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Travel firms told to ‘avoid digital bling’


DELOITTE EXPERT SAYS FOCUSINGON CUSTOMERS TRUMPS ADOPTINGNEW TECH


Travel firms were warned to avoid the temptations of “digital bling” and to focus their innovations on the needs of customers. Delegates


at Travel Weekly Group’s


Travolution Summit last week


were told that true innovation


comes from addressing customer needs rather than jumping on the latest


technology bandwagon. Olivier Binse, head of digital advisory at


Deloitte Digital, the business consultancy giant’s advice, design and creative group, said: “There’s a lot of excitement about new technologies and how fast they are changing. “But there is a balance to


Deloitte Digital’s Olivier Binse: ‘You must think about what you mean to your customers and really focus on that’


72 travelweekly.co.uk 10 December 2015


strike if you’re an established business – the business case [for investing in these technologies] is really difficult to justify.” Binse said firms should look


at how to exploit technologies such as drones, robots and voice recognition but, before that, they had to “earn the right to invest in new technology”.


“Everyone’s struggling


with that balance, but I am not convinced it’s only small businesses that can innovate or think about old problems in new ways,” he said. Binse cited Disney as an


example of an established brand that has embraced this approach with its MyMagic+ app and MagicBand bracelets. “They have made a


conscious choice to say technology is a bit like magic and that is what we do.” But he warned companies


can “lose their way”. “Don’t do something for the sake of it just because it’s possible. I call it digital bling,” he said. “The balance is thinking of your purpose and what you mean to your customers and really focus on that.” Keynote speaker Remco


van Zanten, director of hotels at leading global OTA Booking.com, said being truly disruptive only comes when firms focus on the customer. “Little things incrementally


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