Travel Super App
It is time we have a super app in the travel industry ! no Hoper, no Booking.com but one who covers the end to end journey of a guest in a practical way.
A super-app is like a Swiss army knife, according to Blackberry founder it is “a closed ecosystem of many apps that people would use every day because they offer such a seamless, integrated, contextualised and efficient experience.”
Travel usually rely on a set of common ceremonies who could be easily predictable if communication between stakeholders were flowing. If we take for example a corporate journey, the guest will accomplish the following steps:
♦ From Home to Airport
♦ Airport to hotel
♦ Hotel to meeting points (and back)
♦ Hotel to Airport
♦ Airport to Home
For hotels, being able to map this journey accurately will enable them to increase business and guest experience.
▶ Business: it will be easier to predict when a room is occupied. If a guest have a late flight, you can book the room before with a day use (or let the previous guest enjoy a late check out). If the guest has an early flight you can prioritise in advance the Housekeeping road.
▶ Guest experience: in 2022 it seems odd that you can do a check out online but then have to go to front desk to ask them to book you a taxis. It should be connected, and a taxis directly call when you finalise online check out. Same if your flight is too early for breakfast, coffee to go should be proposed. Knowing when to leave is also critical, locals know how traffic behave but visitors will often miscalculate impact of rush hours and would potentially miss a flight or a train.
And what is true for corporate stay is also true for leisure. Knowing guest activities, spa or restaurant reservation will help anticipate guest needs and overall improve guest experience.
We already see hotels sending pre-arrival survey to ask for flight information, but this process is too manual and results are not consistant. Because now most travel interactions are online (airline app, Uber, Resy, etc.) I believe the next logical step is to have one app that connect all the dot to deliver a remarkable end to end journey for the guest.
