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The travel industry needs to recognise that its game has and will continue to change. Travellers and the world they explore have evolved. Mottos about the best destinations, claims for superior service levels, and other obvious reasons for buying travel industry services are just not going to cut it.

Travel professionals need to go beyond thinking about wares on shelves, and become able to adapt and design to unique expectations. One may rightly claim that one-to-one services are too expensive for mainstream markets. That is true if you choose to ignore new ways things can and will have to be done in the 21st-century travel industry. We are past the establishment of the huge importance of social media, as we enter the next instalment, with its personalised services enabled by data, co-creation, and true customer-centric, customer-empowered travel brands.

There is room and need for innovation and new business model design, in product and services as well as in the overall way the travel industry works. What you may think of as the future of the travel industry may already be mainstream. To make proper preparations for which new technologies and methodologies to benefit from, you should start by asking yourself some pivotal questions about your travel brand and your services as seen through the eyes of your customers, before someone important to your business does it for you.

DO YOU DELIVER WITHIN A LARGER CONTEXT?

To run a business in the travel industry, you need to be able to create the connection between travellers, places, and those who are taking on the role of being guides and hosts at the locations in question. Your customers are not only experiencing your offering—everything is part of a larger experience. If your view of their world ends at your proverbial doorstep, how will you share their point of view? There is much to be gained by the hotel that extends its stays beyond its front door, or the city tour service that finds succesful ways of sending visitors on their way. Become part of a total experience, rather than a part experience.

IS YOUR BUSINESS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE-CENTRIC BY DESIGN?

Do you really design everything you do around the customer experience, putting them into the centre of your universe? Because, you know, that is where they are in their own opinion, not, at least, if they have just spent a small fortune to go on that dream vacation. Understand the key steps they take, from planning to travelling and to returning back home, and design your business around which role you play at certain times in this scenario. Then you will be able to develop core services as not being driven by your business needs, but by the experiences craved by your customers. Guess what makes the most desirable offering?

IS YOUR ORGANISATION TRULY INNOVATIVE?

This is not just about leadership or management at any level being great at coming up with ideas and passing them on to the rest of the team as assignments. Cultivating an innovative organisation is about being able to collect valuable input from any source, external or internal, as part of a continuous evaluation and evolution of what you are doing for your visitors, other stakeholders, and your business. Innovation is not just about getting good ideas, it is about challenging and transforming that which you do to continuously better your business. If you think you know it all already, that people with higher position always know better, and that there is no room for improvement, you are bound to meet a significant bump in the road sometime soon.

DO YOU HAVE A COHERENT, WELL-EXECUTED SERVICE CULTURE?

Service is not necessarily king of all within the travel industry, but lacking it is a certain downfall. It is experienced through interactions with and actions by your team, all of which go beyond a smile, however nice that may be. Let me share a few practical examples. If hotel guests get used to getting their ice buckets refilled by someone from housekeeping, and, after a few days, this does not happen, the ice cubes suddenly seem lacking. If one travel agent is good at getting back to people with answers and suggestions, and the customers are passed on to a more non-responsive colleague, disappointment sets in. Inconsistency creates confusion, or disappointment, as each experience we have with a representative of a company sets our level of expectation for the next encounter.

There can be various reasons for why customers experience an inconsistent service culture, such as lack of motivation or a service mindset. It all comes down to leadership. I know, sometimes people just need to go. This is also part of leadership. However, creating a consistent service culture is not just about doing an introductory speech about how important it is to have great service. How exactly should the team go about it? What kinds of practical tips, tricks, and tools will be shared with them to create a consistency in service, beyond that of a set of rules?

WHAT WILL REVOLUTIONISE YOUR MARKET?

If you think nothing will, this wake-up call is for you. There is change coming from different sides.

The habits and interests of travellers are evolving, both because of increased accessibility and individual flexibility through online media, and because travellers reportedly want to experience something new.

New players in the travel market are emerging, often not abiding by the established traditions, but rather establishing new customer-centric, dynamic business models. They are beyond having new products on the shelves, as they question whether they need shelves at all.

I believe you have heard of disruption. Expect it to hit the travel industry full-force, as industry innovators will crack the codes of mass customisation and answer the questions above with new, experience-enhancing offerings that are not limited by personnel, space, time, or location. What will you do to be among them?

Any marketer involved in branding in 2017 is almost certain to be involved in experience design or experience management in one way or the other. As with many disciplines, experience design itself is dynamic and in a continuous state of flux, where seasoned practitioners and newcomers alike will need to adapt to new technologies and the influence of trends as they pass from the first movers to a mainstream audience.

For the modern marketer, your experiential activities will need to be a continuous trial-and-error exercise, just as many of your other efforts. What works for a business similar to yours may not work for you. Conversely, businesses outside your industry may have figured out a solution that may be suitable for you too.

My advice to brands that want to be experience businesses is to maintain an open mind and a keen eye on others that are already focused on the visitor, guest, and customer experience.

Below are a number of technologies and ideas currently influencing experience design. It’s by no means, a definitive list, but rather a starting point that could very well influence your marketing efforts around experience.

Augmented Reality (AR)

AR adds another dimension to that which already exists, placing objects in your surroundings only viewable through the camera of your mobile device. Some observers believe AR will be more of a game-changer than Virtual Reality (VR).

Digital Detox

Currently, we are seeing a reaction to what many consider the over-digitalisation of our everyday lives. The apparent need for digital detox experiences has even been embraced by Google, which has taken some staff to a Camp Grounded offsite event as a reminder of a world outside of technology.

Hybrid Experiences

A strong trend in experience design is the merger of digital and physical realities to create new, hybrid experiences. These include in out-of-home entertainment, such as the hyper-reality VR games of The Void, and numerous outdoor and location-based AR experiences being developed.

Quests

Quests, or missions, are a way to give someone a task they can spend time on, while you retain their interest and presence. Pokémon GO is the obvious example, which, in its basic form, is the quest to go find Pokémons.

Unpacking

Apple is well aware of the importance of unpacking as part of the product. Consider also the spike in vinyl record sales in the U.K, which is less about listening to the music than having the physical cover with its artwork.

Simulations

Simulated experiences are not just digital, but also themed or branded. The gondola rides at the Venetian, for example, emulate the real, authentic experience. Marketers should not just dismiss these as uninteresting because they are not authentic. The memory of a gondola ride in Las Vegas or a proposal at Disneyland is no less real to those who experience them. Simulations succeed if they make us suspend our disbelief and allow us to immerse ourselves in a well-executed setting.

Virtual Reality (VR)

As everyone is still trying to define what VR marketing means to branding, we see an increasing number of good examples of VR as experiential marketing. Among them are Audi’s Enter Sandbox and Old Irish’s Virtual Journey To Ireland.

To keep yourself updated on experience industry trends, you may want to review these sources:

European Centre for the Experience and Transformation Economy
The European Centre for the Experience and Transformation Economy provides professional training in business transformation for value creation—and more.

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA)
IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities worldwide.

Pine & Gilmore
Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore, founders of Strategic Horizons LLP, have authored several significant books, including “The Experience Economy.”

The Experience Economist
Get some experience industry inspiration in your mailbox. Several sources who share knowledge also offer free newsletters. For starters, may I suggest The Experience Economist?

Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)
The TEA is an international association representing the world’s leading creators, developers, designers, and producers of compelling places and experiences. The TEA website member directory is a one-stop resource for cross-disciplinary competencies that can bring any experience to life.

CMO.com
Finally, CMO.com has an increasing number of articles on how experiences can prove valuable to your brand. A good starting point is “What CMOs Must Nail In 2017 To Succeed In The ‘Experience Business,” with CMO.com’s network of top marketers and analysts answering the question “What is the one thing CMOs must get right in 2017 to make that happen?”