In the news: Changing face of air travel, easier booking with Ascott, women and holidays

Airlines changing face of travel as they get smarter and more personal

The face of air travel is changing as airlines plans to invest in IT systems over the next three. which will allow them to get to know their passengers better and deliver tailored services directly to them.

This is revealed in the 2013 SITA/Airline Business IT Trends Survey, now into its 15th year, which finds an industry that is quickly adopting the digital world. This year 100% of airlines surveyed plan to invest in business intelligence (BI) solutions, which allow them to know more about their customers and have better information for decision making in their operations. This is a huge jump from 2012 when one in five airlines had no plans at all.

By 2016, 97% also plan investments in mobile passenger services and personalization. Together these will help boost sales via direct channels, from 54% up to 67%, and change how airlines deliver services to passengers.

Francesco Violante, CEO of SITA, said airlines are investing in business intelligence to improve their operations and boost revenues.

“We see a strong desire to increase revenues using techniques borrowed from the retail industry, including personalisation. Nearly three quarters of airlines rate business intelligence for sales and marketing as a high priority. The airlines’ investment plans show the future of the industry is smarter, more mobile and more personal.”

The need for investment in business intelligence is evident. Only 9% of airlines currently rate data quality as meeting all their requirements, while just 7% have achieved the necessary integration of different data sources from across their company.

Over the last three years, offering mobile services to passengers has topped airlines’ investment list. It retains the number one place with 97% of airlines now investing, or planning to invest, in this area in the coming three years.

By 2016, nine out of ten airlines plan to sell tickets via mobile phones. They expect to be rewarded with a leap in mobile sales to more than US$70 billion by 2016, or 10% of total sales, up from just below 3% today.  By using this and other channels, airlines aim to reduce their dependence on indirect sales and open up the opportunity to maximise ancillary sales.

Mobile phones, kiosks and social media will represent nearly 14% of ticket sales by 2016, while indirect sales through GDSs will reduce from 46 % to just 33% of sales in the same time period.

Violante foresees a new a new battleground of mobile functionality emerging as airlines strive to differentiate passenger services. “The result will be a much deeper integration of personalised mobile services at every step of the journey for passengers on the move.”

Check-in apps, for example, are already available from 61% of airlines and flight search from 65%. The focus for these airlines will now shift over the next three years to add new services, such as missing bag reporting (60% of airlines), re-booking (63%), and customer feedback (57%).

Currently, 53% of airlines provide mobile boarding passes through their own airline application and this is set to rise to over 80% in 2016. Third-party travel wallets, such as the Apple Passbook, Samsung Wallet and Google Now, are also starting to feature.

Today, only 21% of airlines provide boarding passes through other apps, but it will reach 62% in three years, giving passengers more choice.

The survey also revealed the growing importance of ancillary revenue. Direct sales channels, such as the airline website, currently drive these revenues. Despite indirect channels accounting for nearly half of ticket sales, airlines earn on average nine times more ancillary revenue through direct channels. This looks set to continue, with 89% of ancillary revenues expected through direct channels by 2016, an increase from 87% today.

Over the next three years nearly half of the airlines (49%) plan major programmes to upgrade their core passenger management systems as the shift to more direct sales across multiple channels continues, as direct sales save distribution costs. .

Booking with Ascott made easier with enhanced reservation features

Ascott, the wholly owned serviced residence business unit of Singapore-based CapitaLand, has made it easier for guests to search and make reservations with its new web and mobile booking features.

Tony Soh, Ascott’s chief corporate officer, said these features were built on the launch of the mobile-friendly brand websites and online chat facility in 2012 for guests to easily access information, enquire and reserve Ascott’s properties anytime, anywhere.

Snapshot of new features:

• Citywide search: Enables guests to view a list of all available properties in a city instead of having to check the availability of individual properties for a stay period.

• Filter: Allows guests with a budget to narrow down the available apartments that meet their needs, starting with one with the lowest rate.

• Collapsible sections: For easy reading and to compare the various apartment types and rate categories.

• Flexible booking options: Allow guests to perform a multi-city, multi-property or multi-apartment booking within a single reservation process. For example, bookings on two apartments, one in Shanghai and in London, can be made in a single reservation instead of two separate bookings, saving time.

• Viewing properties: Both list and map view, latter pinpoints exact location of property as well as nearby landmarks and attractions.

• Prompt on apartment upgrades and supplementary services before confirmation of a booking.

Women call holiday shots, men “too lazy” to plan holidays reveals Skyscanner

A poll by global travel search site, Skyscanner, on 1,000 international travellers revealed almost three quarters of women did most of the research when planning a holiday, with just 9% claiming their partners took on the task.

Of the men who admitted their partner did the research, a third claimed it was because their partner was better at it and could find better deals, while one in 10 admitted it was simply because they were too lazy!

Additionally, a fifth of these men believed their partners enjoyed doing the research more than they did, while 19% said their partners did the research because they were fussier. And they might be right as only 24% of women said they would be happy to let their partner make all the holiday decisions.

Howeve,r it appears there is holiday harmony with a whopping 95% of women and 97% of men claiming to be happy with the current decision making set up. Only 5% said they often disagreed about the holiday decisions.

Flight decisions were least likely to cause arguments, with only 2% claiming to “often disagree”.

Spending budget was the most contentious issue with almost one in every 10 respondents admitting to arguing on this point.