To optimise travel personalisation for prospective customers, operators in the sector must engage their audience at multiple touchpoints using data gathered from all possible sources, according to a new report.
GlobalData’s Personalization in Travel & Tourism report indicates that personalisation is becoming increasingly important in the sector. It states that building more relevant and personalised customer experiences within the travel sector is critical as it helps brands differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.
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“Companies can no longer survive conducting mass-merchandising techniques related to a traditional marketer’s framework,” it explains. “Businesses need to be looking at macro or micro-segmentation to eventually reach one-to-one personalisation through unique and optimised offers based on individual behaviour. A personalised service utilised effectively can help aid competitive advantage, meet a consumer’s needs, retain brand loyalty, increase satisfaction and will likely raise customer retention rates.”
The report adds that operators that do not pursue personalisation will face challenges in the experiential travel trend, the long path to purchase, the abundance of choice and rising consumer expectations.
“With more choices open to consumers, travel brands face significant pressure to attract and retain customers,” it says. “This places a lot of importance on driving success from the company’s website and marketing channels.”
Travel personalisation optimisation
The report outlines that personalisation is key to meeting this challenge but that the discipline must be well implemented to be effective. Optimising personalisation entails investing in new and emerging technologies, as well as modernising outdated systems, it suggests.
Data collection remains key, with the report advising that data about interactions with customers should complement commonly collected information like location and contact details and demographic information.
“The data gathered on each customer provides a detailed portrait of their preferences and behaviours,” the report states. “This information is instrumental in developing a comprehensive customer profile, which can be further refined by cross-referencing common data for deeper insights.”
Of the accompanying technologies required, it adds: “Once travel companies gather the right data, the next step is to select and use the right technology tools to implement personalised experiences throughout the customer journey,” it says. “Here, technologies such as artificial intelligence and specifically machine learning have overwhelming use cases where it has aided the development of personalisation.”
