Modern day travel has adapted greatly over recent years to provide holidaymakers with a more personalised, enjoyable and interactive experience. Here are 3 ways design is changing how we travel:
End to End Experience
In today’s modern age, consumers expect to receive the full end to end experience whether across digital or physical products and services. Over the years, we have become reliant on technology such as smartphones, tablets and wearable devices to guide and provide us with information and resources to interact with new environments.
Airline, AirNewZealand, offers a unique service aimed towards parents who wish to track their child’s whereabouts if travelling alone. The child is given an interactive wristband which records the main steps of the journey from check-in to when they get picked up at their destination by their designated person. The band delivers messages to up to 5 recipients and is intended to give parents a greater peace of mind.
Smart Personalisation
The travel industry focuses heavily on personalising the consumer journey to create a more enjoyable and tailored experience. Although many travel brands collect data to engage with consumers in topics of interest, millennials are willing to share information to receive the personalisation they demand.
Hotels can engage and build relationships with consumers via mobile apps although real-worldly interaction is still as valuable. Starwood’s ambassador program pairs up a member of staff with a frequent guest to deliver information and tips based on their destination. Meanwhile, Ritz Carlton trains staff to observe guests and record their preferences, which is then shared across its other branches.
Humanised Experiences
Holidaymakers, particularly millennials, are becoming more interested in local culture and prefer more authentic and real experiences according to The Future Foundation’s Millennial Traveller Report. The report suggests that the experience is everything and that those travelling prefer to immerse themselves to live more like a local than a tourist.
Online travel marketplace, Airbnb, updated its app earlier this year to offer users insights, tips and guidebooks to experience places as locals would. There are also a number of platforms including WithLocals and LikeALocalGuide, offering users the opportunity to interact with locals within a number of destinations with the ability to book tours, meals and enjoy real face-to-face conversations.
By Dawood Pathan
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