Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel | Future Traveller Tribes 2030 27
Industry collaboration: what is required?
“Imagine you’re on your way to the airport, your taxi’s stuck in traffic. Imagine the airline was able to locate you via their app, calculate your new arrival time at the airport and automatically book you on to the next flight. Not only that, but what if all your further travel arrangements were synced… your hotel knew your new check-in time? Imagine if you had the ability to locate your luggage at any time and find out where it is…” Sadiq Gillani, Senior Vice President, Lufthansa Group, from his speech ‘The Next Step for Airlines’ at TEDx Conference Berlin, 2014
A major stepping stone would be overarching technology that is able to collect passenger data from the point of booking and pass it through the luxury travel supply chain as the traveller moves through phases of their journey. Real-time updates that will impair the luxury element of their trip could be a call to action for whichever party is responsible for the traveller at that time – the baggage handler, the chauffeur, the staff at hotel check-in. Mistakes and unpredictable circumstances may not be eliminated completely, but at least the knock-on effect can be reduced, and brands can have the chance to recover the damage. This is also in line with the ethos of being able to understand what luxury means for a traveller at a certain moment in time – be it an early check-in to their room to sleep immediately after a disastrous journey, or having their favourite meal automatically served just after they enter their hotel room if the airline was unable to cater for their dietary requirements. The need for a less-fragmented luxury travel industry is apparent. However, there is currently no unifying force to facilitate collaboration between different sectors and regions, beyond a peer-to-peer level. This is an argument for the formation of a luxury travel regulator – an accredited body that could lead this discussion, push technological developments forward, regulate the sharing of customer data and enforce the ‘new order’ of end-to-end luxury . In the meantime, technologies are emerging that empower the travel agent or advisor to be more adaptable throughout travellers’ journey cycles . Apps such as Tripscope, Axus and Umapped allow an agent to collaborate with Destination Management Companies via the app to build and adapt itineraries, and also include real-time flight information, so that an agent can see if a traveller is experiencing disruption. This is another way the industry can push for new technologies to come into being – by actively demonstrating a demand for them.
The new era of luxury travel is geared towards achieving an end‑to-end luxury experience from the moment a passenger gets in their taxi to the airport until they arrive back at their front door from their journey home. The industry is aware that greater collaboration between parties is needed, but what does that mean on a practical level?
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