Experiences matter in all industries, but especially in the travel and hospitality industries as they are literally built on creating experiences. And as today’s consumers become more experience-centric, these companies have an opportunity to develop meaningful connections that translate into brand loyalty and long-term value.
Human experience
Experience and emotion are the currency of human connections. In a market that continues to spend more on experience, successful brands show a sharp focus on the broader experience. For travel companies, that means considering every aspect of a customer’s journey and driving value and differentiation across the full ecosystem—elevating a traveler’s experience from the moment they begin thinking about traveling. Human experience (HX) is the integration and delivery of customer experience, workforce experience, and partnership experience.
Build trust at every touchpoint
Travel and hospitality companies have more touchpoints with customers than ever before, and many of these touchpoints are beyond a brand’s direct control. Little things add up, like responding to negative feedback or waiving an unexpected fee, as the experience of a single individual is amplified across the ecosystem.
HX allows companies to differentiate themselves and earn customer loyalty at virtually every touchpoint, in a way that puts their brand top of mind when the customer is making a travel or hospitality purchasing decision. Experience factors, such as valuing customers’ feedback, recognizing and personally addressing customers, and aligning corporate actions to brand values, are 2.4 times more important than price across travel and hospitality overall.
Elevating the human experience pays off
The value of elevating the human experience is powerful. Recent Deloitte research shows a strong positive correlation between a positive experience score and financial performance; companies who align and elevate the experiences of all the humans in their ecosystem outperform their competitors.
The opportunities offered by a focus on human experience are clear, but achieving the desired results requires experimentation and fine tuning. Connecting with the customer on a more human level can strengthen and deepen your brand’s relationship with the customer, leading to real, measurable bottom-line performance improvements.
Learn more about the human experience and how travel and hospitality companies can reimagine their approach to crafting elevated, differentiated experiences that drive business results here and download our new report.
Ashley Reichheld is a principal in Deloitte Digital and the leader of the Customer, Brand & Experience practice for the Automotive, Transportation, Hospitality & Services sectors. Ashley is deeply passionate about making the experiences people have with companies feel more human.
Mark Allen is a principal in the Customer, Brands, and Experience Practice that specializes in leading transformational experiential design programs in Automotive, Transportation, Hospitality and Service industries.
