In the world of travel, things change daily, even by the minute. The $2.57 Trillion global travel industry is dependent on controlling the uncontrollable. In spite of the inevitable changes, travel providers — big and small — strive to improve the traveler experience and exceed expectations wherever possible. Many providers have embraced partnerships to solve complex problems and achieve results more efficiently.
In talking with customers and partners around the world, we are seeing three primary areas where data is being shared and integrated to positively impact the traveler.
Keeping systems in sync
Traveler information, trip details and airline schedules are just a few examples of the data that is constantly flowing between systems. Behind the scenes, the challenge is keeping all those systems in sync. Monitoring the journeys of 70 million passengers annually, we see how often and varied those changes can be. If one provider changes a reservation, does everyone involved in serving the traveler get that information? Not necessarily. But it is the unseen updates that keep everything running smoothly. FIDS screens, airline ticket details, airport ground crew, travel agency support are a handful of examples of system-to-system data sharing.
Anticipating changes
Being prepared to take action requires having the right information. Since changes happen constantly, travel providers cannot always know what to look for. Making sure frontline agents and operations management receive notifications depends on having accurate details — no matter where the change was made.
We call this type of data sharing system-to-human changes. Notifying the right people when changes take place, through triggered alerts or predictive monitoring, ensures providers are aware and ready to serve the traveler.
Providing the right experience
Only when systems are in sync and providers are prepared will the traveler get relevant information that helps them in a streamlined way. Data-sharing directly with the traveler opens endless possibilities and questions. Travelers need to know what to do, what is going to happen, and where to go — all at the same time. Travel-direct apps are, in many cases, dependent on what the traveler shares. With a multi-leg itinerary, one airline may have out of date information about a passenger if their interline systems are not updated instantly. Customers say while focusing on the traveler is their goal, many times the real problem starts with their up-line systems to ensure all levels of support have the same info. Many industry partnerships are focusing on making sure that moment is well orchestrated.
To exceed expectations throughout the experience, these partnerships are looking at how to improve all three kinds of data sharing.
Why is it so crucial to monitor changes? According to Cirium data, over 3M flights around the world were marked delayed or cancelled last year, impacting millions of travelers. Years of tracking flight data tells us avoiding changes to flight schedules is impossible. Disruption will happen. Industry leaders have shown we can all be better prepared to handle that impending moment when systems are in sync and people are anticipating changes. The traveler experience improves thanks to the layers of information being shared with them, both indirectly and directly.
—————
At Cirium, we have a team of experts available to help guide you through understanding what data can do to address your business needs. If you want to learn how we help companies manage travel with confidence based on insights and analytics, please contact us. Or read more articles like this.
