Importance of Predictive Analytics for the Travel Industry

It’s not a cake walk to predict the future trend for any industry. With upgradation of technologies and resources and the rate at which advancements are occurring in every domain, it’s really a tough job to forecast the changes that’s going to happen in the near future. However, a prediction can definitely be organized by keeping a close watch on the past trends and how has things been changing at various frequencies. We can get the prediction by making the best use of both Primary and secondary data that is available with us at any time. We always try to predict the forecasts based on the available data, be it the revenue of an organization or trying to figure out the best strategies to increase sales as well as easing out tactics for our customers.

Now let’s try to analyze this on a travelers point of view. There was a time when business travelers used to just travel to a particular destination for their meetings or conferences and after their purpose is fulfilled, they take the flight back to their native place. But now, with change in time, people have got more indulged into exploring. They don’t mind spending some extra time in a particular place post work to explore the culture and beauty of that destination. Now with the beauty of Predictive Analytics, you might receive an exclusive offer from your favorite airline (the one you fly most often) for the ideal route (you tend to fly late morning and like non-stops) along with an option to include a hotel (where you have a loyalty account) at a significant discount (from a brand you’re not familiar with but desperately wants you to be). How can this be attained. The travel companies and the big data specialists who help them are getting better and better at divining the needs of their customers based on prior booking patterns. This is how the predictions can be done and ideas can be carved out for better brand positioning for the organization.

1)     Track the Travel Trends closely:-

                                                                 Demand for different travel destinations keeps changing rapidly. If we start comparing the top travel destinations for customers in a span of one year, we can witness that most of the same destinations find their way to the top of the list. Proper research if carried out can also give us a lumsome idea of some unexpected blips that might turn up in the near future for some destinations depending upon the demand and supply ratio, customer expectations and willingness to try out something new. This analytics can help the travel companies to customize their marketing strategies and align their 4P’s accordingly to increase profits.

2)     Aligning your own data with the data of the 3^rd party:-

                                                                                                            It’s not wise to rely completely on the data or research that has been carried out by your organization. Sometimes we might not have a clear picture of the consumer behavior which might land us to an illusion of our analysis to be right. Let’s take an example of an Airline which considers a passenger travelling with them twice in six months to be a Loyal customer. But we never know, that same customer might prefer some other airline for his further travels depending on the rates and availability. So these can be clarified and viewed better with matching up with a 3^rd party data analysis.

3)     Keeping yourself updated:-

                                                       Predictive Analytics in a trending technique and rigorous improvements and enhancements are being carried out to ensure better and effective analysis. We should also be aware that along with us, our competitors are also using the same technique to improve their marketing plans. It’s crucial to stay updated for all the latest advancements and stay competitive in the market. In travel, predictive analytics brings the dual promise of greater yield for suppliers (air, car, cruise, hotel companies) and at the same time a greater travel experiences for their customers

Mobility for Airports

There is an emerging importance of Mobility in the travel industry and one of the major attributes for mobility solution is to transform the Airport operational efficiency and push them towards the next level enabling better customer experience and getting things enabled at one go. For a moment lets imagine ourselves at an airport. The images that flash our mind are that of crowded lines, flight delays, people scrambling for their luggage and uncertainty on taxis. This is not a happy situation for both the passenger and the airport authorities.

Airports need to change fast and adopt the latest technology to fulfill the security issues without causing inconvenience to the passengers. Mobile technology can go a long way in providing better experience at the airport and improve processes leading to cost reduction. However, the initial investment would need to be made by the airports and the return on investments may look low initially but if the strategy is played well, then it can soon lead to substantial cost savings or additional revenues for the airports.

1. Flight and Airport Information : The first aim of any airport should be to develop a mobile application that provides basic features like real time flight information, terminal maps and check-in facility. The flight information needs to be personalized and timely. The application can also help in booking the taxi at the destination.

• Terminal Check
• Comparison of travel options – directions, fares, parking, etc.
• View the latest airport security guide
• Mobile-friendly terminal maps
• Full shop and restaurant listings
• Live flight updates on demand

The application can also have a destination guide so that the passengers can browse important information at leisure.

2. Indoor Positioning: One of the main advantages of using mobile technology is that the mobile phones can provide location. However, in the last couple of years reliable indoor positioning mechanisms have emerged that can provide accurate location of the users. The airline/airport staff is always looking for the missing passengers and make continuous announcements on the PA systems. Delayed check-ins sometimes result in delay of flights. With the help of indoor positioning, it would be possible for the airline staff to locate the passenger and ping him to board the flight. Automatic alarms can be set so that passengers are reminded to start moving towards the gate some time before the boarding time. 

The approach of airport authorities towards use of mobile technology at airport is very critical towards success of the mobile initiative. There is a general tendency to approach mobile application development the same way as website development. However, this approach is a sure shot recipe for disaster. Mobile technology offers so much more than an average website due to features like location, camera, accelerometer, etc. On top of this, the mobile phone is very personal as is always “ON” unlike any website accessing device like laptop. The involvement of any user on a website is much lower than that on mobile phones and hence it is imperative from the brand and facilities perspective that the airport authorities either hire mobile experts or hire consultants who can program manage the implementation of mobile technology for the aurthorities.

A short trip to Switzerland

I always had a passion towards travelling and my Dad has left no stones unturned to ensure that our family gets a taste of diversified culture all across the globe which was only possible if we got the opportunity to travel all across the Globe. We have visited a lot of countries, tasted their food, tried to gel up with their culture and met as many people as possible who are still in touch with us. Out of the many countries we have hovered around, my personal favorite of all time was Switzerland as this country has all the features which match up to my dream country to live in. In no way i am trying to put my country down as it has a lot in store and undiscovered and there is no question around its beauty and varied culture. But i also feel that we should respect the culture and tradition of other countries and every country has something or the other to learn from each other.

We came up with a plan to visit Paris and Switzerland after one of our relatives narrated their experience to us after they have visited and adored these countries but they were running short of words while talking about Switzerland. It was not very late after that we have decided to spend 3 nights and  4 days in Switzerland and on our way back we planned to hold up in Paris for 2 nights. So eventually we took the flight from Delhi to Paris and then we boarded a bus which took 10 hours to reach Switzerland. It was a tiring journey but to our surprise, all the tiredness and fatigue were sentenced the moment we arrived Zurich. The first thing we all noticed was the pure green pastures and the valley surroundings with the sun set gleaming up the pastures. It was truly a treat to the eyes and pleasing to the senses to witness such a beauty which we have always seen in our Book covers and PC icons. The streets were broad, pollution was near to null and streams flowing after every 2nd lane in the country. Most houses and hotels, including where we lodged was made up of wood to maintain the temperature in the interiors. The weather is always amazing there 12 months and the most surprising point for all of us was the daylight till 9 pm and begins at 5 am. It was later when i discovered the sun revolving theory due to which there are short and long day lights in different regions. There is nothing called slum there and it seemed that Almighty has been so satisfied with this country that it has decided to put up here and gift it utmost purity. It would definitely not be justified if i dont credit the Swiss government for maintaining the country's goodwill in terms of natural beauty, curbing pollution and put a full stop to crime.

After we have witnessed the scenic beauty, we have decided to explore more about the country. So we have decided to taste the food of this country and also get a feel of its culture. It was equally mesmerizing to understand that their food and culture was equally fabulous like their scenic beauty. You dont have to know a person to smile and wave your hands. Every person in this country is helpful. You dont have to fear to ask for some aid to a stranger. People love walking by the beaches and they are quite free minded. People there are always calm and do not allow their tensions and worry to get it displayed on their face. Or might be, they always have a positive attitude towards life. They have their own cuisines that excites the taste buds, They have their special sausages which they prepare in a very exotic manner. They have their own wines which are the best i have ever had in my life. If there are people who are extremely habituated towards their country food are not left apart. There is everything in store for them as there are varieties of food and cuisines which are a summation of dishes all across the globe. We even had samosas and kachoris there nearby our hotel in a food market. Our Italian friends did dine Pizzas and Margharettas. The Swiss chocolates were so amazing that no words would be enough to explain how good they taste. People there arnt car crazy. They love cycling and even the CEO and Directors of the companies ride cycles to their office which is a real pleasure to watch which is a symbol of their CSR and how much grounded these people are. I have a dream to visit Switzerland once again with my family and not to mention if i get a job in that country, i would love to get settled there. Again let me repeat myself, i do love my country and would love to do anything for it. Switzerland is just a matter of choice for me.

Importance of E-commerce for Travel Industry

There was a time when customers used to rely completely on Travel agents and airline offices to book their tickets if they had to travel somewhere. I remember when I was a kid, my dad used to drives kilometers to an airline office to book tickets for our vacations. And sometimes their server was slow, sometimes the officials were on leave so we had to travel multiple times to book a ticket. But now it’s a real treat watching how the Travel industry has coped up with the rise of E-commerce business. They have also moulded their marketing techniques accordingly and now every activity done with the purpose of travelling is just few clicks away on smart phones and Desktops. There are a lot of companies that has created multi- lingual e-commerce website that helps customers to views the page in the language they are convenient with.

But there is no stand still point for any industry. With swift adoption of the E-commerce technologies and easing the customer experience, most of the companies in the Travel industry has ensured to update themselves to stay competitive. There doesn't exist an oligopoly market for the travel industry. In this case, its equally important to stay updated, competitive and come up with new techniques to ease the customer experience. Travellers typically conduct an extensive amount of research when creating travel plans and making bookings. They want to read about destinations, hotel ambiance and amenities, possible excursions, and details of flights they’re considering. If possible, many travellers want insights from a local expert or access to honest, same-language reviews from other travellers. So the companies should take care of the fact that their website content should also have a tab of providing information around destinations, places to visit and the best plan of action. This is certainly going to be customer centric and will ease the customer experience hence increasing the customer base.

The Hospitality industry should focus on creating multi lingual and responsive websites which will help the customers surf their information in a more effective and casual manner. Customers today have the intention to dodge the middleman and do everything by themselves. So the Travel companies should take due care of this and make their contents easily searched and accessed also taking care of the security

Outsourcing.... An act of intelligence for Airlines!

Why has outsourcing become one of the most important aspect for an industry to ensure efficiency? The airline industry plays an important role in connecting the world. Every day, millions of people travel thousands of miles across all continents to different parts of the globe.  It’s a well-known fact that airplanes are made from parts manufactured from different countries around the world.  While outsourced manufacturing has been the key to the airplane manufacturers’ success, airline companies are now using outsourcing for their business services.

Outsourcing is a strategic move that enables airlines to service their pool of loyal customers.  Let’s take a look at some areas of airline operations where outsourcing can make a difference.

Booking, Reservations, and Ticketing

Innovations in e-commerce have made flight booking, reservations, and ticket purchases a mostly hassle-free experience.  However, these booking systems are not perfect.  When someone has a specific question before booking a flight, a booking agent is available to walk the customer through the booking process over the phone.  While most airlines currently offer these services, outsourcing can reduce their overhead costs enabling them to retain a higher return on investment.

Customer Service and Assistance

Whether it is online or through a customer helpdesk booth located somewhere in an airport, airlines need to provide 24/7 excellent customer support, considering their customers come from all possible time zones.  By outsourcing their customer service team, airlines can meet this customer demand by offering 24/7 support at a fraction of the in-country cost.  Satisfied travelers will naturally become the airline’s loyal and frequent-flyers.

Airlines need to build 'Social' Pace in order to create Brand Equity

Its a noted fact that most airlines all across the globe has been into the Profit stage for a long time where as some airlines, specially the low cost ones are trying to match the pace of competition by converging their entire focus on Customer Relationship. Yes, it does mean stepping out of the corporate comfort zone and engaging real-time with the customer, but that's a feat airlines will have to achieve if they want to enhance brand equity and get a mind share of today's customer.

As social media takes precedence in the overall customer relationship management pie, airlines will need to look at building a large and robust resource pool that can respond to customer queries, complaints, posts and tweets round the clock.

As studies indicate, today the volume of social media communication for some of the world's leading airlines, ranges between 15,000 – 200,000 tweets and between 60,000 – 1,000,000 Facebook fans, but in the near future, the numbers will increase phenomenally. 

It will thus, make strategic sense for airlines to partner with providers that can provide them with a readymade resource pool of social media experts and technology platforms that help enhance brand equity on social media.

How Legacy Airlines can compete against LCCs

Fundamentally, Legacy Airlines can match what the low-cost airlines do. That means cutting costs and improving efficiency. Or they can differentiate with the product they offer. But above all they must remain competitive on price.

A successful business means a tight operation where every penny counts. Legacy airlines can tighten up by increasing aircraft utilization and reducing turnaround times. That creates the possibility of reducing the workforce in line with reduced manpower need in the area of pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, catering, maintenance and overhaul. They must also consider more outsourcing of functions if it helps reduce costs.

Internet distribution, self check-in for passengers and charges for onboard meals and drinks will all add to the cost-cutting effort. Fares can be simplified to match the competition and stimulate travel. Revenue management systems can be used to compete on fares rather than to simply protect yields, and non-ticket revenues can be generated by selling all kinds of innovative products to the passenger via the Internet site, at check-in, and on board. There should also be scope to close downtown ticket offices, reduce call centre activity and staffing, change the relationship with the travel trade as more and more sales and ticketing switch to direct over internet.

Legacy airlines, in order to compete with the low-cost carriers, have got to make some crucial and urgent business decisions. Most important of these are dealing with costs, increasing staff efficiency, improving asset utilization, differentiating their product. Above all, airlines must learn to compete wisely on a head to head basis and stop complaining.

Customer Loyalty- Prior Aspect for any Industry

Brand name and exclusive offers did win customer base at a certain point of time but now its all about Loyalty. Creating customer base did lead to business attrition but along side Customer Retention programme was parallely important to pace up with the ongoing rapid competition. To resolve this issue, marketing gurus introduced customer loyalty programs with the intention to reap rewards and benefits for customers and boost loyal buying behavior. To ensure if customer loyalty programs get the desired results, they must be well executed.

Airlines and retail chains were the earliest industries to adopt the practice of rewarding their customer through loyalty incentives. They brought in different card systems such as loyalty cards, reward cards, points and advantage cards. These cards often have barcodes which aid in further identifying the buying behavior of the customers. Some companies even promote membership programs to reward customers with consistent buying patterns.

As the average customers are becoming smarter and aware, it’s becoming difficult to cater to all their demands. Customers expect value for money, at all costs. They expect a polite approach from sales and service representatives. Moreover, they want to be appreciated for their patronage! Keeping these smart customers in mind, loyalty programs are designed to test customer retention strategies. These programmes keep the competition at bay and act as motivators for customers to continue using the same service or product. Moreover, customer loyalty programs also provides database for further customer relationship management.

The whole point of rewarding a customer with better prices or services is to encourage them to repeat their behavior. If rightly executed, a customer loyalty program can dramatically increase profitability.  Retaining existing customers is relatively easy on the budget than targeting new ones. In the final analysis, costs incurred on any loyalty program that promises to retain customers is money well spent.

Importance of Hotels to engage Guests via Social Media

In the hospitality industry, guest experience is key. With more and more guests starting to share their experiences on social media, good or bad, hotels recognize the user-generated content as opportunities to leverage for lead generation, marketing, and guest engagement. So how can hotels get the guests to keep driving positive content creation throughout the guests’ stay?  This is where social hubs and social walls come in!

1) Display User. Generated Contents on Screen:-

Social walls on a centrally located display screen throughout lobbies or each individual guest rooms enable hotels to promote their guests’ photos/tweets! For example, hotels can display a social hub with all their guests check-in photos from Instagram or tweets of their experiences to get new guests excited. Guests would love to contribute to get their 15 seconds of fame on the screen! As more content comes in from your guests, you as a hotel now have a lot of content to leverage for future marketing materials.

2) Increase Conversions on Websites with Authentic Social Content:-

Potential guests are not only researching online before they book, but are also heavily influenced by reviews and recommendations. Hotels can take advantage of social walls to drive traffic by aggregating positive social posts about their location and brand right next to the reservation page. Using social hubs, your hotel can aggregate your own branded Facebook Page to keep your visitors up to date with the latest news/discounts directly on your site or even positive Instagram hashtagged photos and display them on your site, or better yet, your checkout page.

3) Generate More Online Bookings with Guest Photos and a Call to Action:-

The path can be long and tedious for a potential customer to go from seeing content to making a reservation. That’s why social walls can enable hotels to add a “Book Now” call to action button on each social media post to increase conversion and online bookings.  Less clicks for the guest means a higher chance of booking

Importance of Mobile Application for the Hospitality Industry

Hotel and destination mobile apps are a great way to create space for travellers to learn more about where they’re going and plan their vacations accordingly.  Exploring an actual site on a smart phone can be burdensome when it’s not mobile-optimized as the user is forced to zoom in, read tiny print, then attempt to click on tiny links with big fat fingers.

With more and more people accessing data from their smartphones, this is a great maneuver in making vacation-planning easy for travellers. User-friendly capabilities include click-to-call dialing, Google map directions, “What’s Near Me” features, general maps and photos.

In fact, many claim that mobile apps are opening up a whole new field by enabling bookings at the press of a button, especially for same-day stays. Such apps are an easy way for customers to book a stay, get directions using GPS navigation, check hotel facilities and can even be used to promote special offers using push notifications. With smartphone penetration reaching 10 million last year and Indian research company, IMRB suggesting that one out of three urban Indian internet user has access to a mobile phone application, the hospitality sector is eager to cash in on these latest technologies.

Is committing suicide the ultimate solution?

There has always been a trend of certain actions and ideologies which has been surpassing the nation at frequent intervals. There are days and months where people are speaking about intolerance and then just the next flip is patriotism and the thread is unfurled eventually. At this juncture, we have witnessed the activity which is a crime, a murder. But the thin line lies here where there is no 2nd person involved. Its murdering oneself, which we categorically term as Suicide.

We have been witnessing innumerable cases of Suicide by celebrities, farmers and many other personalities. Few years back we were informed about the suicide case of Jiya Khan, a struggling actress who has also worked in few Bollywood movies, Nishabd to name one of them where she was acting opposite to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and Ghajini with Aamir Khan. Then we had witnessed farmers of Maharashtra committing suicide due to drought conditions for years. That was the point when Nana Patekar and Akshay Kumar came to their rescue. And again, now we have come across the Pratyusha Banerjee Incident. These cases have extreme differences in terms of background but unfortunately they have been united by the term 'Suicide'. Not going into depth of the reason and background (As we all are aware of it), is it really logical and the last resort to end up your life? Who is benefiting out of it? I dont remember any particular issue which has been resolved after ending your own life. Infact things got worse. The saddest part is people find it too easy to give up their life instead of living and fighting for yourself and your family. I sternly believe that drought stricken farmer's family would be way more upset and saddened by their family member committing suicide than really staying hungry. There are no problems that last forever. Every problem comes with a solution until we stay with sheer pessimists who find a problem for every solution. Had the soldiers and Freedom fighters committed suicide during the time of Independence where they were brutally tortured by the Britishers, we wouldn't have been independent. A proper approach needs to be made to solve issues. Just to mention, there are saviours like Akshay Kumar and Nana Patekar who has ceased the suicide of farmers by assisting them out financially and creating an environment of trust. If there was a no way solution, the farmers could have moved to some other place to make a living until the state of Maharashtra wasn't drought stricken any more. These would have been way better than leaving your family all in vain.

Speaking about the celebrities, how lame is it? They have been successful in their life which has got them into limelight. Breakups are quite common and people should take this as a learning, rather than considering suicide as the last option. The kind of lifestyle they lead, people die for it. They do not lack those things which most people lack. People are always on their toes to pamper them. Against one person who has left you or assaulted you, you have several people in your life who loves you unconditionally. For few, their motive of living is your life and success. How can these earthlings be so self obsessed that they do not even consider the presence of those people who love them and respect them. I wish these people would have thought once about how they would have felt if their parents or brother committed suicide. How would their life go on post that. So what if there is a breakup or you are not being loved by your partner any more. There are ways to get out of it. Spend maximum time with your parents and those people who will never stop loving you. Spend time with your close friends who will always be there to support you. Visit a counsellor and take his/her advise. Get involved into multiple activities which are solely condemned to help the people. This will undoubtedly be a mode of self happiness as well.