Mobility, blockchain, VR and AI – technologies transforming travel before our eyes
The shift to digital travel continues its worldwide juggernaut, increasing by 10.4 percent in 2018 to reach $676 billion in sales, and will rise to $855 billion by 2021. This according to a new industry forecast from CellPoint Mobile, a provider of sales and payment-side technology solutions for travel.
In the US alone, mobile devices already account for 40 percent of digital travel sales, the report states, and elsewhere in the world, four of the five fastest-growing travel markets are in Asia-Pacific (China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam). However travel is also growing exponentially in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, regions that also have a growing base of mobile-first smartphone users who rely on their devices for purchasing everything from a cup of coffee to long-haul business travel.
"Mobile commerce is fundamentally changing how business is done, especially in the travel sector," said Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Mobile. "Travel suppliers are integrating mobile commerce into every transaction from the beginning to end of a passenger's journey, creating significant opportunities for additional revenue and increased brand loyalty."
Those results are echoed in another industry study from global travel ecommerce provider Switchfly, which finds the travel industry is experiencing a digital transformation. "The future of travel depends on the industry's ability to re-imagine how it connects loyalty with data and inventory, so travelers can spend more on travel products and services that appeal to them, in less time and with less effort," says Switchfly's CEO Daniel Farrar. "Those who are successful will present the right inventory to the right customer at the right time, while building loyalty rewards and incentives right into the booking process."
The Switchfly study, entitled The Future of Travel & Loyalty Outlook 2020, concludes that travel as an industry is moving toward a convergence of marketing platforms which means suppliers are coming to view travel as a holistic, interconnected environment for ecommerce. To tap into this environment, travel providers are leveraging new technologies, like artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual reality, or its first cousin, augmented reality. which will disrupt the travel ecosystem and give rise to new distribution models.
Three’s a CrowdThese three technologies are staking out more prominent roles in the digital realm, transforming business processes worldwide, according to another series of research briefs published by CompTIA, the technology industry association. The survey of some 700 business professionals at US companies found that while VR has the greatest awareness among respondents (74 percent), blockchain is having the biggest impact today (43 percent).
The rise of blockchain technology, for example, signals far-reaching consequences across the entire economy, but particularly in the travel sector. For example, with blockchain airlines, hoteliers and other travel providers could create more secure traveler IDs, enabling more secure management of customer profile data and loyalty accounts which could be shared with other merchants across more transactions.
According to the CompTIA report, blockchain is already in use among early adopters to confirm digital identities or maintain an audit trail for compliance. In fact, over half of those surveyed (52 percent) point to blockchain’s greater security as one of the drivers for implementing it. Common business practices such as asset management and contract agreements may also benefit from blockchain, since it has the potential to peel away unnecessary layers to streamline processes. Users are also considering blockchain for distributed data storage.
Although efficiency and enhanced security make blockchain the solution that offers the greatest potential for travel and procurement, perhaps the highest profile technology in travel is artificial intelligence, or AI. This development is revolutionizing all kinds of industries, leading to the convergence of two different business areas, the mobile user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX). Thanks to the rise of digital channels and more sophisticated AI and machine learning technology, travel providers now have the ability to predict (with a high degree of confidence) the right answer to a customer's inquiry in any digital channel.
Finally both virtual and augmented reality are finding their combined way into customer-facing roles. As VR and AR mature, the two will likely merge in applications that fall under one "mixed reality" category. While currently the most common use is in employee training, half of early adopters are using VR/AR in customer engagements, such as Air France’s tests of VR inflight entertainment systems, or Qantas’ VR app. Other early uses include virtual meetings (47 percent), R&D simulations (45 percent) and on-the-job information – delivering information to an employee while they are engaged with a task (43 percent).
"Though the majority of businesses are still on the sidelines, use cases for each of these solutions are beginning to emerge," says Seth Robinson, senior director, technology analysis, CompTIA. "When you consider that these are not standalone products that you plug in and play, but building blocks to automate, digitize or streamline operations, the impacts they are already having illustrate their potential."