WHAT IS TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Travel technology is a broad term, which is used to describe the application of IT, e-commerce and similar technology solutions within the fields of tourism, travel and hospitality. Hotel and tourism technology may be intended to assist businesses and their employees, improve the travel experience for customers, or both.
Ultimately, the goals or motivations behind implementing travel technology include automating travel and related processes, saving time, reducing costs and creating a more seamless travel experience for consumers. Technology can be deployed to enhance the customer experience before, during, and after the trip.
Digitization, digitalization and digital transformation
Technologies are emerging, disrupting and affecting our lives in ways that indicate we are at the beginning of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, a new era in which digitalization builds and impacts societies in new and often unanticipated ways. It is worthwhile considering exactly what kind of shifts we are experiencing and how we can ensure, collectively and individually, that this revolution creates benefits for all.
Tourism was one of the first sectors to digitalize business processes on a global scale, bringing flight and hotel booking online to become a digital pioneer. As information and communications technology (ICT) became a global phenomenon, tourism was a consistent early adopter of new technologies and platforms.
A digitalized tourism sector must innovate and generate new business opportunities to ensure the continued competitiveness, growth and sustainable development of the sector. The ultimate goal is to make a solid contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and the global development community.
Digitization vs. Digitalization vs. Digital Transformation
Digitization
Digitization refers to the process of converting physical objects into digital format. An example of this would be document scanning, where text from physical paper is converted into PDF or other digital formats, which are then stored in the computer.
Digitization organizes information into units of data called bits. Analog information is encoded into zeroes and ones that computers can process, store and transmit. The process of digitization is the backbone for data recording, making it an important aspect of digital technologies.
Digitalization
In digitization, physical objects or information are stored in computers, but the process where this data is used may not be changed. This is the key difference between digitization and digitalization. Through digitalization, digital technologies and digitized data are utilized to enable or improve processes.
While digitization focuses on converting and recording data, digitalization is all about developing processes and changing workflows to improve manual systems. An example of this would be using digitized customer data from different sources to automatically generate insights from their behaviour.
Digital transformation
Closely related to digitization and digitalization, digital transformation’s primary aim is to integrate technology to most, if not all, business operations. In digital transformation, digital technology is incorporated into all areas of the business to fundamentally improve efficiency in workflows and create value for customers. Cultural, organizational and operational changes are implemented through the integration of digital technologies. Digital transformation allows businesses to adapt to ever-changing industry trends and landscapes.
Why is travel technology important for businesses in the tourism & travel industry?
Travel technology can help businesses streamline their processes or even automate processes traditionally requiring active human involvement. This can potentially help a business reduce staffing requirements, cut costs and increase the amount of income they generate, leading to improved financial results.
In addition, technology can assist businesses through improved accuracy and convenience while helping reduce or eliminate human error. However, it is essential to always keep up with the latest tourism technology trends so that the best solutions are being used and that other businesses do not gain a competitive edge.
Why should you keep up with the latest tourism & travel technology trends?
Businesses should always keep up with the latest travel technology trends because your main competitors will too. This means you risk giving them a significant advantage if you allow them to adopt new technology. At the same time, you rest on your laurels, especially if the technology is designed to benefit customers.
As trends emerge and new technology becomes established, customers expect a certain level of experience, and they want the convenience associated. Customers will likely feel disappointed if your business fails to meet these expectations. This could then, in turn, lead to negative reviews and damage to your reputation.
At the same time, keeping up with travel and tourism technology trends can also help employees and may make recruitment easier, as candidates will want to work with the latest tools, especially if it can reduce stress.
Which developments are responsible for the latest travel tech trends?
A trend can be defined as a general development within a particular field, or as a general shift in behaviour. Within hospitality, several factors are responsible for changes in consumer behaviour and are responsible for many of the travel tech trends that are most relevant.
Emerging technology, including voice search, virtual and augmented reality, facial recognition technology and the Internet of Things, has led to the adoption of smart speakers in hotels, virtual reality tours from travel companies and new, seamless ways to check-in, without having to queue and speak to reception staff.
Within our personal lives, we are increasingly using contactless payments, voice search and mobile solutions, so it makes sense that tourism technology trends have followed this same basic pattern. The COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated some of these behaviours, while increasing the need for solutions like cleaning robots.