Why technology is the key to getting the world moving again

Throughout the pandemic, the travel industry has yearned for a return to “normal.” Now, with an impressive global vaccine rollout, loosening global travel restrictions and a steady increase in daily travelers, the industry has found a new sense of optimism.

However, as the newly vaccinated begin to travel again, they are quickly reminded of how much friction there was in the travel journey prior to the pandemic: long airport layovers, lost luggage, customs paperwork, prolonged security checks, flight delays and extensive lines for taxis, to name just a few. This has been exacerbated by COVID-19, which has added new customer anxieties and concerns, operational complexities and a variety of government restrictions throughout the travel experience.

Unfortunately, the industry is unfairly bearing the weight of the post-pandemic travel experience. Governments have been unable to align on a common framework for cross-border testing and vaccination, and as a result, airlines are serving as the front-line of interaction with customers.

While shifting government restrictions are outside of their control, airlines have the opportunity to work together in solving this critical pain point for the industry - whether in adoption and improvement of the IATA Travel Pass initiative, adoption of a third-party framework such as the Vaccine Credential Initiative, or at a minimum, a common set of standards within the existing alliance partnership programs.

Cross-border certifications are one issue, but the industry must find ways to work together and remove friction from the traveler experience or customers will be discouraged from traveling again, shift loyalty and spend elsewhere, and ultimately, slow down the recovery.

Post-pandemic travel is ripe for disruption

In today’s environment, there are very few industries or companies that are immune from the threat of disruption. The travel industry is no stranger to this, as digital-first brands such as Airbnb and Uber have carved out their own territories in the industry and have some of the largest valuations in the industry. Major events and disruption are strange bedfellows, as significant shifts open new opportunities for change.

Industries that have accepted customer friction as part of everyday processes are ripe candidates to be disrupted. Disruptors often begin by seeing a customer problem and relentlessly focus on fixing it. In the process, they change the industry around them and become irreplaceable to customers. With so much friction being injected into the post-pandemic travel experience, the industry is vulnerable as it steps into recovery with the playbook, infrastructure and technologies of the past.

At the same time, disruptors find advantage and scale in technologies that help simplify these problems, creating new value in cost, convenience or service interaction. While many parts of the world have shut down over the past year, technology has expedited the pace of innovation. 

Customers have gravitated toward contactless technologies, adopted voice services and are increasingly adopting connected devices and wearables. Artificial intelligence and machine learning application have accelerated during the pandemic, unlocking one-to-one personalization and redefining business processes. Workforce shortages and COVID-19 restrictions have boosted the use of robotics and automation – with many airports using autonomous luggage transportation or drones to assist with aircraft inspection.

Of course, these are just a few of the shifts underway as much of the industry looks forward from the pandemic with both new opportunities and challenges presented by the technological advancements of the last year.

"Frictionless" is the key to the post-pandemic recovery

There are several ways that the travel industry can reduce friction to create a better customer experience that prioritizes new behaviors and concerns that emerged during the pandemic.

• Contactless interaction: As customers remain concerned about touching shared surfaces, technologies like QR codes and contactless kiosks can be used. Southwest Airlines has been using a new drink ordering system on flights using QR codes – the customer scans the code to look up the modified drink menu, selects their drink and holds up their phone or fingers to indicate their order. AirAsia has also introduced several contactless procedures for essential travel including contactless kiosks, Passenger Reconciliation System (PRS), contactless payments at the airport, as well as enhanced features on its mobile app, Source.
  
  In a further example, Marriott recently rolled out a pilot program at select hotels of contactless arrival kiosks to enable check-in with antimicrobial technology and UV lights. This is an evolution of their already market-leading experiences, with mobile check-in and checkout, mobile room keys and mobile service requests through real-time messaging available through the Marriott Bonvoy app.
• Wayfinding and queues: For many, one of their biggest concerns post-pandemic are crowds and long lines, which are inevitable in places such as theme parks, casinos and museums. Technologies such as beacons and IoT can be used to monitor the flow and movement of people, providing ways optimize operations or monitor distancing measures. Another key tool in mitigating these points of friction is digital signage that can dramatically update, direct traffic and provide guests with expectations on wait times. Digital signage can be paired with mobile apps that provide turn-by-turn directions and interactive maps or allow unique branded moments with applications such as augmented reality or in combination with existing loyalty programs.
  
  In order to help with long lines, virtual queuing can be implemented, and all of these technologies will become increasingly more prevalent as new internet technologies, such as 5G, continue to scale. For example, Universal Studios has been using a virtual line system that allows guests and others in their party to schedule a time to go on specific rides, eliminating the congested queues of pre-COVID times.
• Pre-trip planning and pre-arrival: As consumers navigate the world of post-COVID travel, they are still unsure about constantly changing rules and restrictions in destinations. For many, Google Search is the first place they go when trying to find information about what they can and cannot do on their post-pandemic trip, and as a result the most popular queries related to “travel” are questions about “travel restrictions” or “COVID tests.” Google Travel has been a leader in responding to this, as it integrates localized information from a variety of sources into the pre-trip experience. Google has been continually expanding its features set, such as COVID-19 alerts next to hotels and flights to let customers know if that location requires proof of vaccination or quarantining.
  
  To respond to the shift toward road-trippers last year, Google integrated helpful safety alerts into Google Maps to help travelers with cross-border checkpoints and restrictions. These are just a few of the examples where Google has responded to new post-pandemic points of friction and gone beyond the static pre-arrival email in assisting travelers.
• Biometric identification and health checks: For those who have traveled internationally post-pandemic, many recall the new protocols, checkpoints and forms as a series of new bottlenecks, contributing to longer wait times, added operational costs and ultimately added stress for travelers.
  
  Many leading travel companies have started to test and deploy new technologies such as facial recognition, and health screening tools such as thermal cameras can help to expedite traffic flow. Miral, the company behind landmark developments and destinations such as Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island recently announced its cutting-edge FacePass initiative that will see theme park guests able to access the parks and attractions and make payments using facial recognition as well as other methods, including mobile. This is facilitated by the Yas Island mobile app and linked to the island’s parks and attractions’ ticketing systems and turnstiles, which will allows guests contactless access at points of entry and contactless payment via facial recognition across select retail and dining outlets.  
  
  Airports have accelerated their adoption of temperature scanning technologies, in an attempt to monitor and slow the spread of the virus. In Dallas, London, Cancun and others, the airports have tested facial recognition thermal imaging technology to monitor temperatures of people as they flow through the airport and security.

The pandemic has clearly accelerated the adoption and use of technology in a variety of industries and has a vital role to play in getting the world to travel again. However, it is important that travel companies not try to use solutions to find problems, and rather to focus on ways they can improve the customer experience.

The travel industry should not consider a return to normal but rather rebuild itself with the future in mind. As we emerge from the crisis, consumers will increasingly be more willing to adopt technology solutions that ultimately save them money, time or friction and will shift brand loyalty to companies that seamlessly combine these physical and digital interactions. Adopting such technologies will not only help regain consumer confidence but will ultimately mean the difference between a slow or elastic recovery for the industry.