Steering Peak Travel Season In India: Why Self-service Will Be The Real MVP?

Travel presents many customer support challenges due to the many touchpoints involved.

Each step, from booking to boarding, can cause specific issues, leading to more severe problems. According to a recent report by Kapture CX, 40 per cent of travel enthusiasts say unresponsive customer support is their biggest frustration.

In these turbulent times, Demand for rapidly customized support across multiple channels such as mobile apps, WhatsApp, chatbots, social media And calls is skyrocketing. Delayed assistance may disrupt entire travel plans. This increases the urgency for travel brands to adapt and respond. Challenges specific to travel customer support.

With many touch points in the journey, Supporting travel customers presents many challenges at each step, from booking to boarding. It can cause problems that can lead to more severe problems. As revealed by the Capture CX survey, more than 49 percent of respondents want a holistic self-service platform that provides human-like customer conversations, such as a chatbot that can understand and answer customer questions. Therefore, fast and efficient customer support is essential to resolving issues before they escalate.

 The distinctive challenges of travel customer support

With many factors involved in the journey, travel customer support presents many challenges. Every stage, from booking to boarding, can trigger issues that can snowball into critical problems.

For example, errors in flight or accommodation reservations may affect flight or accommodation arrangements, and delays or baggage problems may arise at the airport. Since every touchpoint is connected, interference at any point can lead to a frustrating visitor experience. According to the Capture CX survey, more than 49 percent of respondents want a full-service self-service that lets them have human-like conversations with customers, such as a chatbot that can understand and answer customer questions.

Here are some key strategies that CXOs can implement-

• Omnichannel self-service for personalized communication: Travel brands increasingly focus on omnichannel platforms to ensure consistent and customized communication across all touchpoints, whether voice calls, social media email or chat. Customers now expect contextually relevant and responsive engagement. In fact, as per a recent report on AI Adoption in Travel and Hospitality, 43% of companies are implementing generative AI technologies to enhance customer service and communication. Businesses can deflect these from live agents by deploying self-service options and AO-driven support to handle common queries efficiently. Advanced self-service platforms can deflect up to 90 per cent of tickets by providing contextual and consistent responses throughout the customer journey.

• Investing in gen AI-powered solutions for contextual resolutions—To enhance customer engagement at every touchpoint, automating as much of the customer support function as possible is critical. This includes leveraging agent co-pilots to streamline interactions between customers and agents. Such automation improves efficiency and ensures high first-contact resolution rates and SLA adherence. Notably, 53% of CXOs prioritize faster conversions and revenue growth during festive surges, according to a Super Mc Kinsey Global CXO Survey 2024 Festive Preparedness Edition.

• Scalability and systems integration: Making sure scaling with integrating systems without compromising speed or customer experience is crucial. Investing in cloud solutions, an area where 47.89 per cent of CXOs are reportedly currently focusing as per recent estimates, along with scalable infrastructure, will help maintain uninterrupted services during peak visibility. Brand reputation management becomes an important KPI as leaders navigate heightened-stress situations. This is evidenced by the fact that 35% of CXOs report facing challenges in systems integration during peak demand, as per a 2023 Deloitte Report on Cloud Infrastructure and CX Manager.

• Data protection and security: Data security becomes paramount as customer transactions increase during peak season. Companies need to implement secure payment gateways and multi-factor authentication. A recent study said that 40 per cent of businesses are strengthening payment gateway security as part of their strategy during the high-demand period. Customer support technology should also comply with relevant regulations to support data protection goals.

• Measuring success during peak seasons: Key performance indicators during festive surges include customer satisfaction scores, Net Promoter Score, FCR rates, average handling time and process improvements efficiently while maintaining low costs. As India approaches its final sense of mobility, the demand for effective customer service solutions becomes more apparent. Direct access to customer support representatives during emergencies such as lost or missing items can reduce stress and build customer confidence by adopting the self-service strategies provided with robust AO integration and ensuring that travel companies can overcome the challenge of periods of high Demand.