No human side, no salvation: customer relations in the face of changes in tourism

Didier Rus, Market Director, Armatis

How do you analyse the current evolution of tourism? A sector that’s been battered by successive crises is now on the road to recovery. Although some people forecast a return to normality in 2024, the situation has actually stabilised much more quickly. The reopening of numerous destinations, intensification of exchanges and the boom in new forms of travel have given tourism a new lease of life, despite a still relatively unstable global context.

Although last-minute risks and hazards are nothing new in the sector, the anxieties connected with them over the past few years are still etched in our memories and have left a lasting impact on travellers’ expectations and the assistance provided to them. At the same time, new travel consumption patterns are leading tourism professionals to reassess the ways in which they assist their clientele.

A single watchword now governs customer relations in the tourism sector: responsiveness, which sometimes pushes sector operators to their limits. Between crises and new trends, ongoing digitisation and the power of the voice, how are customer relations adapting?

A sector that is forging ahead

The recent crises have rightly been in the spotlight and have dominated discussion on the sector. Operators have had to learn to “predict the unpredictable” and anticipate needs in order to adapt to changes in demand due to an ever broadening range of health, environmental and geopolitical risks. Behind the scenes, the tourism sector continues to evolve and innovate, and is still a dynamic ecosystem to which customer relations professionals must constantly adapt.

Three major trends may be noted in this regard. First of all, there’s been a significant increase in local tourism: the French seem to be travelling more in their own country, and even gave the hospitality sector  a new lease of life during the last summer season – in particular as regards outdoor accommodation. As today’s tourists are more connected to their immediate environment, it might well be argued that they see local travel as being less risky in an unstable context.

They also have an ever closer connection with the environment in the broad sense, as the ecological impact of travel is increasingly on people’s minds. Despite still having a niche and relatively elitist aspect, ecotourism is an irreversible major trend. Increasing numbers of travellers are looking to give meaning to their travels – new guidelines that inevitably result in differentiation of customer attraction and retention strategies.

In this regard, customer relations must act in an advisory capacity for professionals, at the service of new destinations as well as those that these new expectations might cater for.

Finally, the sector has given pride of place to technology and digital tools in order to respond to these ever more specific and changing expectations. Travel Tech has truly come into its own, outdoing itself with regard to facilitation of reservations, responsible tourism and virtual immersion technologies.

It’s also evident that the tourism sector saw a major surge in digitisation in the context of the pandemic: between websites, applications and automated platforms, most interactions now take place in the digital world, which has become a commercial playground for professionals as well as multiplying channels for interaction with their customers.

Digitisation that doesn’t replace the human touch

The pandemic isn’t the only cause of such rapid digitisation: a study carried out by the Directorate General for Enterprise (DGE) back in 2016 noted the momentum in innovation in its regard in the sector in France. Now propelled to the next level, it’s forcing actors in customer relations – and the tourism operators they assist – to adapt to this appetite for digital support throughout journeys and stays. Customer relations in the broad sense in the sector has now fully integrated this evolution and the key technologies relating to it, artificial intelligence in particular, putting its potential to good use in smart chatbots, reservation systems and content personalisation.

Digital technology and automation are now advanced enough to manage the great majority of transactional and administrative tasks in the “upstream” phase of customer assistance. Travellers are now well aware that digital technology can solve a great many problems in very few contacts and can usually provide them with a fluid search and reservation process without need of human intervention. It can also assist them throughout their stay, via applications and website features.

Digital technology can do a lot, but can it do it all? It has to be admitted that customers have acquired almost total autonomy in the upstream phase of their journeys, so greatly optimising their experience at a time when everyone is looking for immediacy and facility. Such autonomy on the traveller’s part has resulted in customer relations’ concerns being moved downstream: in crisis and stability alike, customer experience quality will always be conditional upon the human relationship, which is of central importance in this phase.

The recent highly stressful context is a good illustration in this regard as it clearly caused a great deal of anxiety and consequent greater need of contact. More than ever, travellers have need of time, good advice and reassurance in order to manage uncertainties. Empathy, adaptation and responsiveness are essential skills when it comes to assisting them, and their mastery is a key factor in customer retention and loyalty. The human voice is still a vital central channel, and can’t be supplanted by an “overflow” of digital technology, which may prove to be a threat to the sector over the long term.

Responsiveness, which is of key importance in times of crisis, is also essential in times of stability. Whether on their travels or in their daily lives, today’s travellers are looking to find what they want, where they want it and when they want it. Sector professionals must therefore adapt in order to meet their expectations in ever more efficient and personalised fashion. Might it also be here that the human touch combines best with the digital?

The changes in consumers’ expectations, technological advances and crises that have impacted the sector are therefore so many tests gauging the efficacy of customer support models. Whereas it was previously a matter of reacting rather than taking action, the hour has now come for anticipation and trust in digital technology. Proficiency in the latter is essential if we are to assist professionals confronted with changes in the sector. The “full digital” slope is tempting and may seem to guarantee efficacy in the face of human interaction, but a balance must be maintained nonetheless.