Rentalcars Connect Takes Pulse of Travel Industry

Rentalcars Connect, the business to business ground transportation arm of Booking.com, carried out a live Travel Pulse at its 2018 partner event in Edinburgh this month and found that the industry is committed to providing its customers with value for money and convenient services.

When asked to specify their customers’ top priority, representatives from global airlines, airports, and comparison sites recognized value for money services (37%) and convenience (32%) as the most important elements in the booking process. Nineteen percent rated personalization and 11% loyalty benefits as the thing their customers would value most in the next few years.

Partners at the event were also asked about the different ways in which technology could affect their business in the near future. The results revealed that 70% are looking to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and use it to benefit their businesses, while 18% stated that they would be hesitant to embrace AI due to lack of understanding of how it might benefit a business or a shortage of in-house skills and resources to implement it.

Only 12% of partners said they have no plans to adopt AI.

When asked about the role big data would play in their business over the next few years, 82% of partners said that it could help provide useful insight into customer behavior and improve the customer journey, alongside automation of processes (56%) and facilitating flexible pricing structures for products and services (58%).

Related: Rentalcars Connect Announces 30% Client Growth