During the two days at Travel Technology Europe we tried to do more than just exhibit, with our little stand and pop-up displays; we took the time to speak with and listen to the pain points and success stories of our clients and prospects.
From start-ups browsing for the latest technologies to established travel operators looking for solutions to differentiate from the competition, the upper floor of the Business Travel Show at the lovely Olympia, in London, kept bringing interesting conversations our way.
Not surprisingly, our discussions seemed to circle around two main topics: customer experience and digital transformation. Travel operators have reached the conclusion that providing a personalized seamless customer experience is paramount in creating that edge that separates them from the fierce competition. They also realise that, more often than not, that edge can be achieved with digital transformation.
As Graham Cook, Group Head of Digital Operations at Thomas Cook, puts it:
Placing customers at the heart of travel requires a shake-up of traditional business models and investment in innovative technology, thinking and operations.
Travel businesses are looking at different ways to create revenue after the initial booking, and while the customer is still with them. We’re talking cross-sell, we’re talking customer experience and we’re talking increasing the brand sentiment and really engaging with your customers.
We, ourselves, are these customers, so it’s not hard to imagine scenarios like this: you are on your way to the airport to catch your flight and realise you have forgotten to check-in online, so there you go to join the queue at the check-in desk allowing your stress levels to rise and running the risk of not having a seat anymore – yes, it can happen!
Or this: you are finally arriving at the hotel you booked in Rome after a 5h journey and all you need is the comfort of your room, straight away. But no, not yet, as you see the long queue at the reception desk…and realise you will be waiting for another 30min or so.
And we could go on with the several scenarios that are creating friction in your customer journey and adding unnecessary discomfort.
Jumio is very happy to be able to show some relief to these pain points in the customer experience when demonstrating our ID document and payment card scanning solutions for mobile.
Solutions that allow your customers to:
1) simply use their mobile device’s camera to scan their payment card when booking a flight ticket or hotel room, for a frictionless and speedy check-out;
2) scan their passport when it’s time to check-in for the flight or for the hotel they just booked, saving you from the long queues and old fashioned processes.
Have you tried the easyJet app? Well, they are doing it already: you scan your payment card to speed up payment when buying a flight ticket and then scan your passport to quickly check-in for your flight.
Welcome to the future of Travel.
To find out more on how Jumio is helping the Travel industry click here.
