ICT Warehouse

The competition to earn customers in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries is intense. The operations of hotels, restaurants, cruise operators, airlines, car rental agencies, and even tourist boards may be diverse, but the desire and need to be unique in the eyes of the customer - to differentiate from competitors on more than just price - remains constant.

Businesses in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries are increasingly using the mobile channel to engage more successfully with their customers. Mobile enables communication that is targeted, immediate and relevant. Mobile communication technology is being adopted so quickly and its reach so vast that communications is possible even with customers in the remotest corners of the world. In many developing markets, customer segments that are un-contactable via telephone landline or Internet are on the other side of a mobile phone today.

The adoption of SMS text messaging by the travel, hospitality and tourism industries is at the forefront of communicating with these wide swathes of mobile customers. SMS enhances customer service and makes information-based services more accessible to customers of these industries, advantages that are not being ignored by operators. Research by eMarketer.com suggests that, 27.7% of Hoteliers plan to implement SMS text messaging as part of their mobile marketing initiatives in 2010.

Some of the uses of SMS and Mobile Applications in the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality industry are:

• Lowest Fares SMS alerts. This service can be used by Airline Ticketing companies to allow their customers to send an enquiry through SMS, indicating their destination. The Service can then automatically respond with the prevailing lowest fare for that destination.
• Confirmation of Reservations and Bookings. Travel and Tourism players can use this service to automatically send SMS alerts to customers, confirming their bookings and reservations
• Ground Travel SMS Alerts. Travel operators offering luxury travel services can use SMS to update travellers of changes in time table, schedules, arrival times, etc.