Transcend: 6 pillars to unleash growth for digital travel players

June 5, 2023

4 Min read

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Sam Abdou

CEO - Outpayce from Amadeus

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In recent months, the word ‘transcend’ has become an internal mantra for those of us working with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), as well as digital travel players like super-apps and metasearch companies. Our team’s North Star, it epitomizes what we strive for on a daily basis: • Go beyond pre-established limits • Accelerate change • Challenge the status quo

Go beyond pre-established limits
Accelerate change
Challenge the status quo

Akaleidoscope of opportunities – but only for those willing to go beyond pre-established limit

More than that though, it’s because we believe there is a need for OTAs and digital travel players to take a bolder approach towards their business and commercial strategies. The rebound of travel has unleashed travelers ready to splurge and travel with a vengeance – after suffering from what I like to call Travel Deprivation Disorder (TDD)! Although this is great news, recent research fromExpedia Group indicatestraveler expectations are higher than ever before , suggesting that while there is akaleidoscope of opportunities , unlocking them will only happen if OTAs and digital travel players are bold enough to adapt their strategies, invest in technology, and in some instances – reinvent their ways of working.

Alesson in being bold and accelerating change

Although the work-from-home model is perceived as being relatively new – it actuallydates back nearly three decades . Prior to the pandemic, some companies had flexible working policies in place, although it was seen as a privilege and exception. Few if any were bold enough to implement a fully remote or hybrid working model, deemed too big a departure from what was considered ‘the norm’ at the time. Then COVID-19 changed everything. For all the disruption it caused – it demonstrated that contrary to popular belief – remote working and hybrid working are just as, if not more effective than the traditional approach. Fast forward to today, remote and hybrid work models are commonplace no longer seen as an exception – but a rule.

Challenging the status quo

When it comes to digital travel players, the rule has always been to have the best content to offer the best deals to travelers. This rule still applies, but it is no longer enough to cover all market challenges: low conversion rates, high servicing and marketing costs, unanticipated trends, and friction in customer support. Even the most successful and creative companies in the business spend upwards of 10 billion dollars per year on advertising and servicing, in return for a conversion rate that sometimes does not reach 3%. OTAs, meta searches, and more recently super-apps, have transformed travel, discovered new trends, and are an integral piece of the innovation puzzle responsible for new technologies that improve the traveler experience. That being said – innovation only happens when you challenge the status quo.

The six pillars of growth

OTAs and digital travel players growth over the next two decades will be contingent on their ability to adhere to the following six pillars:

Search: In order to perfect search technology, it can’t be the same for everyone. Of course, speed and accuracy are paramount to success, but only in parallel with search technology that can offer personalized andcontextual results to travelers. In this context, it is worth looking into our recently released‘Traveler Tribes 2033’ research .
New Distribution Capability (NDC): The technology is a key enabler to support the larger vision of enhanced travel retailing. We have only seen the beginning of it, and a collaborative approach across the travel ecosystem will unlock new opportunities for the industry as a whole, with a better and more personalized traveler experience at the core.
Automation and Digitization: Digital travel players should look at ways to automate and digitize processes, such as on-trip traveler assistance, freeing resources focus on activities that bring revenue.
Payments: In the realm of fintech products, there are great opportunities in travel. Travel merchants such as airlines and hotels are looking to offer new services such as buy now, pay later or foreign exchange to make the payment experience smoother for travelers. While in the B2B space, modern payment solutions using virtual cards can help our customers select the right way to make each B2B payment.
Data & Analytics: In today’s digital world, we have a plethora of data at our fingertips, and OTAs and digital travel players will increasingly need to use this to analyze traveler behavior, and then adapt swiftly.
Innovation: Immersive advertising, digital fitting rooms,social booking - what do these concepts have to do with travel? Everything! They are the new frontier for increasing productivity and revenues, and investment in these must start as soon as possible.

Want to learn more about these six pillars, the work we’re doing with online and digital travel players, and the solutions as the solutions building in these areas? Then be sure to check out ourdedicated Amadeus Transcend page .

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