Of the many sectors that have been affected by the pandemic, few have experienced as much of a negative impact as the hospitality and travel sector . COVID-19 brought the sector to a near standstill, a situation from which many businesses have yet to fully recover. According to architect database the World Tourism Organization, as of mid-2022, international travel had yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, with the number of trips being 54 % lower than in 2019.
There is no doubt that, although UN figures show that demand is back in full force now that borders have opened, the road to recovery will be long. Changing workplace habits have meant that the recovery in the hospitality and travel sector is almost exclusively driven by leisure. Business travel is taking a long time to return to pre-pandemic levels as companies realise the savings they can make without having to significantly disrupt their operations.
Improving the customer experience will put businesses in a strong position to ride the wave of recovery and optimize their future.
Customer experience is a key metric in times of uncertainty
Customers are clearly showing a renewed desire to travel, with 71% of Europeans saying they intended to travel during the summer of 2022. However, many businesses are struggling to cope with the rapid increase in demand, with many people leaving the industry, and McKinsey has reported a rise in negative sentiment. In a completely different landscape, betting on customer experience is what will make companies win the battle for customer loyalty.
“Companies that prioritize customer experience can gain loyalty, build resilience and prepare their businesses for the future” (McKinsey).
Transforming the digital customer experience is essential to address evolving expectations from the beginning to the end of the customer journey. Customers now expect to be able to speak to travel, accommodation and experience providers across multiple touchpoints at every stage, and they want the process to be seamless every step of the way.
And customers aren’t the only ones who need their customer experience solution to work optimally. With the number of employees preferring to work remotely on the rise—an overwhelming 97% say they prefer this at least partially—CRM solutions need to work efficiently and give agents across multiple geographic locations access to all the information and tools they need. Ideally, even in a 100% work-from-home situation, customers shouldn’t notice the difference.
