What Evolving Traveler Expectations Mean for Travel Sellers
Demand for trips has remained strong this year as indicated by Amadeus Demand360® business intelligence data, which shows global hotel occupancies trending largely on par with pre-pandemic levels.
It’s welcome news for travel sellers looking to maximize business as travel returns, but they should also consider just how much traveler expectations have evolved. In our latest research paper Catalysts for Change: Building the Hospitality Ecosystem of the Future, Amadeus spoke to experts across the travel industry to determine what is topping traveler wish lists. It revealed some important implications for travel sellers who are looking to keep travelers at the center of everything they do.
The paper found that personalization, more sustainable journeys, flexibility, and customizable offers are major priorities for consumers when they are booking travel. In addition, many travelers desire modern, digital tools to help them remove friction and stress from their trips.
Since travel sellers serve as the vital link between travelers and travel providers, how can they best respond? By establishing personal connections with travelers to understand their needs and leveraging a strong technology partner, travel sellers are uniquely placed to conquer a changing hospitality landscape, stay ahead of the curve, and improve traveler satisfaction.
Here are five ways travel sellers can stay ahead of changing traveler expectations.
1. Access high-quality content in one place
Trip planning can quickly become cumbersome when travelers and travel sellers alike are forced to contact several different providers in different places to find the best options. Travel sellers can stand out by having access to the widest range of content possible – from flights to airport transfers, local activities and tours, car rentals, hotels and more – to help both corporate and leisure customers find the most value and build their dream trip.
Quantity of content is important, but even more so is the quality. Having access to the description, photos, pricing, and attributes of rooms, cars, and other services can help travelers make more confident decisions, which in turn, can drive revenue and upsell opportunities for travel sellers.
2. Adopt an ecosystem approach
Helping discerning travelers find experiences to match their tastes is no easy task. Travel sellers can benefit from leveraging a technology partner with a sophisticated network such as Amadeus. Increasing interconnection between travel sellers and travel providers can create more value for all parties – whether it’s working with hotel partners, car rental and insurance companies, in-destination tour providers and more to boost their retail capabilities. To introduce greater collaboration into the industry, Amadeus is linking the hotel, mobility, and travel protection sectors into one single ecosystem – to meet the overlapping needs of travelers, travel sellers, and travel providers.
3. Help businesses streamline group bookings
With hybrid and remote work now the norm, small and medium sized companies are interested in bringing their teams together in person more often. As a result, hotels have seen an increase in group bookings since the pandemic. Travel sellers and meeting planners need help in this area to find available conference space and secure related hotel bookings in one place. Amadeus has responded by introducing instant online booking capabilities to help facilitate meetings and events. Backed by its larger accommodations network, travel sellers can play a key role in helping travel managers and business clients get together more frequently and book with ease.
4. Make promotional offers work for you
Whenever possible, data should guide decision making and business strategies. Travel sellers can use it to pinpoint emerging markets or destinations, vendors, and booking trends to find creative new ways to boost their business. Some travel providers are using highly targeted advertising to communicate new products, services, and discounts to travel sellers through global distribution systems (GDSs). This ensures travel sellers have the right information at the right time to pass on to their clients to improve revenue opportunities.
5. Lead with efficiency
If 2023 has proved anything, it’s that travelers are continuously motivated to leave home and see the world. Now is the time for travel sellers to make the most of the technology available to them to improve their processes, depth of content, and client and vendor relationships to produce the best journey for each and every customer. Maximizing efficiency is key to accessing content from a variety of travel providers in one place and making more data-driven decisions. With established partnerships throughout the hospitality ecosystem and a collaborative approach, travel sellers can serve more travelers better and faster than ever before.
For more on our latest research into how travel sellers are responding to the evolution of the hospitality industry, download the full paper here.
About Amadeus
Amadeus powers more personalized and authentic travel experiences. Our solutions are designed to enrich every stage of the traveller journey and help hospitality providers acquire, service, and retain guests by profitably driving demand and converting them into loyal fans.
Backed by over 30 years of experience, we design open, cutting-edge software to provide the most efficient, trusted, and reliable systems for our customers. With experts in 175+ countries, we have a deep understanding of the hospitality industry and a desire to enable our hotel partners to create memorable guest experiences.
To find out more about Amadeus, visit www.amadeus-hospitality.com.
