Build now, pay later: How a reimagined booking experience can build customer confidence

Here is travel’s conundrum: Customers want a holiday this year, but are not confident enough to book one. There’s plenty of cash to tap into, but anxieties around travel in a pandemic are causing a bookings bottleneck.

The sector’s biggest brands will be pulling out all the stops to release the bottleneck, and amidst an advertising onslaught will also be a frantic race to the bottom on price. Smaller businesses simply won’t be able to compete with these tactics. For high-street tour operators and travel companies, the key to success will be in strategy rather than spend.

Research shows the U.K. is a nation of holiday dreamers

Freestyle’s research shows that a vast majority of people (73%) are planning on booking a holiday this year, with just over half looking to spend more than they usually would. Operators will know that travel is a fundamentally emotional experience, and the research reflects this too: 38% are considering a holiday simply in order to have something to look forward to.

But there are some conditions. Industry players are expected to safeguard their customers against any possible disruption caused by COVID-19; 37% want zero cancellation fees and 34% want their booking to include any necessary PCR testing. A third of people will only book their trip once it feels safe to do so. The job of the tour operator is to provide a space in which customers can assuredly plan their holiday, where it will be kept ready and waiting for them until they feel confident enough to book.

It’s time to ditch the traditional booking platform

Customers are not trying to book a holiday as such - they just want to secure an experience for the future. Now more than ever, travel companies must provide a simple yet social travel planning solution, which is sympathetic to the current climate and takes into account customer anxieties.

Instead of providing a traditional booking platform, travel companies have an opportunity to tap into consumer dreaming by developing a virtual scrapbook app. Travelers will be able to see their spend, log activity ideas in their itineraries and, crucially, save their custom-built holiday for a later date when they’re ready to book.

For example, a customer could be inspired by something they have watched on TV, and ask a voice assistant (linked to the app) to save the destination or experience in their virtual holiday scrapbook. The scrapbook should also be shareable, allowing groups of friends and family to contribute ideas, restaurant recommendations and experiences they’d like to enjoy whilst on holiday. With each stage of the holiday planning process - whether it’s finding inspiration, searching for flights or adding a handful of great looking restaurants to the digital scrapbook - customers will become increasingly committed to the trip they’ve planned.

Freestyle’s consumer research shows that travel planning is emotionally driven and this virtual scrapbook platform addresses the consumer need for dreaming and planning. In essence, it’s a “build now, pay later” concept - a growing trend that offers consumers the freedom they’re after, and could help the recovery of the travel industry.

For the sector, this type of platform would also offer real visibility of a revenue forecast, and could result in a higher value of confirmed basket spend. A digital scrapbook platform could also help travel companies learn more about why customers go on holiday, and where to.

Using AI to provide a personalized, streamlined experience

Since we go on holiday to alter how we feel - to rest, relax, rejuvenate - tour operators should consider utilizing the virtual scrapbook app to suggest holiday experiences to customers depending on their emotions. Personalized suggestions based on customer profiles and activity is prevalent in so many experiences - from streaming services such as Netflix to online shopping with Amazon - so why not utilize the same machine learning techniques in the online travel provider space?

Each user of a brand’s virtual scrapbook app can provide a wealth of information, and data analytics can identify behavioral and buying patterns amongst customers. This information in turn can be used to create a recommendation algorithm which offers personalized holiday ideas.

Speech and face emotion recognition technology can detect customers' reactions to sound, video and images. An add-on to the scrapbook app could use facial attributes detection to determine how a user reacts to a variety of holiday scenes. Based on user responses, travel companies can use this information to suggest possible destinations that truly relate to how the customer is feeling.

There is an opportunity for travel brands to really own this planning phase of the overall holiday journey, rather than simply focusing on encouraging customers to book before they are ready. Recognizing the emotional factors which drive people toward holidays, and the anxieties of travel in 2021, are key in engaging the customer. Delivering unique, personalized, digital booking experiences will help travel brands to stand out this year.