Wednesday, August 21, 2019

I Attended the Global Business Travel Association Convention and This is the Huge Industry Void that Exists


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.



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