difficult to imagine now, before the advent of the mega mart when shopping for groceries, home goods, hardware, and other domestic necessities was an all-day affair. Multiple stops at different specialty stores would be required, which would be costly, time-consuming, and you’d often end up overlooking or even opting out of some items on your list because of inconvenience or time constraints associated with visiting so many different retailers. 

But with the modern mega mart - you know which big name chain to which I’m referring - it’s easier than ever to obtain all the items on your shopping list by simply going to one place.

Groceries? New bath towels? Wood glue? DVDs? Clothing? All these items can be found under one roof, saving the customer time, money, and hassle. No longer do you have to drive all over town to complete your errands or sacrifice necessary items because of inconvenience, time-efficiency, or cost.

There are times when all of us make the mistake of assuming we know the facts behind an event, trend or circumstance - only to learn at some point how very wrong our unchallenged assumptions and beliefs were.  For instance, take a recent event, light years removed from the travel industry, which undercut a flawed understanding held by many people.