Go mobile or go home

Having the internet at our fingertips has created a new market of tech-savvy travellers who expect nothing but the best at the click of a button.

Acknowledging the power of this niche market of online users, Carey Parker, product director at Sabre has urged aviation and hospitality businesses to quickly adapt to the new age of mobile technology by focusing on providing customer-centric online services.

Speaking at Gulf Air’s Arab Air Carriers’ Organisation (AACO) Business Technology Forum in Bahrain in October, Parker highlighted how mobiles have essentially taken away time from other devices such as the television and desktop and placed a large number of individuals online.

This smart community, with rising demands in terms of product selection and services, has led to the creation of a new 'customer-first' concept.

This, he said, is a clear window of opportunity for the hospitality and aviation industries as they stand to gain enormously from being available to customers at the click of a button.

'The real impact here is that we’re all going to have to deliver a customer-first experience, and those that do it well will probably be rewarded and those that don’t will probably be penalised for it,' Parker notes.

According to him, the common platform through which these services are provided are generally not from a single vendor. Taking local dining app Talabat as an example, he explained how a common platform was created for multiple restaurants to become accessible to the growing online customer base.

'The concept of a common platform turns out to be something very powerful and is one that isn’t very prevalent in the travel space today,' Parker says.

Dwelling further into how online platforms provide value, he identified three primary tenets:

• Connection: Being available to customers anywhere and everywhere

• Content: Different platforms available to cater to different needs (eg: movies, dining, retail)

• Convenience: The ability of a service to save time or some type of hassle.

'Today’s travellers know exactly what they want and have high standards of expectation. Hence the challenge now is to cater to those expectations and create a unique online experience.'

But with all new concepts, challenges are bound to arise. In aviation, the main challenges identified are ease of booking, transparency of services, simplification of service delivery and product selection, amongst other things.

So airlines and hotels are now looking to get to know their customers and their preferences so as to provide a more personalised service. In fact, a more customised service will ensure businesses higher brand loyalty and higher revenue generation as customers would be willing to pay more for the experience, Parker says.

Asked about how the Middle East fared in terms of harnessing mobile technology, Parker opined that the region was in the lead in terms of integrating this technology into services provided, predominantly aviation.

He says: 'There is so much innovation coming from the Middle East and this is reflected in the services provided to customers at the Gulf airports and on-board airlines such as Etihad, Emirates and other regional carriers.'

Channelling the same level of innovation, Sabre is looking to help its customers reach a larger market.

Currently, Sabre is working with the Virgin Airlines group on offering personalised services to customers and is also in discussion with Middle Eastern carriers on rolling out scalable solutions to enhance operations.

Always looking to stay one step ahead in the game, Sabre has also incorporated the use of ‘wearable’ technology into its user-friendly solutions.

With the recent roll-out of its travel app, Tripcase, for Apple watches and other wearable devices, Sabre is already anticipating the future of travel.

In the next five years, Sabre sees the internet of things bringing in more responsive devices and creating a bigger world of connected travellers, the challenges of which it is fully yet to envisage.

Aamir Saleem, director of product and training Middle East, says social media in the future could also evolve radically and could possibly be the new front for online travel experience.

In the near future, Sabre is looking to roll out another initiative called ‘Airports reimagined’ which will focus on guiding travellers around airports quickly. 

By Nikita Philip

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Sabre signs on Oman Air

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