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Megatrend #1 connected intelligence Automation will become increasingly important as travel agents employ next generation technology to take care of a great share of itinerary building and filtering to save time. New, preferred channels of communication will drive higher customer engagement, which means greater integration between bots and humans. Robots will offer more conveniences for travelers, including hotel deliveries, drones for hands-free trip documentation, and autonomous luggage to follow its owner around airports, city streets and hotels. Proximity beacons will let airlines track and analyze where staff and physical resources are, and improve resource allocation. Megatrend #2 conversational interfaces To fund or not to fund … in 2017 companies will have to decide whether a mobile app or a messagebased interface makes strategic sense. However, conversational shopping interfaces for travel will still be considered experimental next year. Companies can cut down on social complaints by offering service and support through a preexisting message service. Auditory dashboards, like Amazon Echo, will offer agents a handsfree way to quickly access traveler information. Megatrend #3 digital reality Agencies will be able to target advertising on platforms where VR content is being consumed to inspire and upsell to their customers. Airlines will continue to move from VR as a travel inspiration to VR as a way to position and sell premium products. Hotels will continue to use VR to showcase public spaces, amenities, private and more luxurious rooms to better sell and upsell the experience. |
