The race is on to capture the hearts and minds of today’s ‘always on’ travellers. A survey held at the Amadeus Asia Pacific Online Connect Conference found that customised experiences and targeted promotions were top-of-mind for online travel retailers looking to woo today’s travellers.
The event saw leaders from over 70 leading online travel retailers from across Asia Pacific come together to discuss the evolving online travel landscape and how businesses need to re-shape their strategy, with technology as a key driver for growth.
A survey held at the event, revealed that online travel retailers recognise the need to put the traveller at the centre of their services, connecting with them at every stage of the travel experience. Ancillary services, mobile and data analytics were identified as playing a crucial role in the future success of online travel.
Key highlights from the survey include: (a) Big data and analytics as the ‘next big thing’: Big data was seen as instrumental in driving the ability to offer personalised experiences, with seven out of ten travel retailers indicating that data analytics should be leveraged to optimise search and shopping which will differentiate them from competition, (b) mobile as a game changer: 48 per cent of the attendees believe that the mobile channel will completely change the travel landscape. Another 45 per cent of these respondents also recognised that the use of mobile would offer more opportunities for engagement with their customers, (c) ancillary services a must: over 80 per cent of respondents indicated that the distribution of ancillary services would be important for airlines, travel agents and travellers, and that ancillaries will be a key area of focus for online travel retailers in 2015 and (d) personalised loyalty: In this era of the ‘always on’ traveller, online travel retailers rated the customer’s online experience and targeted promotions as the top two priorities in building customer loyalty.
Angel Gallego, President, Amadeus Asia Pacific said, “Amadeus Online Connect 2014 brought together the best minds of the Asia Pacific online travel industry to discuss today’s landscape which continues to evolve at lightning speed. We remain committed to meeting the needs of our customers and ensuring they are well-placed to take their business to the next level through our technology and content. Amadeus Online Connect makes sure we know exactly what’s important to our customers, what is keeping them awake at night and how we can help.”
