Tag: customer experience

Enhancing customer experience with smart hotel technologies

Have you checked into a hotel using a mobile app? Or maybe the light in your hotel room switched off automatically when you opened the door to leave? These features are only the tip of the iceberg in smart hotels.

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What are smart hotels?

According to Dalgic and Birdir 1, a smart hotel adopts a variety of cutting-edge technologies to provide guests with novel and tech-focused experiences. These hotels demonstrate a rise in smart services, defined as the incorporation of data and connected technologies that anticipate customers’ requirements and permit adaptation in response to any changes in settings or circumstances.2

Smart hotels go beyond a single concept or the straightforward application of technology. Instead, they involve gathering, integrating, analyzing, and concerted use of both general and specific client data via connected and synchronized technologies to enhance and personalize the customer experience.3

Usage of smart hotel technologies

DiPietro and Wang 4 distinguished four key areas that reflect the main effects of ICTs on hotel management—strategic planning and revenue management, operations, marketing, distribution and communication, as well as customer service and relationship management. This paragraph includes some examples of most hotels implement smart technologies nowadays.

Behind-the-scenes operations management technology indirectly improves client happiness by assisting executives in managing hotel operations more effectively and efficiently. Due to its ability to streamline the maintenance of rooms and guests’ requests, software like “Opera” or “CloudBeds” aids hoteliers in providing better client services. It is a property management system that is employed in hotels for the creation of reports as well as for reservations, rate administration, guest profile upkeep, and profit management.5

The cost of a hotel room may be one of the major deciding factors for travellers to choose a hotel, but social media and user review websites’ credibility and content might influence travellers’ booking intentions 6. Because so many individuals use social media to choose their holiday destination, share their experiences, and write reviews about the places they have visited, social media has emerged as a tool of essential relevance for the hotel sector.

In addition to social media, hotels realise that they need to employ technology to develop more cutting-edge services to boost client interaction.

How to create a smart hotel experience?

People love innovative experiences, especially they are open to trying something new when travelling. A stream of research has concluded that one of the keys to a company’s success is to offer a unique client experience. 7  Can you imagine checking into a Marriott International hotel and having smart shower doors? What are those? you might ask.  These doors are made so guests can write down their thoughts while in the shower and subsequently send the image to their personal email. 8

Consumers are increasingly more interested in purchasing experiences, instead of buying goods and products, according to Neuhofer et al. 9 Any successful business should prioritize determining and comprehending consumer demands and desires to improve their customer experience.

Luo & Pan 10 identified five aspects of the smart hotel experience—interactivity, personalisation, accessibility, informativeness, and privacy safety. Interactivity means technologies are easy and fun to use. Personalization means that tourists’ demands are met through customized services, which also enhance their travel enjoyment and make smart tourism hotels more appealing to them. Accessibility refers to how simple it is for a person to access and utilize the information provided. Credibility and information quality are important variables that can majorly impact visitors’ experiences. Last but not least is privacy safety, a necessary component of the technology-mediated environment is the protection and security of personal and private information.

These five dimensions are crucial to create a safe and unforgettable smart hotel experience for customers when designing an innovative experience.

Future of smart hotels

A framework for connectivity and interconnection is being adopted by the hospitality sector as an intelligence system that will revolutionize the sector. A fully integrated smart network should be capable of dynamic data sensing, storing, analysis, and interpretation. The capabilities of IoT and sensors allow for the monitoring and extraction of data from the outside world. Three domains are involved in connecting smart IoT networks: network-centric, cloud-centric, and data-centric. 11

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Challenges of implementing smart hotel technologies

Even though smart hotel technologies have various advantages for consumers, hotel employees, and hotel owners, there are always questionable points in every technology use.  Some of them are discussed below.

Research

Hotel owners hope that technologies may assist staff in daily tasks, cut financial costs, and improve the customer journey of hotel guests. However, to support management strategic planning and decisions, modern hotel management needs a vast amount of data – hotels have to do a great amount of research.

Control

Smart services can meet client needs even before the customer is aware of them. For instance, without consumer involvement, the room temperature in a hotel room is changed to suit an individual’s demands. However, there is always a chance that the algorithm incorrectly calculated it or that the consumer would like the room to be less hot at that moment. Smart services must therefore give the consumer the option to customize the experience. How many settings or options are required to meet each customer’s unique tastes and provide them control?

Privacy

Many hotel customers are hesitant to provide or disclose their data to hotel employees because they are concerned about their privacy. Furthermore, individuals might not feel safe if they realize that service providers are gathering, storing, and using their data behind their backs. Because of these privacy concerns, some guests, for instance, could complain if a hotel records everything they do, such as what they watch on TV or what they eat or drink while they are accommodated.

Technologies vs. human interactions

While technological advancements are crucial nowadays, many travellers could concur that they alone do not produce great and memorable experiences. Therefore, for many, these experiences are created through encounters with locals, other visitors, and employees. However, many smart services use technology and machines to replace guest-staff interactions, which can occasionally be expensive and time-consuming. However, certain smart services and technologies also have the potential to improve human contact.12 The difficulty lies in creating and implementing smart technologies that enhance existing processes in hotels while maintaining the necessary amount of human involvement.

Source: Author

The mind map above wraps up this blog post and gives food for thought on how to create a customer experience using smart hotel technologies. To conclude, it can be stated that the development, adoption, and implementation of cutting-edge technology across all areas of hotels will result in growth and sustained competitive advantage, therefore enhancing guests’ experiences. Smart hotels should focus on involving consumers in experiences and experiences production. However, each hotel must strike a balance between what it can provide given its resources and what its clients are expecting.

References

1 Dalgic, A., & 1 Birdir, K. (2020). Smart hotels and technological applications. In Handbook of research on smart technology applications in the tourism industry (pp. 323-343). IGI Global.

2 Kabadayi, S., Ali, F., Choi, H., Joosten, H., & Lu, C. (2019). Smart service experience in hospitality and tourism services: A conceptualization and future research agenda. Journal of Service Management, 30(3), 326-348.

3 Gretzel, U., Koo, C., Sigala, M., & Xiang, Z. (2015). Special issue on smart tourism: convergence of information technologies, experiences, and theories. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 175-177.

4 DiPietro, R. B., & Wang, Y. R. (2010). Key issues for ICT applications: impacts and implications for hospitality operations. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.

5 Law, R., Leung, R., Lo, A., Leung, D., & Fong, L. H. N. (2015). Distribution channel in hospitality and tourism: Revisiting disintermediation from the perspectives of hotels and travel agencies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(3), 431-452.

6 Noone, B. M., & McGuire, K. A. (2013). Pricing in a social world: The influence of non-price information on hotel choice. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 12(5), 385-401.

7 Kim, H., & Choi, B. (2013). The influence of customer experience quality on customers’ behavioural intentions. Services Marketing Quarterly, 34(4), 322-338.

8 Morgan, B. (2020). 10 Examples Of Customer Experience Innovation In Hospitality. Forbes.

9 Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D., & Ladkin, A. (2015). Smart technologies for personalized experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain. Electronic Markets, 25(3), 243-254.

10 Luo, X., & Pan, Y. (2021). A Study on customer experience design through analyzing smart hotels in China. Journal of the Korea Convergence Society, 12(3), 115-124.

11 Jin, J., Gubbi, J., Marusic, S., & Palaniswami, M. (2014). An information framework for creating a smart city through the internet of things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 1(2), 112-121.

12 Sharma, D. (2016). Enhancing customer experience using technological innovations: A study of the Indian hotel industry. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.

 

What causes people to buy from OTAs?

Today millions of travelers around the globe use Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) to plan their leisure and business travel. OTAs are getting popular among travelers even though there are still people who prefer travel agents expertise instead. Although, OTAs evolved their introduction in the 1990s, the corona pandemic provided new and exciting opportunities for them to attract more users and increase revenue. Due to the pandemic, people barely visit travel agents expertise and choose online service for information and booking. According to Statista, the global online travel market is expected to reach $833.52 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 10%.

What’s OTAs?

An online travel agency (OTAs) is a web-based marketplace that allows consumers to research and book travel products and services, including hotels, flights, cars, tours, cruises, activities and more, directly with travel suppliers (Expedia group). Expedia, Orbitz, Airbnb, bookings.com, tripadvisor, Travelcity, Hopper, and Priceline are some familiar OTAs.

So the question arises, what influence these travelers to purchase from OTAs?

Below we will discuss about five influencing factors with supporting reviewed scientific publications.

Values:

People are certain about getting good value and benefits with the purchase from OTAs. A result imply that quality of benefits, monetary, social status, preference, and information values predict purchase intention toward OTAs, with the chief driver being the quality-of-benefits value, followed by the preference value.1

Payment and refund policies are also important drivers for OTAs. Results from a study show that refund rate has great effect on the customer’s payment decision, while transaction cost has great influence on the hotel’s operational decision.2 When the refund rate is greater than a threshold, the customer prefers online payment.

Additionally, sentiments plays vital role to understand customer buying intention and brand attitudes.3 The qualitative aspects of OTAs can help service-providers understand customers’ brand-attitudes by focusing on the important aspects rather than reading the entire review, which will save both their time and effort.

Price:

Social currency have become an essential factor in motivating the customers to co-creation content related to products and services (Zinnbauer & Honer 2011). Social currency, attitude and subjective norms influence customer experience concerning online travel agencies.4

Quality:

Further, the quality of content on OTAs portal aids as drivers influencing booking intention among travelers. The study explored localization, website quality, product information, perceived interactivity, price and promotion, e-security, customer value, service quality, electronic word of mouth (eWOM), marketing and brand promotion amongst the identified determinants to define the relative dependence and driver powers.5 Another study supported this by showing the positive impact on electronic loyalty from the quality of services, website quality, infrastructure and electronic purchase.6 Research which carried out a questionnaire survey on Chinese tourists visiting Korea with experience of using the online travel agency web also favor that in the e-service quality, convenience, interactivity, information validity, credibility had a positive impacts on perceived value and satisfaction.7

Increasing levels of competition are faced by OTAs thus, experience an ever greater need to evaluate the effectiveness of their Web sites. The study was conducted to examine the influence of perceived Web site quality on willingness to use online travel agencies. Ease of Use was found to be the most important dimension in determining Willingness to Use, followed by Information/Content, Responsiveness, Fulfillment, and Security/Privacy.8

Loyalty:

The result of research conducted to analyze factors that influence e-Loyalty of customers indicates that customer e-Loyalty is predisposed by e-Service Quality through e-Perceived Value and e-Trust. Hence OTAs popularity depends on innovation, convenience it offers as well as how trustworthy it is.9

Sentiments and duration of trip:

Does length of stay, demographic and socio – economic characteristics impact on purchasing behavior of OTAs. It was founded that short-duration travelers were more intended to use online travel agencies, where Long-duration travelers preferred their traditional travel agencies.10

From my point of view, online travel agency is growing popularity not only in developed countries but also in developing countries travel industry. Online travel agencies have rather advantage of reaching out to the larger audience. Fast processing of information and transaction is crucial aspects of OTAs for its popularity. The quality of portal, details about the product and service are another important factors affecting OTAs success. Users also gets best price from OTAs, easy payment and refund policy which aids on its utilizations.

Looking into future if vulnerability in booking system (altering or cancelling service) is improved to ensure trustworthiness, OTAs future is very bright.

References:  

1ShaliniTalwar, AmandeepDhir, PuneetKaur, Matti Mäntymäki (2020) why do people purchase from online travel agencies (OTAs)? A consumption values perspective, International Journal of Hospitality Management 88:102534

2Guang-XinGao, Jian-WuBi (2021) Hotel booking through online travel agency: Optimal Stackelberg strategies under customer-centric payment service, Annals of Tourism Research 86(2):103074

3ArghyaRay, Pradip KumarBala, Nripendra P.Rana (2021) Exploring the drivers of customers’ brand attitudes of online travel agency services: A text-mining based approach, Journal of Business Research 128(2):391-404

4AnuragSingh, Nripendra P Rana,  Satyanarayana Parayitam (2022) International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, Volume 2, Issue 2, 100114

5MahakSharma, RoseAntony, Rajat Sehrawat, Angel Contreras Cruz, Tugrul U. Daim (2022) Exploring post-adoption behaviors of e-service users: Evidence from the hospitality sector /online travel services Technology in Society, Volume 68, 101781

6S. H. Jafarpour, A. Mahmoudabadi and A. Andalib, “The impact of quality of service, website, shopping experience and infrastructure on online customers’ loyalty,” 2017 3th International Conference on Web Research (ICWR), 2017, pp. 163-168, doi: 10.1109/ICWR.2017.7959322.

7G. G. Ronsana, M. R. Shihab, B. H. Syahbuddin and W. R. Fitriani, “Factors Influencing Customer’s E-Loyalty in Tourism E-Marketplace,” 2018 International Conference on Information Technology Systems and Innovation (ICITSI), 2018, pp. 237-241, doi: 10.1109/ICITSI.2018.8696021.

8Young A. Park PhD, Ulrike Gretzel & Ercan Sirakaya-Turk (2007) Measuring Web Site Quality for Online Travel Agencies, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 23:1, 15-30, DOI: 10.1300/J073v23n01_02

9Niu LX, Lee JH. The Intention of Repurchase on e-Service Quality by Online Travel Agency Site. The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business [Internet]. 2018 Jul 30; 9(7):61–70

10Sujay Vikram Singh, Rajeev Ranjan, “ONLINE TRAVEL PORTAL AND THEIR EFFECT ON TRAVEL AGENCY: A STUDY ON OUTBOUND VISITORS OF VARANASI.”, IJRAR – International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews (IJRAR), E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138, Volume.6

 

How can a chatbot influence the customer experience of your tourism business?

With the constantly ongoing advancements of Industry 4.0, several interconnected developments can be seen affecting both the digital and operational environments of tourism businesses. These so-called Tourism 4.0 innovations refer to Industry 4.0 innovations (Big Data, Internet of Things, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence etc.) that have been specifically refined to suit the needs of the tourism industry, ultimately bringing additional value to customers¹. To scratch the surface of this multidimensional phenomenon, this blog post will focus on technology-mediated communication tools, specifically chatbots, and their influences on customer experience.

Yet, we must notice the other side of the equation. In addition to addressing the influences of chatbots on customer experience, the issue will also be appraised from the perspective of Customer Experience Management (CEM). But first, as stated by Opute, Irene and Iwu², it is vital to define the concept of “customer experience” before addressing topics related to the leveraging of digital technologies. Thus, in order to fully comprehend the complexity of the topic, we first need to create a framework of understanding.

Understanding the fundamentals of customer experience

Customer experience is a common topic of interest in both general business research and tourism-specific research. Due to differences in industry-specific characteristics, it is vital to understand the difference between online customer experience and (overall) customer experience.

In their conceptual model of online customer experience, Rose, Clark, Samouel and Hair³ identify various antecedent variables affecting the Cognitive Experiential State (CES), as well as the Affective Experiential State (AES) of customers. While antecedents affecting CES are closely related to the concept of flow (e.g., interactive speed, online presence, challenge, and skill), antecedents influencing AES are often associated with individual perceptions of website functionality, aesthetics and assumed benefits. The above-noted Experiential States lead to the preferable outcomes of an online customer experience: (1) customer satisfaction; (2) trust; and (3) repurchase intentions.

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Stankov’s and Gretzel’s¹ conceptualization addresses similar concepts in a different context. Their conceptualization showcases the role of Tourism 4.0 technologies in creating tourist experiences. Similarly, concepts related to the state of flow (i.e., object-oriented factors) are seen to have an effect on the user experience. Conversely, their Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach gives great emphasis to additional variables, specifically subject-oriented factors (e.g., previous experiences, behavioural patterns, and contextual differences). Ultimately, the aforementioned factors result in a subjective user experience. However, this is just a part of the full story. The main idea of the conceptualization is to illustrate the user experience as a mediator, supporting the formation of the overall tourist experience. In other words, a user experience is a tool creating either goal-surpassing or goal-limiting effects, which have an essential impact on the overall experience.

Hwang’s and Seo’s⁴ findings also emphasize the role of technology-mediated experiences as middlemen between the customer and the overall customer experience. Their conceptualization reviews the topic from a CEM perspective, thus giving greater emphasis to the characteristics and consequences of the overall customer experience. According to this broader description, the overall customer experience is shaped according to a set of internal factors (e.g., customer demographics) and external factors (e.g., online environment, technology, and service attributes). As a result, the overall customer experience revolves around aspects of co-creation, authenticity, transcendence, and transformation. What is the final outcome of the overall customer experience? Mentioned outcomes include emotional and behavioural outcomes, changes in brand perception, as well as other subjective outcomes.

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Chatbots: What, How, Why & Why not?

What are chatbots?

Essentially, chatbots are auto-generated software having some sort of ability to interact with its user. This interaction can take place in the forms of audio or text⁵. These natural language-based dialogues between chatbots and users⁶ take place on multiple platforms, including company websites and mobile applications⁷, to name a few.

How do chatbots work?

Chatbots require certain prerequisites to function. At this point it is vital to understand the differences between the two most common chatbots of today – rule-based chatbots and AI-chatbots. Rule-based chatbots operate on a basis of set rules. These chatbots can only function within the framework of these set rules, which limits their functionality⁸.What happens when a rule-based chatbot is not able to process your request? Melian-Gonzalez, Gutierrez-Tano and Bulchand-Gidumal⁷ highlight the complementary relationship required between chatbots and humans. Consequently, when a chatbot is not able to process a piece of information, the request is transferred to a human (i.e., a customer service representative of a company). Another limiting factor is the inability to learn from previous interactions; rule-based chatbots cannot storage processed information into a knowledge base or a data storage⁸.

Conversely, AI-chatbots have the ability to utilize complex datasets and even predict customer behaviour (to a certain extent). These highly intellectual chatbots have a Natural Language Processing (NLP) layer, or they utilize an Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) to obtain and process customers’ textual and/or oral requests. Moreover, AI-chatbots are often associated with the concept of Machine Learning (ML). ML functions enable AI-chatbots to not only process customers’ requests, but also to make assumptions about customer behaviour and deliver suggestions accordingly⁹.

Picture from Unsplash.com
Why do customers choose or choose not to interact with chatbots?

In Pillai’s and Sivathan’s¹⁰ study, a total of 1480 Indian customers as well as 36 senior managers were surveyed to identify different antecedents of chatbot adoption. Their findings indicate that the main antecedents of chatbot adoption include perceived ease of use, perceived trust, perceived intelligence, and the human-like characteristics of the chatbot (anthropomorphism).

Conversely, a more recent study identifies several negative antecedents affecting the adoption intention (AIN) of chatbots. In the above-mentioned study, undergraduate students from two Spanish Universities were surveyed, obtaining a total of 476 valid responses. The findings imply that individual habits, such as previous use of chatbots, inconveniences in communication (i.e., having to adopt own language in order for the chatbot to understand), as well as having a negative general attitude towards Self-Service Technologies (SSTs) have a negative effect on adoption intention⁷.

Chatbots & customer experience: providing value or increasing frustration?

Chatbots contribute to the customer experience in various ways. A recent Malaysian case study, conducted in co-operation with Air Asia Berhad, analyses the influences of chatbots on customer experience. The study presents a variety of positive outcomes. Firstly, the ease of use is highlighted; utilizing a chatbot requires little or no technical competence. Secondly, the constructed AIRA chatbot is able to operate 24/7, providing immediate responses to customers’ queries. This notion was greatly emphasized, since prior to the case study, the service quality of the company was on an insufficient level¹¹.

The findings of Suanpang’s and Jamjuntr’s¹² case study add to the above-mentioned notions. During their study, an AI chatbot was constructed for tourists visiting the Active Beach Zone in Thailand. Their findings indicate the following: (1) chatbot usage minimized the cognitive overload of customers; and (2) chatbot usage contributed to overall customer satisfaction. A mention-worthy element adding to the overall customer satisfaction was the chatbots ability to provide personalized information and customized content.

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Boiano’s, Borda’s, Gaia’s, Rossi’s and Cuomo’s¹³ case study addresses the opportunities presented by chatbots in the context of museums and heritage organisations. The results of their pilot project in Milan imply that chatbot usage increased the immersion of museum tours, encouraging younger customer segments to pay more attention to historic environments and objects.

Conversely, a vital element of experiences, co-creation, divides opinions among scholars. While Bowen and Morosan¹⁴ state that chatbots among other technical developments add to the co-creation of remarkable visitor experiences by efficiently utilizing customer data, other scholars recognize the disruptive elements of the same phenomenon. According to a statement, autonomous devices are seen to “dehumanize co-created experiences” because of their power of overtaking the responsibilities of human beings¹⁵.

Be ahead of the game: identifying future opportunities and threats of chatbots in tourism

By now you should understand the following topics:

      1. The fundamentals of customer experience
      2. The adoption, use, and functionality of chatbots
      3. How do chatbots influence the customer experience?

Adding to the understanding of these topics, a conceptual framework has been constructed.

Source: Author
What about the future of chatbots? What kind of opportunities and threats do you need to acknowledge as a manager?

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a manager is to focus only on the more direct outcomes of chatbot usage. Chatbots can certainly minimize labour costs, create additional value for customers, as well as give you a competitive edge over your competitors. However, there are additional (indirect) focus points that you should consider.

Firstly, we must acknowledge that advancements in technology increase customer expectations. Consequently, you must consider how your chatbot can be developed to suit the changing needs of customers. Could you utilize Deep Learning practices or additional Application Programming Interfaces to train your chatbot? Do these training practices fit your budget?

Secondly, let us review the situation from an experience design perspective. As said, technology is just a mediator for the overall experience; the overall experience includes holistic and human-centred elements¹⁶. Still, as technology develops, Bowen and Morosan¹⁴ question whether it is the technology that primarily drives value creation. In other words, this would require rethinking the whole experience, since technology can provide more value to the client in the form of a better product, a lower price, or both.

Thirdly, we must address the threats of chatbot usage. The more apparent negative outcomes of chatbot usage include frustration and skepticism towards technology. Could this be affected by determining whether it is mandatory or voluntary for customers to use your chatbot? Furthermore, there is a future threat to consider. Researchers have questioned whether the trend of replacing the human labour force with chatbots will have negative influences on how customers perceive chatbots. This negative perception ultimately affects adoption intentions⁷.

Acknowledgements

This blog post was written as a part of the Information and Communication Technology in Tourism Business course at the International Master’s Degree Programme in Tourism Marketing and Management (University of Eastern Finland Business School). Read more about the programme at https://www.uef.fi/tmm

References:

¹Stankov, U., & Gretzel, U. 2020. Tourism 4.0 technologies and tourist experiences: a human-centered design perspective. Information Technology & Tourism, 22(3), 477-488.

²Opute, A. P., Irene, B. O., & Iwu, C. G. 2020. Tourism service and digital technologies: A value creation perspective. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 9(2), 1-18.

³Rose, S., Clark, M., Samouel, P., & Hair, N. 2012. Online customer experience in e-retailing: an empirical model of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of retailing, 88(2), 308-322.

⁴Hwang, J., & Seo, S. 2016. A critical review of research on customer experience management: Theoretical, methodological and cultural perspectives. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

⁵Kumar, V. M., Keerthana, A., Madhumitha, M., Valliammai, S., & Vinithasri, V. 2016. Sanative chatbot for health seekers. International Journal Of Engineering And Computer Science, 5(03), 16022-16025.

⁶Dale, R. 2016. The return of the chatbots. Natural Language Engineering, 22(5), 811-817.

⁷Melián-González, S., Gutiérrez-Taño, D., & Bulchand-Gidumal, J. 2021. Predicting the intentions to use chatbots for travel and tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 24(2), 192-210.

⁸Alotaibi, R., Ali, A., Alharthi, H., & Almehamdi, R. 2020. AI Chatbot for Tourist Recommendations: A Case Study in the City of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies, 14(19), 18-30.

⁹Calvaresi, D., Ibrahim, A., Calbimonte, J. P., Schegg, R., Fragniere, E., & Schumacher, M. 2021. The Evolution of Chatbots in Tourism: A Systematic Literature Review. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2021, 3-16.

¹⁰Pillai, R., & Sivathanu, B. 2020. Adoption of AI-based chatbots for hospitality and tourism. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

¹¹Kasinathan, V., Abd Wahab, M. H., Idrus, S. Z. S., Mustapha, A., & Yuen, K. Z. 2020. Aira chatbot for travel: case study of AirAsia. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1529(2), 022101. IOP Publishing

¹²Suanpang, P., & Jamjuntr, P. 2021. A Chatbot Prototype by Deep Learning Supporting Tourism. Psychology and Education Journal, 58(4), 1902-1911.

¹³Boiano, S., Borda, A., Gaia, G., Rossi, S., & Cuomo, P. 2018. Chatbots and new audience opportunities for museums and heritage organisations. Electronic visualisation and the arts, 164-171.

¹⁴Bowen, J., & Morosan, C. 2018. Beware hospitality industry: the robots are coming. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.

¹⁵Buhalis, D., Harwood, T., Bogicevic, V., Viglia, G., Beldona, S., & Hofacker, C. 2019. Technological disruptions in services: lessons from tourism and hospitality. Journal of Service Management.

¹⁶Tussyadiah, I. P. 2014. Toward a theoretical foundation for experience design in tourism. Journal of travel research, 53(5), 543-564.

3 easy ways to make online customer experience better in tourism

As technology develops it is necessary for tourism businesses as well as businesses, in general, to think about how they can improve online customer experience. There is a lot of talk about if technology will replace human interaction, but actually in business purposes technology can help make customers happier. Although we have to remember that to do so, it has to be done correctly and enhance the customer experience rather than make things more complicated.

Our class was brainstorming to find out how technology can delight customers in tourism businesses. We discovered a lot of different ways, but there were three that stood out the most for all of us: easily accessible information, photos & videos, and helpful marketing.

Easily accessible information

When planning a holiday or booking activities, one of the biggest things is that the information is comprehensive and easily found. Tourism companies should focus more on the content of their website as it is the main source of information for customers. This means that the navigation should be clear and there should be information available about everything the company is offering. Especially for tourism companies, online booking is one thing that will make customers happier as well as the possibility to give feedback online. Easier the information search process is the happier the customer gets.

Photos & videos

We all know the saying “a picture tells more than a hundred words”. This should be kept in mind when marketing your products or services. Photos and videos can increase the trust as well as the satisfaction of customers when they match with reality. As an example, if a hotel has a gym, but they have no pictures of it, the hotel might seem a bit shady for the customers. But then again, you should not use pictures or videos that are much better than the reality, as the reality will then disappoint the customers. It’s also good to remember that high-quality photos and videos are also quite nice to watch, and they easily caught the eye in social media.

Helpful marketing

No one likes when a business is by force trying to sell their products or services, at least not Finnish people. Tourism companies should use more helpful marketing, which means that you introduce the strengths and benefits of our products or services rather than use a phrase such as “buy now”. In helpful marketing, you create content that is helpful for customers and that creates value for your customers. In the end, it will also lead to better sales. Make the customer feel special and be interactive on social media channels.

Focus on online customer experience!

As said in the beginning, there can be multiple ways to make customers happier by utilizing technology. Get started with the three ways introduced here, but remember that you can always develop ways that suit your company and customers better. In the end it all comes down to understanding the online customer experience!

Get a master’s degree in tourism business

Are you looking for an international tourism-focused master’s degree programme in business? Tourism Marketing and Management programme by University of Eastern Finland provides a unique learning experience for students who have finished their bachelor’s degree and are looking for new skills and knowledge in developing tourism industry in a sustainable way. Read more about the programme at www.uef.fi/tmm.