The travel industry “as we knew it is dead”
PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain, June 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Choose what we want, how we want it, when and at what price. This equation, simple in concept, but complex in materialization, has been the pillar of Con-X 22, an international conference organized by TravelgateX that has brought together in Mallorca – at the Es Baluard Museum of Contemporary Art – more than 300 CEOs from 45 countries and major companies in the global tourism industry.
Adapt, Pivot, Grow has been the title of this new edition of Con-X, the first after the Covid-19 pandemic. These three concepts perfectly summarize the objective of the event: to identify the challenges that the travel industry must consider in the short and medium term to attract and retain customers from an experience point of view. And it is that tourism, as we knew it until now, has already disappeared.
“If we have learned anything in these two years of pandemic and uncertainty, it is that we must adapt to what the user really wants”, explained Pedro Camara – CEO of TravelgateX – and added: “the rules of the game have changed and now the user wants to customize their trips. Our mission, as well as the other companies´ in the sector, is to be able to offer what they are looking for and/or need”.
Customized trips and user experience
After a first introduction by the master of ceremonies of ConX-22, Bill O’Connor – founder of The Innovation Genome Project, from Silicon Valley-, the 300 attendees at the event were able to enjoy the presentation by Jonathan Bedford – Chief Sales Officer (CSO) of SiteMinder. During this exhibition, Bedford has stated that the transformation in the travel industry as a form of growth will be crucial. A transformation that, in the words of the expert, must commit to excellence in terms of supply and focus on the personalization of travel packages.
The way to understand the industry in a growing perspective also involves adapting to new digital formats and It is that that is what 72 percent of users who access a website do it from a mobile device (tablet or telephone). In the words of Jonathan Bedford. “We cannot lose sight of the importance of the technological tools that we have at our disposal, since they are used every day more.”
Technology and collaboration: the new ecosystem
Another of the concepts that the industry should discard from its glossary is the so called “competition between companies”. The bet is to create a new business ecosystem that, although it will be much more complex, will be much more competitive. The success of this concept will reside in the fact that large companies will not stand out over small ones, but all of them – based on the quality of their products and offers – will be able to be key in this new game.
This message was made clear in the speech by Dr. Wouter Geerts – Director of Research & Data Product at SKIFT who, in addition, highlighted the importance of knowing how to adapt to the world around us: “a world with wars, with a rise in brutal prices, with job cuts, migratory crises, rising costs, extreme inflation and climate change…”.
“The travel industry, as we knew it until now, has died… At the level of the companies themselves, it is enough to see that the number of people who work at home is increasing, the distances have also changed, and this gives rise to many and new opportunities that we must seize. Everything consists of knowing how to adapt”, explained Geerts.
These statements have been pointed out in an interesting round table with the presence of Lee Hayhurst (Travolution), Christian Kremers (AMResorts), June Zhu (trip.com), Jari Virtanen (Stena Line Travel Group), Alan French (Thomas Cook ), Mirja Sickel (Amadeus).
“An ecosystem of collaboration between companies and at all levels is proposed, trying to connect distribution with the experience between large and small companies. You can no longer think of a single solution, but of different formulas”, said Mirja Sickel, Executive VP Traveler Centric Platform, Amadeus.
A question of attitude: the key of Toni Nadal
The finishing touch of the first round of presentations in the morning was given by Toni Nadal, director of the Rafa Nadal Academy. The coach and speaker has emphasized a concept that – in his words – “is key” and that is none other than attitude.
“It’s all about having mental strength and attitude. And we have been able to see the proof for years with the best tennis players in the world, including my nephew, Rafael. If Novak plays well, he wins, if Rafa plays well he wins, if Federer plays well he wins. Now, thanks to the attitude it is also true that if Novak plays badly, he wins, if Rafa plays badly he also wins and if Federer plays badly -something that usually never happens- he also wins. There resides the secret. Everything is attitude and you must know how to use it even in the worst moments”.
Who is behind CON-X
Travolution, NXOdirect, Peakpoint Global, Fastly, Darina Holidays, FastPay, Prime Travel, Roibos, Welcomebeds, Interrías, TBO.COM, Methabook, Priceline, Google Cloud, Worldline, Webbeds, Altostratus Telefónica, Xacobeo 21-22, Rakuten TravelXChange, OpenRooms , among others, are the global technology and tourism companies that have decided to give their support to this “high voltage” event, both technological and networking.
https://blog.travelgatex.com/en/press-release-con-x-2022-0
Media Contact: veronica.rossello@travelgate.com
SOURCE TravelgateX