How a little cloud unleashes big value from data
May 23, 2022
Most travel executives understand how important data is to the journey back to growth. So it’s no surprise that those we talk to want to get the highest return possible from their data. The problem? The approaches they’re taking aren’t always delivering the results they want. Especially when it comes to implementing cloud.
No need to boil the ocean
Travel companies often get stuck before they even begin with cloud. They assume they must fully migrate to cloud before they can use their data, much less get maximum value from it. This idea couldn’t be further from the truth. Using cloud to put data to work to transform employee and traveler experiences alongside travel operations isn’t an “all or nothing” proposition. There’s no need to spend millions to get benefits first.
Rolling up your sleeves
Companies should first determine the outcomes they want from their data and create a blueprint to get there based on use cases. We encourage leaders to bring cross-functional teams together in workshops or structured discussions to get ideas for use cases. It’s an excellent way to spark collaboration. Training this “muscle” early is key because the highest value use cases often rely on integrating data across the business.
With use cases identified, it’s critical to prove the value they expect before they make a massive investment in cloud. We tell our clients to start small by executing the initial data journey manually, supported by a small but very powerful cloud toolset. It’s about starting with the basics and progressively using more cloud-deployed toolsets to realize progressively more value. That’s how companies can take full advantage of cloud as the innovation platform that it is.
Imagine the possibilities
There are countless use cases for data in the cloud in Travel. But for the sake of bringing some “reality” to a topic that can often seem either too technical or too “ivory tower” for business leaders, let’s explore a few. Note the big changes that are possible for both employee and traveler experiences.
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What if airlines could identify late arrivals before they happen?
Listening for real-time signals from external services or social media can help airlines identify the likelihood that passengers won’t be at the airport as planned. Airlines could combine traffic data from an external API with scheduled departures to identify possible causes of no-shows. Further, data from airlines’ mobile applications could confirm if passengers are stuck in traffic, or if they have already arrived at the airport.
With such insights, airlines could proactively let passengers know to plan for extra time to get to the airport. They could offer to reaccommodate passengers on a later flight and board standby passengers. Or airlines could deliberately delay departures, so people don’t miss their flights. With deeper intelligence, airlines could combine passenger no-show data with historical traffic data to train a machine learning model to identify the likelihood that a specific traffic incident will impact passengers.
All this information empowers airlines to identify changes to predicted passenger flows through security so they can schedule staff efficiently. And by combining historical traffic data and security wait time data, they can understand the likelihood of a particular event disrupting airport operations. The end goal is to integrate this data with operational systems, so they trigger required actions in an automated fashion.
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By processing external and internal data in the cloud, airlines can predict passenger no-shows—improving the customer experience and optimizing resource use.
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What if hotels had visibility into—and could act on—guest information from across all properties?
Hotel operations are incredibly decentralized. Even within one property, the business happens in different areas—from restaurants to wellness centers. To truly understand their guests, hotels—particularly those in a chain—should have access to all the customer data that properties generate, and in some cases, in real time. What’s more, important processes like night audit should happen for all properties at the same time. Just imagine the effort for a medium-sized hospitality company with 200 properties.
With a shared cloud platform, hospitality companies can close these knowledge gaps and streamline operations. Gathering all relevant information from all properties—from PMS and PoS systems—and sharing it across the company in real time, can inform financial, marketing and operational decisions in ways that simply aren’t happening today.
Not only are operations more efficient, but guest experiences are better. For example, with room service powered by an event management architectures associated with room service, guests can get their favorite drink delivered poolside without delay.
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Small steps, big rewards
The sky’s the limit on what travel companies can do with cloud to harness the value of data. Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. Throughout the journey, travel players get increasingly more value from data. Those that excel here won’t just know what happened yesterday or understanding why it happened. They will know what will happen tomorrow and what actions they can take to get the outcomes they want. Ready to begin your journey today? All you have to do is start.
Think big, start small
Looking to understand more about the impact a solid data strategy can have on your organization? Delve into more articles from our data digest:
- Data basics for travel companies
- How to win the race to capture travel demand
- How to be a data-powered travel organization
- Using data to control costs and travel customer service
- Why data can make or break travel sustainability
Thank you to the colleagues who contributed to this content: Dan Giles and Jamie Yates.
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