The travel industry has always been one of the most active and profitable markets in the world. The need, whether for business or personal purposes, to travel will always be one of the most constant market demands. That is why the travel industry, even in the middle of a pandemic, has remained alive.
This industry continues to improve its services to be able to provide the best possible experience for its clients. These improvements have been made possible by the different technological advancements we have today.
One of those advancements is chatbots.
So, in this article, we will talk about chatbots and their role in the travel industry.
What is a Chatbot?
Chatbots are computer-generated programs used mainly for automating communication. This technology is used to conduct transactions or conversations with humans without the need for manual supervision.
It predominantly uses artificial intelligence to carry out these services. AI, along with a customer-centric approach to communication, creates a tool that aims to meet the needs of the clients.
Take, for example, a chatbot for Shopify. When clients visit Shopify, chatbots can initiate a conversation by asking what kind of assistance they would be needing.
The assistance can range from the following processes:
- finding a specific product
- looking for similar items
- checking out a cart
- requesting a refund
These kinds of services are beneficial for business as it helps remove long query lines. This saves time and improves customer service in the long run.
Chatbot Solutions in the Travel Industry
The travel industry is one of the most saturated markets, both in terms of service providers and clients. This is why managing services in this industry requires a lot of work.
So, how can chatbots make these processes easier?
1. Round-the-Clock Customer Support
One of the things that make this industry very profitable is the fact that it is not limited by its locale. Travel companies can provide services to clients from halfway across the globe.
So, it is better to assume that you would be having customers from different time zones. Although you can hire manual labor to attend to these clients 24/7, it would be too costly and overall, not that practical.
With chatbots, you can have round-the-clock customer support or assistance. This tool can answer customer queries as soon as the client lands on your page. Aside from improving customer satisfaction, chatbots can help you convert traffic to successful sales.
2. Manage Bookings
The whole process of managing bookings is not only limited to securing flight tickets. In the travel industry, managing bookings covers even the extra activities of your clients.
A good chatbot can assist your clients in managing all kinds of booking in their travel plans. Here’s how:
● Ticket Availability
Chatbots are helpful in looking for available travel tickets.
Some customers are simply checking out first if there’s a flight on the date or time that they’re available for travel. Others have already decided to travel on a particular date so they’re looking for options on what airlines they’re flying with. Whatever the reason is, chatbots can help out customers with finding options for dates, times, airlines, and destinations of a customer’s choice.
This kind of feature is helpful because your staff wouldn’t have to manually search for available tickets to that destination on a specific date. Chatbots can also accomplish this task faster. Since chatbots are computer-generated, they can come up with accurate details immediately.
● Booking Travel Tickets
Once your clients have found their desired travel slot, chatbots also offer the service to book this right there and then. Always remember that a fast response can get you higher conversion rates. Aside from that, the convenience of booking and the speedy responses will help establish good customer service.
● Planning Itineraries
As discussed, the travel industry is not only concerned with booking or procuring tickets. The services offered in this market go way beyond ticket acquisition.
So, services such as planning and booking itineraries must be included. Advaned chatbots have features that allow clients to look for popular destinations in the place they have just booked a flight to.
This kind of experience can create a better client experience as they can find everything in one tool. This positively affects the decision-making of your clients.
● Cancellations
If chatbots are useful in booking travel tickets and other activities, they should also be an avenue for cancellations.
Clients cancel or change their minds for various reasons. As much as business owners want to avoid this, they cannot force clients to avail their services.
So, it is highly convenient for customers to have a channel where they can cancel reservations or services with ease.
● Extra Amenities
Lastly, a good chatbot should also be able to offer bookings such as hotels and car rental. This helps the client have a smooth experience once they get to their destinations. Offering this service isn’t exactly a requirement, but it’s added value for your customers. It helps with showing your customers that you care about their experience.
If the chatbot can help clients create an itinerary, it should be able to offer amenities as accommodation and transportation booking. As these services are essential parts of traveling. It’s like a cherry on top for all the services that the travel agency offers.
3. Collect Feedback
Feedback or customer reviews play a very important role in the development of businesses and companies. Business owners will always think that they are providing the absolute best set of services.
However, only the client can truly determine this. Only the receiving end of these services can tell how the services were carried out. That is why it is important to get client feedback.
As your clients begin and finish their transactions with the chatbots, this tool can also collect feedback. Chatbots are even able to provide analytics on the feedback such as presenting answers in an organized manner.
This way, a business owner can immediately see and identify service problems or issues. It’s very good data in helping the company identify strengths and weaknesses. This can also help guide the future decisions of the company.
Key Points
In the digital world, we should continue to adapt whether as individuals or as an organization. That is why businesses should incorporate chatbots as part of their operations.
In the travel industry, chatbots are highly beneficial as they can automate almost all business services. This can help save time and other company resources. So, choose a chatbot provider that offers the most comprehensive set of features that your business can utilize.