Corona Virus as everyone knows originated from the Wuhan region of China in Dec 2019 since then it has been spread to more than 200 countries globally.
As per the latest statistics from World Meters (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/) there are more than 1.8 Million positive cases globally and more than 115 thousand deaths have been reported.
Countries like the USA, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, UK, China, are the ones that are impacted the most. China is heling now but it took them almost 4-5 months to handle and overcome the crisis, so assuming it started in most parts of the world in February 2020 or later it will easily take 5-6 months to recover so don’t expect much to happen in Travel in the Year 2020.
Projection of 50 million jobs can be lost globally – companies are bleeding badly to handle the crisis.
Travel being the first and probably most hard to take the hit, the Travel sector needs to look into its current ecosystem and change the way it functions.
Going forward for at least a Year Less will be More – every company needs to keep the cash flow reserves and at the same time increase their business – this can be achieved only through travel technology solutions.
Technology is just not limited to creating the OTA – online Travel Agency solution, we can deploy technology solutions at every level in travel.
Generating Leads: As per the traditional lead generation methods like advertisements on Television, Radio or Newspapers or investing in cold calling, trade shows, door to door sales, etc. where the cost is really high results and guaranteed and hard to track the success of such campaigns. Through New Media i.e. Internet generating leads through various online digital marketing activities like SEO, SMM, PPC, SEM, blogging, etc. the cost for generating leads have gone down drastically more over the performance of campaigns, customers engagement everything is tracked and analyzed in order to be optimized further for better results.
Gathering customer information through Call Centre/ Front Desk Management: With the invention of technology solutions for call centers like IPBX or VOIP solutions, it has become very convenient and efficient to provide the customer touchpoint as also to personalize the customer communication with knowledge of their past bookings, interests, etc. With the latest travel technology solutions like CRM – Customer Relation Management solution you can seal the leak from a lead generated to sharing the response or quotation through the Quotation Management module and at the same time storing the quote against the customer profile to the closure of the prospective lead. Without technology solutions front desk staff used to maintain the customer records and inquiry on paper, excel or word file – sometimes they capture all the required information some time they don’t, results in the waste of the possible sales opportunity. But with Call Center or Mid office solutions, CRM solutions in place all such opportunities are optimized and work properly by staff and data can be tracked as well for marketing and future projections and product offerings, etc.
Travel Product Inventory aggregation and sales: Traditional method employees large workforce/contracting team to get the best possible inventory for the travel product at the best possible price and selling it in the most profitable price point for the company. Everything happens offline resulting in limited reach, limited inventory, less transparency of rates and availability and resulting in limited profits only on the other had post technology implementation the reach of travel companies have increased to global travel destinations and products offered by multiple suppliers giving them the competitive advantage and also able to negotiate the best possible deal in terms of price and availability giving higher profit margins but the best part is all this can be achieved with much lesser number of man force also resulting is low human error and higher profit margins. With the help of sales channels for Call Centers/Point of Sales Solutions for staff and for B2B agents. Also, through online sales channels – OTA/B2C websites and also to the server the corporates using OBT or CSBT – Corporate Self-booking tools. With the invent of technology –
Travel Management companies can sell their product through technology-driven sales channels – Like B2B Agency channels – where agents can have access to inventory through B2B Agent Dashboard or through XML API’s which they can integrate into their respective platforms.
Retail sales through Call Center or POS (Point of Sales) – they may connect with customers face to face or over the phone and can take their request and offer them travel solutions. OTA’s is one of the selling channels but for this travel companies just not need to have good technology and competitive prices for travel products like Flights, Hotels, Activities, Transfers, packages, etc. but they also need to invest huge money on marketing of their OTA brand through Digital Marketing and offline marketing as well.
OBT/CSBT – For corporate travel, a good technology solution can help service corporate customers more efficiently and effectively. Through OBT – Online Booking Tools or Corporate Self Booking Tools which are available to corporates employees to book – give them the feeling of empowerment, transparency, and flexibility. Even for the travel desk be it from Travel Companies or corporate itself – give them more flexibility to fulfill the need of corporate travel agency as per the policy and budget.
Operation Standardization and optimization: Fulfillment is one of the important jobs for any travel agency it can make and break the travel agency. If your operations team is not smart and efficient, they may lose the customer forever or they may convert a one-time customer into repeat customer which is much more profitable than making a profit through a new customer. Efficient travel mid-office solutions companies can standardize their post-sales processes in terms of booking card – containing the information about the client and Pax’s, services they have purchased, the status of services, supplier confirmations, prices – net and gross, documents – Like tickets, vouchers, invoices, consolidated service documents, quotation, etc. Payment status, various other important information needed for processing the booking. Standard document layouts, task allocation to the operations team with the deadlines to complete the task.
Technology helps in minimizing the losses occurred as a result of human error, it gives a professional outlook to the customers dealing with the travel company.
Through these solutions – various reports are generated like total sales, region-wise, product wise, period wise, based on customers age group, customer booking value, most sold destination, most sold services – different reports can be generated help doing the forecast for the business and plan for the next season.
Web-Based Solutions – Accessible globally – As most of the travel technology solutions are web-based, Travel companies can access them form office, home or anywhere else – all they need is access to the internet. This is one of the major advantages of the technology solution in current scenarios – where social distancing is a must to concur coronavirus pandemic.
Optimal utilization of Human Resources: Once the technology is in place, travel companies can optimize the human capital within the organization – now they may not need specialized resources to perform day to day tasks and activities, such jobs can be easily performed by mid-level of junior level staff with the help of technology solution. Specialized resources can focus on the more important tasks which will add to the company’s bottom line sales like negotiating better deals with the suppliers, giving more personalized attention to VIP customers, targeting and signing up more corporate clients and servicing them efficiently, etc.
These are a few of the advantages which travel companies can gain post technology implementation, as because of Corona Virus – COVID 19 Pandemic LESS IS MORE for at least for coming 1 year till the time Travel goes back to normal.
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Dear Readers,
I am working in travel technology since 2014, started my career as a travel technology sales consultant – sold technology solutions from multiple technology companies, sales, presales, requirements understanding, and gathering.
I am looking forward to sharing my experience and knowledge with travel companies to help them grow.