Flying on the IT wave

Since several years, new technologies are invading our daily lives: you can do almost everything thanks to the Internet. This trend has no limit and you can now enjoy the best technologies during your trips. Indeed, airlines are working on implementing their planes and all services they provide to their clients. More precisely, these companies are focus on the customer experience which is today at the heart of the matter. According to Eugénie Audebert, business experience manager at Air France, the French Airline places “clients’ expectations at the heart of [its] measures” (Bain Thouverez, 2014). Consequently, new technologies are airlines’ best allies.

            Airbus, a leading European aircraft manufacturer; is working on the planes of the future and it uses new technologies and IT to solve chronic dysfunctions highlighted by passengers. One of the most important problems to manage are technical ones because they often lead to delays. However, technological tools will allow to predict breakdowns and consequently to take measures ahead to prevent difficulties for passengers or planes immobilization (Morich, 2016).

            New technologies will also help to improve the clients’ experience on board and so to win their loyalty. Air France is renewing and improving the business class: passengers will enjoy a larger screen, “more than 200 movies and 150 TV guides” and more entertainment (Bain Thouverez, 2014).

Since the beginning of 2017, XL Airways, a French airline, has worked with French start-ups to increase the range of services on board in order to attract more clients. For a price of €9.95, passengers can have access to the XL Cloud, “an entertainment system” (Simon, 2017), with their smartphones, tablets or laptops. Nevertheless, the company does not stop its improvement there! Indeed, passengers can also rent an iPad on board for €15 allowing an access to the XL Cloud Premium. Like the icing on the cake, travellers can finally rent the Skylights for the same price than an iPad: “immersive cinema glasses specially conceived for in-flight use” (Simon, 2017).

            The airline industry has quickly understood the importance of IT to make their passengers loyal and has undertaken service improvements before, during and after the flight. Forgotten the times when there was only one screen for thirty travellers in the planes, you can now surf on the Internet during the flight, chose a movie and watch it through virtual reality glasses. This investment is important for the companies but passengers must also put some money up to have access to these services. All in all, competitivity is harder so airlines have to place client experience at the heart of their strategies to succeed.

http://www.tourmag.com/Air-France-investit-dans-la-technologie-pour-renouveler-la-gamme-de-ses-sieges-d-avions_a67004.html

http://future.arte.tv/fr/aviation/quoi-ressemblera-lavion-du-futur

http://www.mediaphore.com/2017/02/nouvelles-technologies-embarquent-vols-xl-airways/

FREE ONBOARD DIGITAL MEDIA

Access to Wi-Fi and online services while being in the air became one choice criteria for passengers to select an airline company. In order to understand the real and current expectations of passengers, a poll (the PwC survey has interviewed more than 1,000 UK people who have taken the plane at least once in the previous year) has revealed the factors that would influence customers to pick up one airline over another. 

The study made the assumption that potential customers are able to travel to a destination for the same price so it could focus on other offers relying on digital elements which would be added-value to passengers hence influence them in their choice.

The results are:

•  35% would like to receive free, optional and customisable mobile phone notifications providing gate details, length of time from departure desk to the gate, and destination information such as weather.
•  30% would like information on and the ability to book transport to and from their departure airport that work seamlessly with their flight times.
•  29% are interested in a loyalty scheme rewarding them for all purchases relating to their trip, from the flight through to duty free.
• 33% would like their luggage sent on to their hotel ahead of them.

Which IT solutions to influence consumer decision making?

Among the interviewed people for the survey, more than 50% of them focus on digital features when picking up an airline; the faster is the process at check-in and security the better is for the passenger.

What are the valued influential factors for customers who want to fly?

Ben Paul, the PwC UK airlines leader explains in this article what the customer could appreciate and in which services it would add value over another service. According to Ben Paul, it is important to let the customer a wide range of choices and give it a personalised service; little improvements to facilitate their check-in and to make their flight more pleasant.

Providing gate details and real-time information in a mobile app would make a different not only for the customer but also for the airline revenue.  

In-flight services personalisation based on digital and online supports can especially increase loyalty and usage by collecting all data of passengers. Data are registered and can be re-used to provide the customers an even more personalised service for next flight for example.

Digital technologies have the capacity to transform the passenger’s experience thanks to a personalised service whether it is in the process of booking, check-in and or it is onboard. All these, lead to satisfaction and loyalty. 

It looks like, that digital transformation is a necessary strategy for the airlines to satisfy the customers and to make of the digital, an opportunity to be at the top of the progress.

Oanh GIARD and Anne-Sophie SPITERI

Sources: 

http://m.travolution.co.uk/Article.aspx?cat=news&id=14920

http://www.aviationtoday.com/the-checklist/Airlines-Struggle-with-Digital-Transformation-Strategies_86043.html#.VsxTxvnhDIU

http://www.miairline.com/ Picture : Airlines' digital 

Wearable technology in tourism: the rise of the connected Apple Watch?

Apple announced last week that its new innovation, the Apple Watch, will be released on April 24. Following this announcement, hotel groups such as Accor, IHG or Starwood, and the airlines Vueling and EasyJet, communicated last week: Apps for the Apple Watch will also be released in April. The major hospitality industry players seem to be willing to follow the trend and adapt their technologies. Does this trend announced a major shift in the way we travel? Will the Apple Watch break new grounds where other new tech wearable have failed to do so?  

Why it could work:

Apps have the main advantage to keep travelers connected and informed 24/24. 

Airlines travel Apps will give to passengers personalized flight information and real-time views of travel information. EasyJet revealed that the EasyJet App will include “pre-departure information, check-in detail, up-to-date local currency exchange rates, weather in destination and real time flight status”. Additionally, the app will be connected to Facebook and Twitter enabling travelers to tweet and post at the different stages of their trip. Vueling also announced that the company will “partnering with Sony to create the concept of smart-watched based boarding pass”. 

For hotel group such as Accor, the app will allow users to manage current bookings on Accorhotels since the watch will be connected to the smartphone app and will additionally promote destinations and top Accor Hotels through notifications. Users will also have an easy access to their loyalty account. Starwood Preferred Guess App (see below) will enable its users to explore, book or redeem on the Apps, but will also connect the user to social medias and like Accor, will give the option to check the loyalty program Status.  

Also, these different smart watch Apps will be available in many languages

Why it could fail:

Apple has created a set of expectations when it announced the watch. Now it has to meet those expectations.

First , we can ask ourselves: where is the real novelty compared to Mobile Apps?

smart watch are not are new: indeed, several companies have tried them before. And most of them failed. Below, some striking failure examples:

• Sony still sells its Android smart watch, but the watch does not respond to touch controls
• Microsofts has launched its SPOT (Smart Personal Objects Technology) platform in 2004 and has killed it in 2008
• LG has tried to make the smartphone watch GD910 happen but the problem was that “it was a bit strange to talk to your wrist", so it worked best if used with a dorky Bluetooth headset. A large panel of other brands have failed like Samsung or Motorola.

Furthermore, the smart watch of Apple will be pricey. Travelers who already have an efficient smartphone, could decline this new innovation for a lack of real novelty.Moreover, it will still be an expensive technology for companies to adapt.

Finally, the question of real utility is asked.Apple has crafted a fine product that nobody needs:

• It lacks a defining must-have feature: we can use it as the same way of the iPhone, iPod or iPad: it does not propose a novelty service/use
• It needs an iPhone: indeed, anyone who does not own an iPhone cannot use the watch and this is a significant limitation
• People wear less and less watches
• Travelers can already do most of the describe Apple watch’ featuring on their smartphone. It is yet another gadget to carry.

The Apple watch is announced to be one of the major innovation of this year, but will it really meet all the expectations? Or would it turn like an expensive technology without any added-value for the traveler? Most of the Apple Watch apps from hotel groups have featuring that can already be done on smartphones. However, with a good marketing strategy from Apple, and gradual apps innovation, the Apple watch could impose itself as a new must. 

Clothilde and Louise

Sources:
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/easyjet-app-set-for-apple-watch-launch/

http://ftnnews.com/technology/26561-intercontinental-hotels-group-presents-translator-app-for-apple-watch.html

http://thinkdigital.travel/opinion/apple-unveil-iphone-6-and-smartwatch-offering-travel-tech-opportunities

http://www.rustourismnews.com/?p=41014

http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/hotels_are_getting_ready_for_apple_watch

http://www.businessinsider.com/smartwatch-failures-2013-3?op=1#ixzz3UaE1U2zg

http://www.techradar.com/news/portable-devices/other-devices/5-reasons-why-the-apple-watch-will-fail-1278008

A new way for booking flights: Opal app

Source: OneTravel

 

           Created and settled by the online booking travel website OneTravel, Opal is a voice-activated travel agent allowing travelers to book flights in an easy way. It will not only help travelers to book their flight quickly as it will interact with and guide them through the process of booking, but also allow them to do it from a mobile phone. This company is the first one to propose this service, and as we are more and more connected, this app perfectly fits our society trends.

 

            The process is simple, the users say through their mobile device’s built-in microphone that they want to book a flight from a city to another city, and the app asks them the missing information such as: city of departure, destination, departure and return dates etc. and begin the research. Thanks to the interaction app, it is easier for the user to select all the criteria required instead of looking for them on traditional websites. The app proposes more than 450 airlines, find the best offers available, and thanks to its advanced travel-specific vocabulary it understands acronyms, knows the different airports of a specific destination etc.

 

            Travelers can book their flight through the application, on the website or call the travel agents. Thanks to technology development, travelers get access to information really easily and can book flights, and make reservations quicker than before. The company plans to extend its app for hotel booking through the voice-activated travel agent. But to develop the app, the company firstly needs to get feedbacks from users to make the app better and then extend its activities.

 

            This app is a way for travelers to book a flight in an easier way, compared with the traditional booking flight websites. It is easy to use thanks to the interaction with the voice-activated travel agent and it makes travelers save time finding them offers the most adapted to their needs.

Marion Mortier & Marine Pelletier

 

Source:

http://www.travelpulse.com/news/travel-technology/meet-opal-the-voice-activated-travel-agent-for-booking-flights.html

 

 

Will Virtual Reality Offer Future Tourism Marketing Potential?

25th February 2015

What do you think of when you hear the words virtual reality (VR)? As for me (do not laugh too muchJ), before reading this article it was some kind of a clunky helmet attached to a computer with a thick cable. Moreover I did imagine Neo and Morpheus traipsing about the Matrix!)) Yes, yes, a bit silly, but fortunately I have found out that it is a simulated, three-dimensional world which we can manipulate and explore using computer technology while feeling as if he were in that world. Surprisingly but it was first demonstrated in a practical sense in the 1960s. And since that time it has been predicted that we would experience VR operating in everyday life on a regular basis. Let’s have look at nowadays reality.

Today Facebook, Sony, Microsoft are conducting billion dollars acquisition of virtual reality projects and we are expected to see the fruits of these efforts sometime in the next year or so.

There are some already successfully launched technologies of “another world”. For instance, the Google Street View software - travel application with additional reality technology Google Glass which can be used in order to showcase travel-related destinations such as hotels.

Another example of virtual reality has recently presented by the DMO of British Columbia in order to promote the destination through a campaign called “The Wild within”. At the time being, the system Oculus Rift (an upcoming virtual reality head-mounted display) is only accessible and used by trade professionals and travel Media. Yet, one can imagine that it will be available for travellers.

To benefit from an incredible 360-degree experience, British Columbia proposes to users to wear the Oculus Rift with headphones. The “Wild within experience” offers two virtual realities:

-                                  = A boat ride

-                                  =  A mountain hike.

Microsoft would also like to launch VR project during 2015. We don’t know yet if the device will be available publicly or just used as a prototype.

HoloLens device developed by Microsoft would allow traveller to visit place they’ve never been before and enjoy popular tourists’ attractions at home.

Australia’s Qantas, an Australian airline, in cooperation with Samsung, will propose a virtual reality technology in Sydney and Melbourne lounges as well as inflight for its first class passengers. Customers will have access to a 3D and 360 degree viewing experience.

Image source: http://skift.com/2015/01/30/qantas-just-made-virtual-reality-in-flight-entertainment-a-reality/#1

These travel related companies shows that VR can be largely used to promote and market a destination.  

However, today there is no guarantee that it will reach public in the foreseeable future. Even famous Google Glass has completely failed to reach a mainstream audience at this point in time. Let’s wait and see if virtual reality devices will integrate in our daily life and change our world. In any case it remains a niche which is able to deliver absorbing content through simulated, three-dimensional world.

More information you can find here http://thinkdigital.travel/opinion/virtual-reality-offers-future-tourism-marketing-potential

And of course you can always contact us: 

Fanny fanny.picarle@skema.edu &

Anastassiya anastassiya.shikhovtseva@skema.edu

And remember: 

"Don’t be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality.

If you can drem it, you can make it". 

Ralph Waldo Emerson