{"id":156333,"date":"2021-04-12T15:40:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:40:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/igtsolutions.azurewebsites.net\/blog\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2021-04-12T15:40:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T15:40:06","slug":"touchless-travel-experiences-tte-the-future-of-travel-hospitality-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.igtsolutions.com\/travel\/touchless-travel-experiences-tte-the-future-of-travel-hospitality-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Touchless Travel Experiences (TTE): The future of Travel & Hospitality Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travelling is the ultimate wonder drug for Humans. Numerous studies & scientists link the DRD4 genome in human DNA, to our longstanding desire to travel. Justin Garcia, a biologist from Indiana University\u2019s Kinsey Institute told\u00a0Travel + Leisure<\/em> that our biological history can be related to the modern-day travel wanderlust.\u00a0 Billions of humans are wired to travel, feeling it as an intuitive, exciting, adventurous experience, & directly related to the desire for risk- taking. Having told my father since I was a child, that I was born to be a traveling nomad, I can relate to it.<\/p>\n

Travel is such a part of being a human, that an entire Travel & Hospitality industry emerged during the last few centuries.\u00a0 In the 1400s, the English & French legislation required hotels and inns to keep guest registries. In 1758, Cox & Kings became one of the first travel companies. In 1891, American Express introduced the Traveler\u2019s Cheque. 1914 saw the world\u2019s first scheduled passenger airline service. In 1946, Avis became the first car rental company.\u00a0 In 1943, the invention of computer led to American Airlines launching the first automated booking system in 1952. \u2018Rapid technological advancements brought continuous automation & innovation<\/a>. The mid 90\u2019s saw Lonely Planet and Microsoft\u2019s Expedia as one of the first online travel agencies. The early 2000s brought tech companies like Facebook, Google (Maps) and Twitter, which encouraged people to search for and share their travel experiences. And with approximately 45.5% of the population owning a smartphone in 2019, the travel industry acceleration continued.<\/p>\n

Travel is on the mind.\u00a0 Technology is at our fingertips.\u00a0 Work from anywhere is real.\u00a0 Humans have become digital traveling nomads.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But travel still involves a significant amount of \u2018touch\u2019 – one of the five basic human senses also ingrained in our DNA. And the pandemic spurred a \u2018don\u2019t touch\u2019 environment that rocked the Travel & Hospitality industry to its core, leaving billions of travel – hungry digital nomads discontented.<\/p>\n

Enter \u2018Touchless Travel Experiences<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u2019 a much needed evolution in the Travel & Hospitality industry.<\/p>\n

Skift Research (in partnership with McKinsey) mentioned in Sept \u201920, \u201cWe see signs of latent demand for travel. Customers are interested in and willing to travel again when they are allowed to do so, even before a vaccine is available at scale.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>Latent demand is described as a consumer want that\u2019s unable to be satisfied due to a lack of information or awareness about a product or service.<\/p>\n

Human\u2019s insatiable desire to travel has not changed at all. But for the travel DNA itch to be scratched, the industry must tackle the real and perceived obstacles of the \u2018don\u2019t touch\u2019 environment in travel that exists today.<\/p>\n

Innovating and rapidly deploying Touchless Travel Experiences<\/em> in our digital world, will be a core contributor to restoring travel confidence with ease.<\/p>\n

Think of your own travel experiences and note the number of \u2018touches\u2019.\u00a0 Ticketing, check-in, luggage, kiosks, paper itineraries, health records, passports, currency, credit cards, rental cars, luggage carts, doors & handles, menus, remote controls, thermostats, in-person service\/luggage\/concierge\/server hosts & attendants, etc. There are many obstacles in a totally touchless experience.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, these obstacles are opportunities to reinvent, reimagine, transform, and improve, resulting in the creation of Touchless Travel Experiences (TTE)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s envision TTE. Digital\/Virtual attendants\/hosts\/concierge, digital ticketing & check-in, RFID luggage tags<\/a>, digital biometrics\/identity\/passports, digital currency, keyless entry, digital menus\/controls\/thermostats, artificial intelligence, V\/R \u2013 all of these converging to restore travel confidence and ease for the digital traveling nomad.<\/p>\n

TTE don\u2019t necessarily change the what of travel (although some will), but rather the how.\u00a0 And these did actually start a few years ago itself. For example, remote reservation desks, call centers & websites with digital booking, ticketing are touchless and have existed for decades, with smartphone adoption bringing the advancement of digital apps, digital pay, keyless entry, biometrics and more.<\/p>\n

But recent events have given a wake-up call to the Travel & Hospitality industry on the need to accelerate its adoption. The industry must dig deeper into the various applications and use cases, which may require shifts in resources, tools, technology & infrastructure accordingly.\u00a0 It\u2019s important to also note that not all touchless travel experiences are solved with technology. For example, (a favorite) foot operated or hands free door openers.\u00a0 Simple, yet genius! The key is to imagine each physical (touch) aspect of the customer journey, then exploring non-physical (touchless) alternatives. Once you\u2019ve journey mapped in the context of touch\/touchless, brands can then define innovations & transformations within various people processes, tools and technology, to reach your desired TTE outcomes.<\/p>\n

Many use cases of touchless travel experiences already exist and are further being announced. The clear winners in the Travel & Hospitality industry will be brands which have articulated the touchless customer journey and deployed TTE solutions that restore travel confidence.<\/p>\n

As organizations, governments and societies wonder whether complete TTE is <\/em>possible, the Travel & Hospitality industry may want to seek external wisdom such as from Estonia, one of the world\u2019s most advanced digital economy. Toomas Hendrik Ilves<\/strong>,<\/strong> the former President of Estonia (2006 – 2016),\u00a0made a great contribution during his tenure by setting the stage for development of the most digitally advanced (and touchless) nation in the world with a model of digital governance, e-services, e-voting, e-banking, e-healthcare, e-identification, e-ticketing, e-signatures, e-transport, and much more. It also became the first paperless government in the world. Estonia is a treasure trove of touchless use cases.<\/p>\n

Other use case examples of \u2018partial\u2019 touchless travel experiences include:<\/p>\n