Customer-first culture: It starts and ends with the traveller
Collinson says one of its key goals in delivering products and services that solve customer and consumer needs is to create moments of delight that improve the travel experience. The firm’s XperienceX Labs are focused on delivering
disruptive, innovative products and value-add services that provide safe, reliable and personalised experiences for travellers. It is working with start-ups and new ventures to nurture the sort of innovations that will benefit the priority traveller. The hypothesis it is working on, it says, is “simple”: “Solving travellers’ challenges will create enriched experiences and lasting memories”. There are four core areas of focus to which Collinson is
looking to apply next-gen web 3.0 tech such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and artificial and virtual reality.
1. PERSONALISATION Personalisation of the travel experience, and taking an ethical approach to using personal data, is critical to Collinson’s products and innovations. It aims to provide travellers with the benefit of a personalised digital companion with the purpose of enriching the experience based on their unique preferences. Key to this is understanding generic digital
travel personas like ‘bleisure’ (leisure and business travel) or the family traveller, but also a deep awareness of the individual. There are many “macro-personas” and every person within these is an individual whose experience needs to be catered for in a tailored and personalised way. Collinson says its 30-year heritage in travel,
That’s not how you create a customer centre of gravity. It has to start with the consumer and it starts with their identity and empowering them.” XperienceX labs are looking for solutions that drive a more rounded
experience for the traveller from the moment they are thinking about travel to capturing digital memories. Collinson says key to this is its ambition to ethically organise the world’s traveller consumer data, which will unlock simpler and more-intuitive travel experiences.
Imagine a world where your travel planning is
automatically taken care of based on your profile
loyalty and benefits puts it is in prime position to rise to this “daunting challenge” and address today’s market opportunities.
2. CONNECTED EXPERIENCE Today, there’s an app for pretty much everything. While this might offer plenty of delightful touchpoints, it does not create a seamless experience for the traveller. Over time, thousands of brands have actually created a digital
abyss for travellers, and the consumer lifestyle more broadly, because none of it has been connected. Travellers yoyo from digital to physical and back from physical to digital again, which causes frustration and an inconsistent experience, says Collinson. “Into this digital abyss go customer preferences from thousands of
touchpoints. Stem that data leakage and you create profiles that allow you to become a lifestyle companion. The way most organisations have approached this so far in travel, and other industries, is with a ‘super-app’, where they just bring everything together in one place.
3. EXPANDED EXPERIENCES Priority Pass is known for delivering rich experiences in airports but Collinson is focused on expanding its reach to consumers throughout their journey. The firm has partnerships with the likes of WithU and CarTrawler, offering benefits such as spa and sleep pods, duty-free pre-booking, ground transport and F&B options.
But is says that is just the start: “Imagine a world where your travel
planning is automatically and intelligently taken care of for you based on your traveller profile. Imagine a world where airport and travel experiences are enriched through intelligent robots providing unique relevant travel experiences for the priority traveller. Imagine a world where you create memories and they are digitally captured and stored for you to revisit through virtual experiences. This world is not far away. Through technologies such as cognitive computing and virtual reality, the priority traveller experience will continue to be enhanced.”
4. HELPING BUSINESS GROW AND GIVING BACK As a family business, Collinson says it has a commitment to the many small and medium-sized enterprises in the travel market and to helping airport businesses grow and thrive. It aims to put the traveller experience at the heart of what it does to ensure the travel industry not only recovers from Covid but evolves to be stronger than ever.
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TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK — OCTOBER 2022 — 11
PICTURES:GETTY IMAGES/BLUE JEANS IMAGES, HERO IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK/HQUALITY
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