A recent McKinsey report on the travel and tourism industry shows the landscape has seen some “unprecedented” changes since the pandemic, such as – lockdowns, restrictions on travel, and an overall ban on hospitality-based experiences. These challenges have left the sector in a state of turmoil.
However, the demand for amazing travel and tourism experience in still high among the customers. Today’s young generation, a major demographic of travel customers, prefer experiences over things, and therefore, prefer travel.
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 the experience of its customers. That is where improving customer experience becomes essential for business success.
Here are some of the top ways CX can transform hospitality and travel 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 $679 billion loss. however, the travel demand was still there. A report stated that around 77% of people were willing to start travelling internationally as soon as they’re vaccinated.
So, to cash in on the travelers’ willingness, it is essential to make it easier for people to start traveling again. And to do so, travel businesses need to offer excellent customer experience via omnichannel booking, fast-paced issue resolution and even improved sales, will be vital to reviving the sector in the coming years.
2. Boost Productivity and Performance
To deliver excellent customer experiences, travel companies must first provide their employees and travel customer service outsourcing partner with the resources they need to prosper in any situation. 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 stages of the consumer journey 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, as well as knowledgebase and FAQ solutions, agents can access quick answers to any questions they might have. It can greatly improve the productivity and performance of the team.’
3. Increase Customer Loyalty
According to a survey by PWC, one in three customers switches brand 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 which 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 alloted seats on the day without requiring any 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 future.
4. Ensure Greater Efficiency
In January 2021, the number of flights planned worldwide was lower than the number in 2020 by 43.5 percent. So while travel and tourism opportunities are still low, there is no doubt they will 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 travelling is rising while other new hurdles also emerge. For example, several organizations now deal with higher contact volumes throughout the year. In addition, as more travelers are vaccinated, they will no doubt have extra questions to ask about their travel and hospitality chances.
When customers start reaching out to your customer service teams again, those agents need to be equipped with the right 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. These digital experiences will be something both clients and customers continue to look for as they head into a new age of communications. Thus, resorts, restaurants, and hotels will all need to rethink about how they can become more competitive with unique, digital interactions.
As travel rises and people spend more time outside of their homes, travel businesses will need to 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 enhance your relationships with customers digitally, 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 travel BPO for your business
Having a CX delivery partner is essential for business success, especially for the travel companies planning to adopt the new-age travel interactions. To find the right travel and hospitality call center for your business, you need to look for a few key features. These include:
1. Industry experience
You should look for a travel BPO partner that has ample experience in your industry. A contact center with years of experience in 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 that you need to take into consideration while looking for the right travel BPO partner. A BPO with good market reputation and client testimonials can be an invaluable partner for your business and can help your business succeed.
3. Scalability
During the peak travel season, your will get more business inquiries, booking requests and other customer service requests. To attend all these interactions without making your customers and prospects wait is essential for a positive customer experience. That if why you need a travel BPO partner that can quickly scale up their teams as per the increasing demand and scale the team down when the 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.
Besides these factors, you must also look for multilingual capabilities, global presence and technology and infrastructure of the call center before selecting the right call center.
To Sum It Up
A superior customer experience delivery can help your travel and tourism business stay ahead of 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 customers’ journey will be quite 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 future ready!
