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Digital Reinvention® in travel

The pace of change in global travel is only increasing. Innovation from across the technology spectrum continues to reshape the industry.

People feel deeply emotional about travel. While banking, shopping and similar experiences are important and personal, discussions about miles, suite upgrades and boarding privileges tend to strike a deeper cord. Over the past 20 years, the global travel industry has been at the vanguard of digital innovation. And it is also leading the way in terms of ecosystem evolution. But the industry’s technological leadership has become a two-edged sword. By leading with experience, the industry has conditioned its customers to expect experience leadership. And customer expectations are destined to become more comprehensive and demanding. By embracing the philosophy of Digital Reinvention®, the travel industry can work to sustain its momentum by meeting and eventually exceeding travelers’ most personal aspirations and deepest desires. 

Whether due to the astounding success of customer affinity programs or, perhaps, because of something unique about the travel experience, people have deeply personal feelings about how they move from place to place. At the same time, since the commercialization of the Internet in the 1990s, the travel industry has been a clear leader in digital adoption and disruption. Through its drive to rapidly adopt technology for operations and processes, new products, services and experiences, and paradigm-shattering business models, the travel industry has led the way.

And the pace of change in global travel is only increasing. Innovation from across the technology spectrum continues to reshape the industry. For example, industry leaders such as Airbus have embraced 3D-printing technology to improve tooling, prototyping and part-making – initially for high-complexity, low-scale items, but increasingly for lower-complexity, higher-scale components. Air France-KLM now provides a personal digital travel concierge, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), to select customers. Global hotel chain Marriott is using virtual reality (VR) to help customers enjoy intimate travel stories about unique destinations around the world from the safety and comfort of their own homes. And Japan-based Henn-Na Hotels now employs intelligent robots to carry luggage, staff luggage lockers and provide housekeeping services.

Using cognitive computing and AI, global hotel chain Hilton is piloting a service named “Connie” to engage with guests about topics such as local tourist attractions, dining recommendations and hotel features. And the Sydney Airport in Australia is employing predictive analytics to help reduce parking congestion, improve passenger lounge access and optimize flow-through in its duty-free shops. Another Australian travel business, Webjet, is transforming the way hotel bookings are made using blockchain technologies, which can increase transpar-ency, security and accuracy. And Thomson, the UK’s largest tour operator, is trialing a new chatbot tool using natural language processing (NLP) capabilities to engage with tourists in and around the travel experiences.

This confluence of technological innovation is creating both new challenges and new opportu-nities for the travel industry. As with other industries, including retail, customers of travel services are demanding more comprehensive and consistent experiences.


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Meet the authors

Greg Land

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, IBM Global Industry Leader, Aviation, Hospitality and Travel Related Services


Steven Peterson

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, Global Thought Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value


Brian O'Rourke

Anthony Marshall

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, Senior Research Director, Thought Leadership, IBM Institute for Business Value

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    Originally published 01 September 2017