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Everyone wants their holidays to be memorable, but what about the traveller’s customer experience? How can providers deliver more stand-out experiences that generate positive ratings – and create more loyal, returning customers?
Rachel Cullum (Associate Director) & Orte Barzdonyte (Research Executive), CX, Ipsos
Data gathered for the recent UK CX Report by Ipsos and Engage Business Media sheds some light onto this question, and shows where holiday brands should focus if they are to build deeper and stronger customer relationships.
Using Ipsos’ proprietary framework, the Forces of Customer Experience, the study measures the six dimensions of human connection that are crucial to fostering stronger relationships with customers and driving competitive advantage: Certainty, Fair Treatment, Control, Status, Enjoyment and Belonging.
The holiday industry performs exceptionally strongly in two of these Forces compared to the other sectors studied: 38% of customers strongly agree that they experience Enjoyment, and 39% agree with feeling Certainty. Many customers talk positively about good and competitive prices, ease of booking, good service, and rewards, discounts and upgrades.
Yet, although the holiday sector is one of the strongest-performing across all the Forces of CX, it’s only marginally ahead of others in terms of customers reporting positive experiences: 45% vs 42% overall. Perhaps surprisingly, 44% of holiday customers report that their specific experience was ‘nothing notable’. So what are holiday companies missing, and what can they do to elevate this large segment of neutral customer experiences to become positive ones?
The recent Ipsos Global Trends: Travel, Tourism and Hospitality report identifies that the holiday industry needs to adapt to address the shift towards personalised experiences, an increased focus on health and wellness, and the growing awareness of environmental impact. This chimes with the need to elevate the customers’ sense of Belonging and Status. In turn this would drive the number of positively-rated experiences. But how?
- Status could be increased, for example, by features such as in-room personalisation and experience-driven bookings. IHG’s VocoTM franchise has been reported as trialling additions such as coffee and chocolate pairings in-room, favourite drinks and snacks on arrival or access to a library of books for guests. This is about making the customer feel recognised and valued.
- Belonging is all about demonstrating brand values and ethos in a way that resonates strongly with the customer. For example, chains like Premier Inn and Travelodge, among many others, offer vegan breakfasts, while booking sites such as Staze or Key Travel (working with Expedia Partner Solutions) have developed carbon-offsetting solutions for those looking to reduce their environment footprint during their hotel stay.
Three things that holiday brands can be doing right now:
- Measuring how effectively your brand is performing on the Forces of Customer Experience at different stages of the journey.
- Revisiting customer experience and service maps to identify some quick wins, and create opportunities for building a sense of belonging and status across the journey.
- Establishing a clear return on CX investment model to evidence your business case, quantify the commercial benefits and prioritise actions.
To find out more, reach out to Rachel and Orte directly here:
