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Revolutionizing Travel: Delivering Personalized Experiences Through Omnichannel Marketing
1. How does arrivia leverage omnichannel marketing to create personalized booking experiences for members across various travel sectors?
In the past, a traveler would simply visit a travel agent and that would be the extent of their travel planning. Today, however, travel decisions are made across a variety of channels, from social and personal interactions to online travel agencies (OTAs) and travel loyalty platforms. Instead of a single conversation with a travel agent, today’s process involves a series of “micro conversations” that unfold over time, shaping and influencing the traveler’s buyer journey and decision-making at various stages.
Omnichannel engagement is more relevant than ever, and when leveraged correctly, it provides travelers with a consistent, valuable experience across all touchpoints.
Consider this scenario: A traveler sees an Instagram post from their favorite influencer about their recent Alaskan cruise. Inspired, they head to their travel loyalty platform to explore options for a similar trip of their own. After browsing available packages, they check their favorite OTA to compare their offerings, consult with friends and family about their experiences, and maybe even revisit Instagram for further inspiration. Ultimately, they return to their loyalty platform to finalize their booking. Throughout this journey, multiple channels come into play, and each one has the potential to influence their decision.
In this omnichannel ecosystem, the key is to engage travelers at the right moments, in meaningful and useful ways. Personalization is critical, and today’s technology allows travel providers to maintain ongoing conversations with customers -- whether through SMS, email, or phone – tailored to individual preferences. This ensures that travelers receive timely, relevant "nudges" at crucial points in their decision-making process.
Behind the scenes, customer data platforms (CDP), play a pivotal role in these interactions. For example, arrivia’s platform “stitches” together a detailed profile of each traveler’s preferences and behaviors across channels. By analyzing this data, our platform can anticipate needs and deliver customized, dynamic messaging, creating a seamless experience that feels tailored to the traveler’s unique journey. This ability to personalize interactions—whether online or offline—has become a key differentiator in building loyalty and enhancing customer satisfaction.
2. In a rapidly evolving travel market, how do you ensure that your loyalty programs stay relevant and continue to meet the changing demands of travelers?
Speaking of our own platform, we stay relevant by truly understanding our customers and offering them content, deals, benefits, and customer service experiences that they find valuable. Leveraging omnichannel strategies, as I mentioned earlier, plays a big role in maintaining that relevance.
For instance, if a customer is a high-earning, single woman in her 40s living in New York, we send her offers and trip suggestions that match her lifestyle and interests. While she might love living in New York during the week, she may prefer weekend escapes to the forest for hiking. It’s important to appeal to different aspects of her personality at the right moments to provide her with options that align with her preferences and feel perfectly suited to her needs.
3. How do you balance the use of technology with the need for a personal touch in travel loyalty programs?
Technology is what enables us to deliver a personal touch. With over 25 years in the industry, arrivia has become one of the largest communicators to loyalty members in the world, with access to vast amounts of high-quality data about members, including their preferences and expectations. However, we haven’t always had the technology to leverage that data into meaningful insights. Over the past five years, we’ve invested in AI-powered technology that allows us to effectively analyze our data so that we can tailor different initiatives to individual members and create unique audiences.
With these capabilities, someone living in the Midwest with a wife and two tweens will have a different experience with their travel loyalty interactions, whether online, via SMS, chat or e-mail, than a retiree from Florida. While both may be interested in an Alaskan cruise, the family would likely prefer a larger ship with kid-friendly activities, whereas the retiree might prefer a smaller ship with a more relaxed setting.
AI also is an effective tool for our customer service teams. When it comes to communication with members, especially chat, being very transparent about whether they’re receiving an AI-generated response or interacting with a human is key. Let’s say a member wants help planning and booking a trip to Rome and the customer service agent they are speaking with has never been there, AI can step in and quickly generate a personalized itinerary for that member. This not only improves the speed and accuracy of responses but also ensures that members receive relevant, high-quality recommendations, even if the agent lacks direct experience.
4. Can you discuss how arrivia integrates traditional loyalty benefits with advanced technology to enhance the overall member experience?
What comes to mind when we think of traditional loyalty benefits? Discounts, free upgrades, and additional perks are likely the most common. Advanced technology ensures that these benefits align with the values of individual members.
It also automates tasks that used to fall on the customer, saving them both time and money. A good example is arrivia’s Rate Rover, an AI-enabled tool that monitors refundable hotel prices post-booking. If there’s a price drop, the tool automatically issues a refund in the form of credits to members who have opted in. This is a game-changer for the member experience. No longer do they have to come back to the site periodically to check if their hotel price has dropped and manually re-book at the lower rate.
We’re also introducing a trip planning tool called via, which will use AI to craft your ‘perfect’ trip in just a few clicks. Customers will be able to directly book these recommendations without having to search for them on the booking platform, creating a frictionless and personalized experience from planning to booking that doesn’t currently exist on the market.
5. How important is the integration of advanced technology in maintaining a competitive edge in the travel loyalty market?
Advanced technology is the difference between a travel loyalty program that thrives and one that fails to reach its goals and meet customer expectations.
When our members willingly share their data, they’re doing so with the confidence that we will a) keep it safe and not share it with anyone else, and b) use it to refine their experience. I know I’ve stated this before, but the importance of personalizing the member experience and providing them with relevant value cannot be understated. Travel loyalty programs that can harness the power of advanced technology, offering unique, targeted benefits, and value, are well-positioned to increase their market share and engage their members long-term.
6. As CMO, how do you see the intersection of travel and technology evolving in the next few years, and what role will loyalty programs play in that evolution?
When a consumer visits their travel loyalty provider to book a trip as opposed to an online travel agency, they’re not just looking for competitive pricing and value, they’re seeking a better experience. Amid constant distractions and information overload, travel companies that use technology to cut through the noise of our modern world will build lasting loyalty with their customers over time.
As travel loyalty providers we have access to extensive amounts of zero-and-first-party data, as well as some third-party data. Machine learning and AI allow us to analyze this data with incredible efficiency, helping us understand your preferences so well that we can almost predict your needs before you do. With this insight, we can proactively anticipate whether you’re likely to visit a particular city next or if you’d like to take a cruise instead and tailor our offers accordingly.
Using predictive modeling algorithms-- leveraging millions of transactions as well as a loyalty member’s personal data -- we can accurately predict where that member is likely to go next. Once we have that insight, we can automatically trigger personalized marketing emails, texts, chats or phone calls that speak to this desire.
At arrivia, nearly all our major initiatives moving forward are technology-driven, which has shifted how our technology and marketing teams collaborate. A decade ago, these two departments worked in siloes with little crossover. Today, companies have data scientists and technologists embedded within their marketing team, which just goes to show how intertwined technology is not just with travel but with the whole apparatus around the travel loyalty experience.
