Travel & Hospitality

The Summer of Pent-up Travel Demand

Using Customer Data Platforms to Educate Travelers 

Managing customer expectations around what to expect when traveling will be critical to ensure that people are confident when they are ready to book their first getaway. It’s difficult to keep track of fast changing quarantine, testing and vaccination requirements varying by state and country. While the land borders between Canada, Mexico and the United States remain closed to non-essential travel, flights among the three countries are operating. But many travelers may not be aware that flying is an option.

There is a sweet spot in content curation for travel companies where the balance between trip confirmation content and compelling, personalized information helps to drive value for customers. The pandemic has also created content confusion and inconsistencies across channels for many organizations. For example, customers may be looking to book experiences with a brand across multiple channels. An all-inclusive vacation can be searched on Expedia, Google and the hotel directly. Travel companies must ensure there is consistency in their messaging across owned and distributed channels like booking sites, and must know how to use customer data to create a personalized experience and communicate how travel has changed. If a brand knows that a couple typically books a holiday and adds a spa package but the spa is closed, an organization can use a customer data platform to proactively inform that customer of closures or offer an in-room spa experience. A customer data platform can drive personalized communications by using first- and third-party data.

Tapping into New Revenue

There is likely going to be a market of spontaneous travel and advance planning that sees customers spending more time creating a unique travel experience. To keep demand going, organizations need to think about how to educate both markets and inspire customers at different stages of their journey.

While airline capacity, for instance, is ticking up travelers will expect airlines to communicate cabin capacities and to keep them lower than before the pandemic. Publicis Sapient’s Digital Life Index found that among factors influencing airline choice, 60 percent of respondents said limited capacity was the most important factor, and 38 percent said reduced occupancy was the third most important factor influencing hotel choice. Brands can still make up the revenue by selling ancillary products like spas or room upgrades or for airlines, pushing the benefits of early boarding or beginning to re-introduce meal service onboard for passengers willing to pay. This is where loyalty members with high brand affinity come into play as they likely have points to spend that they’ve accumulated during the past year of lockdowns and are looking to use those points to sweeten their first post-vaccination adventure.

For spontaneous-minded customers, what if a hotel told guests the restaurant and pool now required reservations one week in advance of check-in to follow social distancing guidelines? Perhaps they get a special rate or exclusive menu via a push notification. Companies can use content to help customers understand that advance bookings help ensure their safety. Alternatively, for airlines, what if a company ran a Mexico sale knowing 70 percent of people on the airline’s website from the U.S. were looking at Mexico fares and the airline knew that 50 percent of the U.S. population has been vaccinated. Spontaneity of a last-minute sale can drive meaningful results to a business if data can capture the travel intent of a customer. Both examples also allow companies to personalize the booking experience based on customer data they already have.