A recent McKinsey report on the travel and tourism industry shows that the landscape has seen “unprecedented” changes since the pandemic, such as lockdowns, travel restrictions, and an overall ban on hospitality-based experiences. These challenges have left the sector in a state of turmoil. However, the demand for fantastic travel and tourism experience is still high among the customers. Today’s young generation, a significant demographic of travel customers, prefers experiences over things and, therefore, prefers travel. In this article, we delve on
The increasing demand for travel and tourism has helped the industry somewhat recover from the impact of the pandemic. However, to fully recover from the setback, travel businesses must focus on improving their customers’ experiences. That is where improving customer experience becomes essential for business success.
Here are the top ways CX can transform travel and tourism during 2022 and beyond.
1. Revive Passion for Travel
Covid-19 suspended the decades-long growth and transformation of the travel and tourism sector. During the pandemic, approximately 91% of the global population stayed in countries due to travel.
As a result, the international travel and tourism sector decreased by 22% in the first quarter of 2020 and 65% in the second. By the end of 2020, travel and tourism in the US saw around a $679 billion loss. However, the demand for travel was still there. A report stated that around 77% of people were willing to travel internationally as soon as they were vaccinated.
So, to cash in on travelers’ willingness, making it easier for people to start traveling again is essential. To do so, travel businesses must offer excellent customer experience via omnichannel booking, fast-paced issue resolution, and even improved sales. These will be vital to reviving the sector in the coming years.
2. Boost Productivity and Performance
To deliver excellent customer experiences, travel companies must provide their employees and travel customer service outsourcing partners with the necessary resources to prosper. Therefore, an increased focus on CX opportunities as we head into 2023 and beyond will be essential to boosting the team’s productivity, performance, and engagement.
Businesses must ensure that all consumer journey stages are given the right support. Your employees and call center outsourcing partner will be able to access the right technology for hotel booking and much more.
Your company can operate more effectively when your outsourcing partner offers the same aligned and optimized CX solutions across all channels. With self-service help desks for remote and distributed teams and knowledgebase and FAQ solutions, agents can access quick answers to any questions. This can greatly improve the team’s productivity and performance.
3. Increase Customer Loyalty
According to a survey by PWC, one in three customers switches brands over just one bad experience. Many travel companies today struggle to meet customer expectations as they continue to evolve in the new age of travel. In a post-pandemic world, consumers need constant reassurance about their safety.
With the help of a travel BPO, companies can build adaptable and resilient processes that ensure stronger customer experiences and long-term loyalty.
For example – with the right customer service provider, a restaurant can take orders and allow customers into their allotted seats on the day without requiring physical interaction. These hospitality BPOs will also help you collect valuable data about your customers and their needs so you can continue to innovate and improve your offerings in the future.
4. Ensure Greater Efficiency
In January 2021, the number of flights planned worldwide was 43.5 percent lower than in 2020. So, while travel and tourism opportunities are still low, they will undoubtedly increase again as the restrictions begin to wave off.
For those in the travel and hospitality arena, the challenge of ensuring customers feel safe while traveling is rising while other new hurdles emerge. For example, several organizations now deal with higher contact volumes yearly. In addition, as more travelers are vaccinated, they will no doubt have extra questions to ask about their travel and hospitality chances.
When customers contact your customer service teams again, those agents must be equipped with the tools to keep things running seamlessly. Hiring the right CX solutions provider will ensure businesses can offer everything from self-service solutions with FAQs and Chatbots to more personalized guidance virtually.
5. Improved Digital Experiences
Customer behaviors have changed in multiple ways since the pandemic. For instance, many customers have become more accustomed to digital interactions. As the world moves into a new age of communications, clients and customers will continue looking for these digital experiences. Thus, resorts, restaurants, and hotels must rethink how they can become more competitive with unique digital interactions.
As travel rises and people spend more time outside their homes, travel businesses must create more personal and convenient communications without necessarily being face-to-face with customers.
With the right CX partners, you can offer more digital experiences their consumers desire while reducing contact. The more you can digitally enhance customer relationships, the more trust they’ll gain. So, it is crucial for you to find the ideal travel BPO partner that can offer new-age omnichannel CX solutions that your customers need.
How to find the ideal BPO partner to get superior CX Delivery for the Travel Industry
Having a CX delivery partner is essential for business success, especially for the travel companies planning to adopt the new-age travel interactions. Look for key features to find your business’s travel and hospitality call center. These include:
1. Industry experience
You should look for a travel BPO partner with ample experience in your industry. A contact center with years of experience serving the travel and tourism industry will be able to better cater to your customers and offer them the best-in-class CX with the latest tools and technology.
2. Reputation
Reputation is another crucial factor when looking for the right travel BPO partner. A BPO with a good market reputation and client testimonials can be an invaluable partner and help your business succeed.
3. Scalability
During the peak travel season, you will receive more business inquiries, booking requests, and customer service requests. Attending all these interactions without making your customers and prospects wait is essential for a positive customer experience. That is why you need a travel BPO partner that can quickly scale up its teams as demand increases and scale the team down when demand subsides.
4. Omnichannel capabilities
To offer a superior CX to the new-age customers, you need to offer omnichannel support to them. A CX solution provider with omnichannel capabilities can help you deliver the same. Therefore, you should look for a travel and hospitality call center with omnichannel capabilities.
Before selecting the right call center, consider its multilingual capabilities, global presence, and technology and infrastructure.
To Sum It Up
A superior customer experience delivery can help your travel and tourism business stay ahead of the competition, boost customer loyalty, increase sales, and reach a greater audience. However, without a proficient travel and hospitality BPO, ensuring high-quality CX at every step of a customer’s journey will be challenging. On the contrary, with the right contact center partner with industry-specific capabilities and service offerings, you can achieve your business goals and stay ready for the future! Contact Fusion CX to get Superior CX Delivery for the Travel Industry.
