“There is no consistency across the industry nor, often, within companies. We are working to solve this.”
Amadeus and Microsoft have co-authored and released a new report called ‘Delivering traveler value: Inspiring, understanding and fulfilling expectations throughout the travel experience and beyond’. The report explores how new technologies will make the experience of travel better, and how a focus on the ‘purpose’ and ‘context’ of each trip will allow the industry to maximize value.
Amadeus first announced its partnership with Microsoft in 2021, amidst the pandemic, when the two entities were striving to understand the future of travel and changing consumer behaviours. That same year, they jointly released a report titled Journey to Cloud Planet, of which ‘Delivering traveler value’ is a sequel to.
All of the latest milestones in the Amadeus x Microsoft partnership are also chronicled in the new report.
Both companies are also working to deliver a new set of tools, solutions, and data applications to offer a next-generation experience for the tourism ecosystem – including travellers, travel sellers, and providers.
“We are continuing to work together to support customers and to transform how travel is delivered, using technology to drive innovation, applying data to understand traveler needs and empowering travelers to make more out of each trip”, said Wolfgang Krips, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Amadeus.
The report draws on work from Northstar Research Partners, which was commissioned to survey 2,400 business and leisure travelers in six key markets around the world – Brazil, Germany, India, Indonesia, United Kingdom and the United States. The findings provide evidence supported by interviews with senior leaders from Amadeus, Microsoft and across the travel industry.
In terms of new technology, ‘Delivering traveler value’ covers a wide range of current hot topics within the travel industry.
It explores the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) within the sector when it comes to making time-sensitive offers, the impact of new technologies such as the metaverse and an evaluation of how enhanced data analytics can deepen the understanding of the traveler.
Data, channeled the right way
The report places a heavy emphasis on data – as in, how it’s collected, translated, and applied to new tech in a way that better understands the consumer.
“Many people experience traveling in a very frustrating way,” said Lutz Vorneweg, senior vice president of strategic partnerships at Amadeus. “They experience travel as a series of moments in which they are waiting for something. Waiting for the taxi, then to get through security, then onto the plane, then to collect their luggage, then another taxi. It takes so much away from the overall experience.”
With so much of travel now happening online, from booking to brand engagement, tech players like Amadeus and Microsoft are looking for effective ways to optimise data touchpoints. They’re also building tech that puts the data to meaningful use. More recently, these data touch points include tools like ChatGPT and, in some cases, the metaverse.
Wolfgang said, “When a person travels, they go through several channels, generating data each time. Our goal is to create a link between each of these data pools and to allow our customers to extract relevant analysis, ensuring compliance at all times with applicable legislation and the highest security standards.”
Shane O’Flahery, Global Director of Travel, Transportation and Hospitality, for Microsoft added, “While collating this variety of data does pose technical challenges, once overcome, the rewards have the potential to revolutionize the entire sector.”
The need to understand vast amounts of data relates to a recent study by Amadeus that distinguishes traveller tribes. Globally, the tribes break down into 43% Pioneering Pathfinders, 25% Excited Experentialists, 15% Travel Tech-Fluencers and 17% Memory Makers, but the results in Asia Pacific are interesting in showing a general skew towards either Pathfinders or Memory Makers in the aforementioned clusters.
Marc de Gibon, Director, Traveler Servicing Solutions, with Amadeus, said “From a technical standpoint, the details travel sellers hold on a traveler may differ; the Passenger Name Record (PNR) number an airline holds is distinct from your reservation number at the hotel. There is no consistency across the industry nor, often, within companies. We are working to solve this. We are orchestrating the data that flows around an individual, synchronizing it across providers to allow for the trusted exchange of almost all information. Alongside Microsoft, we view this as the next step in the evolution of the travel industry.”
New demands call for new solutions
Additionally, the report discusses the technology being developed as part of the Amadeus and Microsoft partnership – particularly Cytric Easy, a travel and expense solution, and Amadeus Creation Platform, a data-centric platform. Using Microsoft Graph, a Microsoft API platform that allows building applications leveraging people-centric insights from Microsoft 365, Cytric Easy draws data from numerous sources – including contacts, and is able to make informed suggestions on how to improve a trip.
The report looks ahead at what’s next on the horizon with a focus on co-innovation possibilities specifically around search and employee experience.
Corine de Bilbao, President, Microsoft France, said: “Exploring a new generation of technologies – from the cloud capabilities of Microsoft Azure to the efficient simplicity of Cytric Easy – we reveal how travelers will be able to navigate an increasingly complex travel landscape and truly make the most out of each and every journey.”
