I attended the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
convention in Chicago last week and realized this huge, and sad, void that
exists within the travel and hospitality industries.
The absence of humanity.
Yes, the travel and hospitality industries built their
foundation on serving people and providing experiences but, the surge in
technology over the years and the intense competitive nature of the industries
are diluting some of the industries’ core values.
I spent weeks researching over 300 of the exhibiting
companies and saw commonalities among all.
This is in addition to my decade of traveling the globe and studying
travel trends and problems. Whether they are hospitality groups, airlines,
travel management companies, tech, or software companies, everyone is trying to
stay ahead of the game with the newest app, all-in-one type of platform, 24-7
customer service, and customized experiences. What these are offering is
convenience, time saving, and a “personal” touch. What these are also offering is what’s
expected.
Just think, how much more productive will you be just
because you can book a flight or check-in on an app in just a few minutes? How
much more joy and pleasure will you get out of your travel experience just
because you cleared security quickly, you stayed another night in a hotel chain
that you’re a regular of, you were picked up and dropped off in a luxury
vehicle when it was suppose to, or you got a response at the wee hours of the
night when you called customer service when your flight was delayed or
canceled. I’m sure you weren’t jumping with joy that these advancements
enhanced your experience and changed your perspective on the travel
industry. I’m sure you still felt burned
out, overwhelmed, struggling in your marriage, dealing with health issues,
exhausted from constant travel, and wishing you had more time to really be
happy and enjoying life.
Where’s the real authentic experience that travel can
provide?
To be honest, aren’t all business travelers assuming that
their booking agent, company that they work for, and platform that they use
will make their overall experience as seamless and stress-free as possible?
With everything that currently exists with business travel management, and the
travel industry overall, isn’t it expected to save time using an app, have
access to customer service when needed, get booked according to your preferred loyalty
program, favorite hotel, and airlines,
have a private lounge to relax in, have an itinerary that contains bookings at
your favorite restaurants, stay in hotel rooms that have comfortable beds and
good lighting, have access to gym facilities and pools, and have transportation
that’s easy, quick, and reliable?
Business travelers, and travelers for any purposes, don’t
need another app to download on their already saturated phone screens. They don’t need just another trained person who
does all the work for them or a platform that enables them to book everything
in just five minutes. They don’t need to
hear that they were booked or given what is already expected out of a trip.
Safety is an obvious, tight timeframes are a given, and convenience is a no
brainer.
What travelers need is to be recognized as an individual
with individual wants, needs, obstacles, fears, and concerns. Whether you are a road warrior or just travel
for leisure, you are a human. Everyone has
personal life and work life stresses, problems, and desires. From specific health issues, mental health
struggles, mindset roadblocks, relationship or marriage issues, work burnout, and
any other normal components of life for humans, there’s more depth to a
traveler’s well-being to be discovered. Aren’t these defined as personal?
Shouldn’t those be addressed when traveling for business or leisure?
This is what the industry is lacking. The human component to
a world that is drowning in technology and covered by a sheet of smiling faces
and happy voices. The travel and
hospitality industries need more. They’re expected to give more but, they
aren’t.
What needs to happen is more depth to humanity and proven
benefits of travel. This includes HR, booking managers, travel agencies,
company travel policies, travel software companies, airlines, hospitality
groups, and all travel brands. Travel is all about passion. Passion for new
places, people, food, sights, sounds, feelings, and experiences. Everyone
travels for a deeper purpose, even business travelers. People are looking for
more ways to include travel into their work-life for a reason more than just to
get away. People go on vacation for more
than just to escape. There is a driving force behind the desire to get away, to
escape, and to want to leave home, the workplace, and their comfort zone. People
want to feel more involved and in control over their travels. They want to
experience the world in a way that initially inspired them to explore it. They
want to connect with others who are doing the booking for them and resonate
with their passion for travel. They also
want to feel deeply understood as a person.
There have been years of studies that prove the power that
travel has on the mind, body, and soul. From improving brain health, boosting
happiness hormones, strengthening relationships, boosting confidence, promoting
a healthy lifestyle, reducing stress and anxiety, improving or better managing
health issues, building personal and professional skills, promoting weight
management, and a myriad of other wellness benefits, when travel is done
properly, it can be quite effective.
These benefits directly improve a person’s well-being as well as work
performance. Road warriors continue to
be extremely stressed, overwhelmed, tired, anxious, and under-impressed with
their travel experiences but science shows that travel can provide the complete
opposite when planned and done correctly.
Studies have also shown that travel can boost productivity,
spark creativity and innovation, improve workplace engagement, lower medical
costs, reduce burnout, lower turnover, and attract and keep valuable
talent. People want to have experiences
that transform them in some way and change their perspective on life, work,
themselves, and the world. They want to create life-long memories, become
storytellers, and share interesting experiences with their friends and
families.
Companies are failing to tap into travels true potential to
benefiting well-being and the workplace.
Booking agents, travel agents, software creators, hotel brands,
airlines, and travel companies need to tune into their true passion for the
industry, what brought them to the travel industry to begin with, what sparked
their creation in the first place, and use that to connect with and relate to
travelers. They need to address travelers as individuals and provide service
and experiences that tailor to their personal and unique wants and needs, more
than just hotels and itineraries.
Wouldn’t that be more personal than just another favorite airline,
hotel, tour, or restaurant? The travel industry
has a huge void in authentic purpose for impacting the lives of others with the
new technology popping up and being pushed to consumers. Where’s the storytelling? Where’s the healing
properties that travel can provide? Where’s the transformation? Where’s the
human connection?
The theme of this year’s GBTA convention was “evolve” with a
big emphasis on “disruption”. It’s time that the industry gets shaken up and
thought leaders like travel coaches and experts make the changes that travelers
want and need so they can have a lifetime of travel experiences that improve
the way that they travel and how travel impacts their overall well-being and
work performance.
Learn more at www.TheTravelCoachNetwork.com
