Weekly Business Insights from Top Ten Business Magazines | Week 316 | Shaping Section | 2

Extractive summaries and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Since September 2017 | Week 316 | September 29-October 5, 2023

The promise of travel in the age of AI

By Susann Almasi et al., | McKinsey & Company | September 27, 2023

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Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI (gen AI), and machine learning (ML) are equipping the industry to reimagine what it means to plan, book, and experience travel. This surge of innovation sets the stage for travel companies to rethink how they interact with customers, develop products and services, and manage operations.

Advances in technology have also transformed consumers’ expectations. Since 2013, time spent on digital devices has grown by 70 percent, and this trend only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as online interactions increasingly replaced in-person contact.  However, traditional travel is unique in that it is an inherently human-centric experience. The industry, therefore, has an opportunity—perhaps even a duty—to define what travel will look like in the digital age.

Most travel companies aim to provide exceptional service and deliver the perfect trip. But, instead of ease, excitement, and delight, travel operators too often fall short of meeting baseline expectations of timing and quality. 

A new report, The promise of travel in the age of AI, produced by McKinsey and Skift Research offers the following insights:

1. Know your customers like you know your friends.  Over the past two decades, the variety and volume of customer data that travel companies can capture has increased dramatically; new tools and technologies such as AI-powered assistants are only accelerating this trend.  Having gained a clear and comprehensive understanding, companies can create customer segments to guide how they interact with and serve different customers.
2. Design your products to surprise and delight.  Historically, capabilities such as language, creativity, and aesthetic judgment—once considered uniquely human—could not be scaled through technology. AI, particularly gen AI, offers a new way to augment and scale these capabilities with the potential for enormous benefits.  In the travel context, gen AI could take the form of a digital assistant that interacts with customers throughout the journey. It can provide personalized trip itineraries during discovery and booking, offer tailored recommendations based on preferences and real-time constraints during the trip, and help resolve unexpected disruptions.
3. Empower your workforce to follow through on promises made.  An engaged and productive workforce enables the delivery of experiences and products that satisfy customers. The industry can enhance and scale the capacity of its existing workforce by equipping the frontline with the right tools at the right time.  Two promising opportunities to improve workforce and operational performance through technology stand out across the travel industry: augmenting frontline capacity and upskilling talent.

2 key takeaways from the article

1. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI (gen AI), and machine learning (ML) are equipping the travel industry to reimagine what it means to plan, book, and experience travel. This surge of innovation sets the stage for travel companies to rethink how they interact with customers, develop products and services, and manage operations.
2. A new report, The promise of travel in the age of AI, produced by McKinsey and Skift Research offers the following insights:  new tools and technologies such as AI-powered assistants can help companies to create customer segments to guide how they interact with and serve different customers; gen AI could take the form of a digital assistant that interacts with customers throughout the journey; and technology can augment frontline capacity and can upskil the talent helping the organizations to improve the workforce and operational performance.

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Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Travel Industry, Marketing