The online portals are ruling the roost, be it apparels and accessories, cabs, jewellery and what not. You name it and there are several portals created around it and the drive of mushrooming is on at the swiftest pace. Travel Industry is no exception to it. With advent and penetration of technology in this sector, the number of portals which have come up with all kinds of fantastic offers make you go wild with excitement. The traditional and typical travel operators got sleepless nights and the business took an ever low dip. Many felt threatened that they may go out of business and undoubtedly there was and still an impact on their revenue and hence profits.
But there is a catch. People in the beginning booked the tour packages of all kinds and various travel solutions at an alarming rate but many got jolts and hiccups and now they have realized the mistake and moving back to the conventional ways with travel operators in epicenter as true torchbearers. Well to dwell deep into it, we must look back and the saga goes like this. The online portals brought comfort and convenience at the doorstep and people could and can book anything they want with a few clicks in a matter of few minutes. But a few bits went wrong and went wrong in a big way and the worrisome situation continues.
- The travel offers are great but highly standardized but little and sometimes no scope for customization. No two people usually share ditto tastes, inclinations and the notion of travel for each one is different. One-size- fits-all approach does not work in all the cases and during all the occasions. This is the crucial area where online portals have failed to a great extent if not completely.
- Travel solutions are not simply common and mundane commodities and require a great deal of assistance, human involvement and attentiveness. Majority of people in Indian context are not well travelled but have zeal to explore new locations and regions. We all have numerous questions, no matter how little and silly and we all want to know everything about the location we intend to visit and many of us get jittery about it as well if not us, our family members certainly do if the replies are not satisfactory and not received well in time. The executives on phone calls carry huge level of patience but do have large number of queries to handle and many a time they attempt to wrap the telephonic session as soon as possible. They are not at all at fault but it has emerged as a huge constraint.
- When you are travelling, you may expect to bump into any sort of problem ranging from stinking washroom to losing out the way back to hotel or anything big or small. When the tour packages are booked via online portal, it is observed that customer care executives do attempt to assist in the best possible manner during pre-sales and sales but post sales services have witnessed major issues. People complain that the calls are not picked at the call centre, sham assurances are made and what worse, the executives do not pay any heed or simply give a cold shoulder. Such an apathy is seldom acceptable in any sector, especially and particularly hospitality sector.
- One disturbing fact is that often what is mentioned on the online portal in terms of price and amenities are incorrect as several extra or hidden charges are levied in many cases that irritates the customer beyond imagination and creates a feeling of distrust. The human connect is missing big time and only technology and voice over the phone play dominant roles.
- Another point which draws attention of many is the fact that the customer care executives have not only limited time but possess limited knowledge about the destinations. They only know to the extent that they can talk about it and attempt to sell the package. If a prospect intends to enter into detailed discussion, s/he may feel disappointed in many cases.
Do all these bits point towards that online portals are not of much use and shall not be trusted. Well, of course not. None of us can undermine the significance of technology, its penetration and influence on our lives and the amount of information these online platforms have brought to access. What is required is the right blend of technological intervention with strong human touch which vividly indicates towards the dependence on travel operators who have embraced the technology in the right dosage. The travel operators not only extend customized services, remain at beck and call of the clients each moment, lend an ear to the concerns of the travelers, be it first timers or regular ones and suggest probable solutions and the knowledge they possess is far deeper, detailed and interesting as compared to majority of customer care executives.
So, try out a combination of human touch-cum-technology as the warmth and touch of humans is indispensable without an exception.
No comments:
Post a Comment