Sharat Dhall, Chief Operating Officer (B2C), Yatra.com
Enterprises in the travel and hospitality space have been actively adopting information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to generate internal efficiencies and deliver a better customer experience. Further, these enterprises have also been scaling up investments in advanced technologies such as cloud, big data analytics and internet of things (IoT) to meet consumer demands more effectively and stay competitive in the market. Travel and hospitality industry experts discuss the key ICT tools and trends in the industry and the plans going forward…
How have the technology needs of the travel and hospitality industry changed over time? What role is ICT playing in the industry?
Technology has completely changed the travel landscape over the past decade, both for travellers and for companies. Online travel agents like Yatra have empowered travellers by giving them a wide variety of travel choices with complete transparency in pricing, all at the click of a button. IT and telecom can play a pivotal role in the progress of the travel industry.
One of the most powerful competitive tools now accessible to companies is business intelligence software powered by big data analytics to help them personalise their offerings as per customer preferences. It also enables companies to map the customer journey and automate processes to reduce manual intervention, thereby empowering businesses to streamline operations and maximise efficiency.
With the increasing penetration of smartphones, customers are becoming increasingly more aware and tech-savvy. Voice search is rapidly becoming a popular trend among travellers. To keep pace with this and simplify the overall user experience, Yatra has introduced voice search on its mobile app.
What is your organisation’s IT and telecom blueprint? What are some of the enterprise solutions/applications that the organisation is using? How have these helped in enhancing business performance and efficiency?
Yatra is focused on rapid technological innovations and advancements. To ease the booking process, we have launched multiple features like Facebook chatbot to facilitate search of flight tickets, a self-serve platform to address customer queries, and a marketplace chat platform to enable travellers to chat in real time with sellers. We have also integrated with Truecaller for an easy on-boarding and verification process. Yatra was also the first online travel portal to introduce unified payment interface as an alternative payment option on its website.
We, moreover, have an automated inbound query handling system where all incoming calls are automatically answered and routed to the appropriate agent. As a result, their operational efficiency has improved sharply. We also have dashboards, which keep track of calls received during out-of-office hours so that they can be followed up on the next day.
What is the current level of adoption of technologies such as the cloud, IoT and big data analytics among Indian travel and hospitality enterprises? Is your company using or planning to deploy these?
In the past, customers were not internet-savvy and hence booked the majority of their travel offline. Their preferences were quite standard as travel was more functional than experiential. Now, with increasing smartphone penetration, affordable data plans and improving internet connectivity, the online travel space has grown manyfold and customers have become more informed and open to frequent travelling. They seek unique and different travel experiences, making personalisation a key aspect of big data.
We at Yatra, too, personalise our offerings as per customer preferences. Based on buying patterns, we push relevant offers to our target segment, recommend their stay, etc. Our new brand positioning as “India ka travel planner” is based on the very fact of being able to offer different kinds of travel experiences to different kinds of travellers. Thus, personalisation is an important part of our services. A personalised experience saves customers the effort of searching for the appropriate travel packages and reduces their dissatisfaction levels.
What are the challenges faced while managing the existing IT and telecom infrastructure, and deploying new technologies?
Technology advances rapidly and needs to be continuously aligned with changing organisational priorities and goals. The adoption of latest technologies like the cloud, IoT and big data analytics requires an experienced manager who can analyse and evaluate the value each technology has to offer to the business. Using big data analytics also has its own set of challenges. While there is an abundance of data, there are limited data points that are available in a structured format. Hence, data mining is very important. Unstructured data when mined properly can reveal critical insights and help businesses strategise better.
Going forward, what are the key technology trends that are likely to be witnessed by the travel and hospitality industry?
Big data and personalisation have had a major positive impact on the travel industry as they offer customer insights that were hitherto not available. With this new information, businesses are in a better position to provide customised services, enhance customer satisfaction, increase operational efficiency and, at the same time, help companies gain a competitive advantage. Thus, big data is a game changer for both businesses and travellers, and promises enormous progress. It also creates exciting opportunities for travel agencies as it enables them to offer customised solutions and achieve a marked improvement in the user experience.
