This is a wide-ranging task, however. They must
trace travelers through virtual space, build leading-edge data science teams, create
rich customer profiles, optimize revenue and personalize pricing.
It’s a time for innovation, but not all the
rules are clear. Disruptors abound in the industry taking advantage of
technological developments, such as blockchain technology, which was a growing
area of interest at the Summit. New privacy rules are taking effect, and data
breaches can significantly damage even the foremost travel brands.
EyeforTravel’s Smart Travel Data Summit NorthAmerica, held in Miami on February 27th and 28th 2018,
delved into data-driven insight through insights from top executives from Amazon,
Expedia, Airbnb, Southwest Airlines, Hyatt, Wyndham Worldwide and Delta
Airlines among others.
To find out what they were talking about, click here to download the full Round-up report now.
To find out what they were talking about, click here to download the full Round-up report now.
“Every individual in this room is in a
fantastic position,” said Leo Langford, EyeforTravel global conference
director. “Whether you are part of a nimble startup or you are a more
established, traditional travel brand, it is a boom time to be in data.”
Companies with advanced analytics are five
times more likely to make decisions before their industry peers, said Priti
Dhanda, director of revenue management analytics for Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Over the next five years, about USD800 billion
in revenue is expected to shift to the 15% of companies that get
personalization right, said Stuart
Greif, a former Microsoft executive who now leads the travel and hospitality practice
for Amperity, a Seattle software firm that
is disrupting the industry with its “intelligent” customer data platform.
“You have everything that would make amazing
customer 360-degree profiles. It’s pulling all that data together,” Greif said.
The stakes are high as, according to Greif, 41% of customers dropped a brand
last year due to poor personalization. “It is no longer just a nuisance. It is
standing in the way of you and your customer and potentially losing them.”
The audience also agreed, with data-driven
personalization thought to be the most important game-changer for the industry,
chosen by 63% of the audience polled at the event, although this slightly lower
than at the 2017 Smart Travel Data Summit North America.
Will
Coleman, partner of travel, transport and logistics for consulting firm
McKinsey & Co. noted that travel brands have
key leverage when it comes to personalization: “You as travel suppliers are
better positioned to do this than any other industry. You operate hotels and
airports where people spend hours of their lives. You interact and engage with
customers via social media, and they interact with you more than in any other
industry.”
Coleman said 57% of travelers feel brands
should tailor their experience based on their past behaviors. “Increasingly we
are seeing customers are expecting, and even demanding, this type of
customization,” he said.
Meanwhile, technology is increasingly complex.
Consider Apple's new iPhone X, which features facial recognition. "It does
600 billion calculations per second and it's the first mass-produced artificial
intelligence chip," said Abhijit
Pal, head of research for Expedia Inc.’s Global Partner Group.
“Facial recognition is absolutely a game changer.”
This growing power is becoming married to more
powerful data connections. Verizon just announced its 5G Network that can power
10 gigabits per second. That translates to downloading an entire
high-definition movie in less than one second, Pal said.
Expedia allocates USD1.3 billion a year for
technology and content spend as it focuses on becoming a mobile-first company,
since one-third of its bookings come from mobile. It’s forays into technology
currently encompass machine learning and artificial intelligence, virtual
reality, and using voice technology with Amazon Echo: “Voice is becoming an
important aspect of what we do. That will enable us to personalize. You want
technology to know about your tastes. Alexa is going to offer that,” said Pal.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence
are quickly becoming the backbone of many innovative travel platforms,
including Airbnb.
“Airbnb is totally built in-house,” said Theresa
Johnson, product manager at Airbnb.
Machine learning is critical to the success of the short-term rental platform.
It’s used at every step of the user experience, she said.
“Data scientists are people who take a lot of
disparate information that you have scattered all over and organize it in a
fashion that both humans and machines can understand,” Johnson said. “Machine
learning is people, not algorithms. Data is really the voice of our customers
speaking to us at scale.”
Click here to download the full Round-up, which features insights from:
·
Expedia
·
Airbnb
·
Hyatt
·
Amazon
·
Wyndham
·
Hertz
·
Allegiant
Air
·
Greyhound
Lines Inc.
·
Winding
Tree
And more …!