Framework of the future: A modern approach To travel and hospitality transformation

Considering how data connects customers and employees to products and services can elevate experiences and increase efficiency

The growth in digitization over the last several years is redefining how travel and hospitality businesses interact with customers. Customer behavior has also evolved, and brands are expected to keep up by offering digital solutions designed to enhance convenience, personalization, and connection.

Consumers want personalization and experiences tailored to their preferences. Customers express interest with every search, click, and step they take to book a trip. With each interaction, data is collected across booking systems, big-data tracking and analysis apps, the Internet of Things (IoT), operations platforms, social and web marketing suites, loyalty programs – wherever a customer may be interacting with a brand. And these data streams must be combined and analyzed.

Connected data helps travel and hospitality companies understand customer preferences. With the right tools, companies can tap into analytics to reveal customer data insights, share that data across different parts of the company, and deliver the personalized recommendations, products, or services that travelers want.

That can create a journey of digital connectivity for customers that starts with the initial communication, extends to in-person and online interactions, and inspires ongoing loyalty. These tools can also help employees become more efficient, with positive employee experiences that boost productivity. Now, digital expectations – and possibilities – have expanded Seamless omnichannel experiences are expected across physical and digital landscapes – requiring modernization in the new age of hospitality.

The playbook for transformation

Capgemini’s Framework of the Future is an approach to digital transformation that helps companies identify solutions that connect products, services, customers, and employees to improve efficiency and get the biggest return on their investment. There are three steps: simplifying the architecture, delivering experience analytics, and modernizing applications. Let’s look at each.

Simplifying architecture

Simplifying architecture creates a path to modernization by streamlining legacy technology and processes that have built up within organizations.

Companies that adopt technology for technology’s sake and continuously upgrade to the latest products create an increasingly complex ecosystem that makes it harder for employees and customers to keep up.

Capgemini takes a different approach, simplifying systems architecture to get a stable platform that focuses on core capabilities. This creates a solid foundation as a starting point to scale the system.

Delivering experience analytics

Creating an emotional connection with customers may require additional technology, but not at the expense of customer experience. Complicated connection points, multiple siloed systems, or an overabundance of data can create unnecessary complexity, preventing organizations from achieving seamless, impactful connections with customers.

Delivering experience analytics means collecting the right data, then using that information to improve customer and employee experiences. This is one of the most important ways to identify what matters to customers and employees, and to ensure technical solutions are driving business results.

Modernizing applications

Customers want options in the way they engage with brands, and employees want easy-to-navigate tools to help them succeed in their roles. Experience analytics help organizations better understand how customers want to engage, and how well employees are equipped to engage them, leading to better connected systems and better-connected interactions. 

Companies must identify and prioritize the most important intersections of technology to address customer and employee needs. Many different data streams will come out of this integration. But, they must be tied together in a way that delivers simplicity of operations and a good experience for the customer and the company alike.

Making the complex simpler

Take London’s Heathrow Airport as an example. Heathrow partnered with Capgemini in 2019 to update its IT system. The goal was to maintain smooth operations as the airport expanded capacity.

Capgemini first simplified the airport’s IT architecture, replacing legacy systems that relied on labor-intensive back-office processes with a leaner system.

The second step, delivering experience analytics, was achieved by routing data and analytics to a management dashboard, enabling better decision making. Business processes were combined into a seamless employee experience, with data in one place for analysis and increased efficiency.

Making applications simpler meant shifting many employee queries to mobile self-service. Smart phones replaced kiosks whenever an employee needed to check on their pay slip or entered an expense. Fewer workplace issues meant staff could spend more time with travelers. And data generated from new digital tools could be analyzed to improve experiences over time. All these steps, operating behind the scenes, transformed Heathrow into a more efficient airport.

Modernizing travel and hospitality

Technology ultimately needs to work for those who will use it – the employees of hospitality businesses and their customers. With the Framework of the Future, travel and hospitality companies can integrate their existing systems to streamline their operations, improve experiences, and deepen insights with a holistic approach to data management.

The result will be happier customers, empowered employees, cost savings, and new business opportunities.

For more on the Framework of the Future, check out our e-book here.