BUSINESS NEWS al travel sectors gathered in London for annual forum. Benjamin Coren and Lee Hayhurst report
Online experts highlight skills gap and rising costs of acquisition
Demographic shifts in Europe and the US are deepening a digital skills gap at travel companies. Duncan Alexander, digital
solutions director at DXC, said firms are experiencing a serious human resources challenge. “People are retiring earlier and
kids are entering the workforce later,” he said. “At the same time, we have record levels of employment, so what we have is a skills problem. “Terefore, companies are in
massive competition to engage staff and keep them on board.” Alexander said bringing in
new employees is a big challenge because today’s workforce expects
modern workplaces and access to consumer-grade B2B technologies. Cressida Sergeant, Traveltek’s
chief commercial officer, said the travel technology firm has plans to modernise its agent desktop to bring it up to consumer standards. “We have recognised the need
to modernise some of the agent technology we provide,” she said. “People coming into the industry
expect to have similar technology to what they have at home.” Geronimo Pirro, Amadeus
marketing and digital business director, said technology today has to push boundaries because growth in the digital sector has peaked.
“It’s a mature market,” he said.
“Digital is not new anymore. And it’s quite an exciting time from a technology point of view because these new players have to push boundaries now. “We are seeing a lot of new
business models and creative ideas to overcome the stagnating growth.” Pirro said OTAs are struggling
to increase their margins as acquisition costs rise, and so are focusing instead more on retaining customers and loyalty. He cited eDreams Odigeo’s
Prime subscription service and French holiday deals firm PerfectStay as two examples of innovative models avoiding rising costs of acquisition.
‘Use your data to beat web giants’
Travel firms have enough of their own customer data to protect themselves against online giants by personalising experiences, delegates were told. Richard Harris, chief executive of
Intent, warned brands must ensure the “datagopoly” of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple does not come between them and their customers. He said global tech firms can
also be valued partners of travel brands: “It’s a unique thing about our industry: our fiercest competitors – the people we spend all day trying to kill – are oſten also, in some other part of our organisations, our partners. “But we are at a moment in the
history of the economy where data has a unique power. It’s been said many times data is the new oil. It is the key asset for almost any business.” Harris said travel intermediaries
must challenge web giants such as Google, which are offering customers the chance to transact within their
travelweekly.co.uk If you don’t harness
your own assets, the only people who will are Google, Apple, Amazon or Facebook
sites or apps, by using data smartly. “Not everyone realises that what
these players do beter than anyone else is aggregate and deploy data,” he said. “Tat amalgamation of data means they know their customers more intimately than any of us ever will.” He admited the web giants are
hard to avoid, conceding: “If you’re a brand trying to interact with a user, you are going to have to go through these datagopolists. When that happens, they become the gatekeepers and the toll takers between the brands and their users, and that is not a good long-term situation.” But he said: “Tere is absolutely
enough data in the travel industry to generate the kind of predictions and personalised experiences required. “You can do that, and I would
argue you have to do that, because if you don’t harness your own assets, the only people who will are Google, Apple, Amazon or Facebook.”
EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH
Learn more about personalisation in the travel sector by downloading new research conducted byT
ravolution in partnership with Intent at:
bit.ly/TravolutionIntent Richard Harris 7 NOVEMBER 2019 71
Cressida Sergeant, Duncan Alexander and Geronimo Pirro
Personalisation in travel – opportunities, challenges and attitudes
Exclusive insight and trade research by Travolution in association with <intent>
PICTURES: Phil Gammon
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
