Travel Experience with Technology
Travelling is a necessity and that’s why the industry and its services will always be in demand. More so, with the technological integration and growth of e-commerce in the country, the industry is redefining itself and only slated to grow with established players and new startups that are entering the travel fray. Internet literacy and smartphone usage have played a great role; consumers have moved from traditional counter booking to online booking, understanding the benefit of booking travel online.
Online travel agencies adopting new policies, technologies and innovation together have given a fresh new lease of life to the industry. Besides, low-cost airlines with competent services contribute to ride the e-commerce travel business. Also, various offers by different companies have made the market more lucrative for the customers while increasing a healthy competition amongst the players.
As a result, the travel and tourism industry is today called as the frontrunner of the e-commerce industry, which individually contributes more than 9.4% to the country’s GDP and 40 million jobs to people in India.
Redefining travel and tourism industry vis-a-vis technology and
e-commerce
The technological disruption has completely transformed human life and the spaces they deal with. Travel companies are harnessing innovative technologies to provide simpler, faster, precise and more personalised travel services to the tech-savvy consumers who value experience towards creating memories, more than material goods.
Digital technology has changed the way travellers book their vacations. Be it e-visa, luggage management, hotel bookings and booking tickets, etc. Technology has provided us an opportunity to engage consumers at multiple touch points, where we are able to listen to their feedback and make sure we get it right.
The latest data suggests, in the US, 26% of travel searches in the fourth quarter of last year occurred on a mobile device. In other parts of the world, it’s even higher: Travel searches conducted on a mobile device totalled 47% in Europe; 40% in Asia; 38% in the Middle East and Africa; and 34% in Latin America in 2018.
Technologies in Use
The travel and tourism are now dependent on E-commerce, it uses feasible technologies to implement and plan holiday packages. Now companies are using augmented and Virtual Reality (AR and VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), GPS, wearable devices, etc. for ease of travel and customization of their trips. Companies across the globe are gaining competitive advantage from the exploitation of new information technologies—in particular, e-commerce technologies. The recent data suggests that one out of three travellers across countries are interested in using digital assistants to research or book travels.
The Rise of E-commerce Travel
E-commerce is creating new and exciting opportunities for the travel and tourism industry. Travel and tourism service providers are increasingly joining the online platform to tap into splurging customers in the E-commerce market. According to a study the global online travel market is expected to reach $1,091 billion by 2022 with the highest growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
The new age traveller is dependent on planning and booking travel arrangements well in time via e-commerce sites, before the actual trip. Internet users are enabled by these sites to prepare their itineraries with the help of online tools, price comparison websites or review portals. More than 50% of the traffic and transactions which are being conducted are done using mobile apps and websites.
E-commerce Travel Trends
Improved technology, increase in the internet penetration and smartphone users, increasing credit/ debit card penetration, increasing disposable income of the middle class and rising popularity of mobile devices for payments are transforming the e-commerce travel and tourism market.
The latest trends suggest that ‘Personalization’ is the keyword. In the future, the bookings through mobile devices will continue to increase.
The trends also suggest, irrespective of age groups, people prefer adventure or last-minute travel bookings they explore everything with ease now given the advent of technology aided travel platforms.
About the Author
Saurabh Sharma
Saurabh Sharma, is the founder and director of Travel Unravel Holidays
