5 megatrends shaping the future work of travel agents

1. - The Future of Work -
Michael Netzley, PhD

2. Travel agents have seen some of the most profound changes
in modern business as new platforms have changed how
travellers book domestic and international travel…..
….Yet demand for the travel agency model persists. And
travel agencies who see digitalisation of their industry as an
opportunity and empower themselves with the best ‘tools of
the trade’ — and communicate their expertise and
experience to those considering the D.I.Y. approach —
continue to flourish.”
”
”- The Future of the Travel Agency Industry

3. Mastercard Study of Travel & Tourism
Technology is fueling innovation in tourism and at an accelerating
pace. Those who capture the opportunity first, as the broader
history of digital disruption teaches us, stand to gain both the lion’s
share of the market and revenues.
Mastercard Study

4. Why Is This Happening?
A suite of megatrends have left tourism and travel
agents currently at the front edge of disruption
(along with insurance and energy, for example)
1. Experience Economy: Extreme personalization and
unique experiences
2. Automation: Rise of technology, data, & machine
learning
3. Collaborative Intelligence: Work performed by
humans shape and directed by machine learning
4. Digital Marketing and power of crowds: Real
images and real input from real people
5. Reskilling: Classroom learning vs experimentation

5. © 2019 Michael Netzley, Ph.D. All rights reserved
Meet
Michael
Vote: Which Is not true?
5

6. 5 Trends

7. #1 Experience Economy
“a company intentionally uses
services as the stage, and goods
as props, to engage individual
customers in a way that creates
a memorable event.”
- Harvard Business Review
Pamplona, Running of the Bulls

8. Adding to Travel’s Perceived Value: Jungfraujoch

9. How The Travel and Tourism Sector Adds Value
Lindt Swiss Chocolate Experience
Exclusive Tennis Match: Federer vs Vonn
Private Helicopter – Glacier Top

10. #2 Automation
According to Google, 57% of travellers in 2017
preferred those travel agents who were able to offer
tailored solutions and information according to their
personal and past travel preferences. The search giant
also revealed that 36% of travellers would not mind
paying more for personalised services.

11. Case: Anywhere Travel Planning

12. Case: Workflow Automation in Travel Agency
Gravity Flow Saw Three Benefits; Cost Reduction, Decreased Human Error, and Increased Responsiveness
Removing manual and repetitive processes from human
hands, and passing the task over to technology which can
be faster and cheaper.
Technology takes human issues of the the equation—
tired, lack of attention, or simply having a bad hour—and
puts repetitive tasks with technology. People can then
focus on more creative or customer-facing work.
Invoicing and billing can occur almost instantly.
Workflows can be improved. And the good news, you
don’t need the highest-end tech to see these benefits.

13. #3 Collaborative Intelligence
As automation becomes more common inside a travel agency,
it will then follow that travel agents perform more tasks in an
“augmented” manner—with the support of technology and
data.
• Prediction: By analysing data such as travel history and
demography, we can foresee a traveller's the movements
ahead of time.
• Customer Service: Technology can instantly deliver tailored
options that an agent can share/discuss with a customer.

14. It’s Coming: The Growth of
Collaborative Intelligence
Globally this pattern is
predicted by PWC to reach a
market size of USD $335 bil
PWC

15. #4 Digital Marketing & The Power
of Crowds
Real images and real input from real people;
technology is simply part of how we travel today.
From the way that travellers research potential
destinations to the activities that they participate in
once they arrive, the new ways that consumers use
social media to make purchasing decisions has
influenced tourism marketing from start to finish.
Example: Changing landscape of trust

16. 70%
68%
63%
54% 55%
53%
46%
37%
70%
67%
63%
56%
53%
49%
43%
38%
Academic or
Industry Expert
Company Technical
Expert
A Person Like
Yourself
NGO
Representative
Financial or
Industry Analyst
Regular Employee CEO Government Official
or Regulator
Edelman’s Trust Barometer: 2015
Most to Least Trusted Sources

17. Edelman’s Trust Barometer: 2016

18. Don’t Overlook the Data
Look at the Untapped
resources:
• Spreadable Media: such as
photos, videos, Instagram
stories, etc.
• Identifiers: Look at hashtags
and key words
• Networks: who is connected
to whom, and consuming the
media and identifiers?
• Influencers: Who is leading
the charge?

19. Twitter &
Queenstown
19

20. 20

21. 21

22. #5 Reskilling: Classroom vs Experimentation
World Economic Forum reports that Travel and Tourism Industry ranks
amongst the highest in need of workforce reskilling. The problem is big,
fraught with psychological resistance, and limited experience with reskilling
and entire workforce or industry.
- APEC Report

23. Rethink Learning as a
Competitive Advantage
Yes, life-long learning is a good thing….but delivering your business is more immediate and pressing.
Digital’s adoption and impact on travel agencies will
happen fast. Those who proactively prepare are
better positioned to reap the rewards.
This means your workforce has little time to learn in
advance. Digital transformation is new; little history.
You must experiment, invest in loss, and learn faster
than the competition. This is how you win!

24. Look for Targeted Resources: STB Tech College
STB’s Tech College will launch, in January 2020, a three-module programme
specifically designed to support Singapore’s travel and tourism sector. The
programme will cover:
• Digital Innovation: how to harness new technologies within your business
• Future of Work: how people people and processes must adapt to win
• Data and Cybersecurity: How to benefit from and protect your data

25. What Does It All Mean?
As we think about what these 5 trends means for travel agents, it’s clear that you are
heading into a period of investment and managerial change.
• What investments help you stay ahead of changing guest expectations?
• What investments allow you to differentiate in a red sea?
• What investments help prepare you for disruption and digital transformation?

26. 3 Steps You Can Take Today
1. Measure your digital maturity in only 3 minutes at
http://bit.ly/digitalmaturityindex and then read
the advice for next steps and develop your digital
readiness. (Keep your eyes open for STB’s more
comprehensive assessment tool coming in 2020!)
2. Invest in your digital readiness by taking courses in digital
transformation, tools of the trade (e.g., A/B testing, agile, or
design thinking), or data and cybersecurity.
3. Read a credible book on digital transformation.

28. 1
Michael Netzley,
Ph.D.
PhD Universityof
Minnesota
Founder & CEO, Extend
My Runway
Programme Director,
Graduate Certificate in
Applied Innovation
Michael designs & facilitates executive development initiatives around talent, transformation, &
the changing workforce. He is currently the Programme Director of the Graduate Certificate in
Applied Innovation, SMU Academy, and also Affiliated Faculty with IMD Business School. He is
also a member of the Mural Design Consultant Network as a design thinking facilitator
In 2018 Michael founded Extend My Runway, a cognitive neuroscience start-up that helps aging
professionals excel through a longer career & life. Companies organized to attract & support a
young workforce must now radically retool their talent framework because of aging and people
living/working longer. Extend My Runway guides you through the transformation by translating
best-in-class neuroscientific research into practical solutions that measurably improve cognitive
agility...proving that talent can be ageless.
Since moving to Asia in 2002, Michael has personally worked with more than 10,000 executives
from: Merck KGaA, GSK, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Citi, Gucci, MSIG, SwissRe, Unilever,
IBM, 3M, DB Schenker, Samsung, Singapore Airlines, IHG, Hilton Hotels, UOB, SP Group,
SingHealth, & Singapore’s MFA, CPF, MoE, & MAS.
Michael's educational work has received the Champion’s Award from the Central and Eastern
European Management Association for innovative learning approaches, & Best Case Award--
entrepreneurship from EFMD. His efforts at early adoption of 2.0 technologies were featured in
the New York Times & MIT's Technology Review.
Previously Michael worked in leadership consulting (EY's People Advisory Services, and H&S),
held faculty positions at SMU & University of Minnesota, & visiting appointments in Argentina,
Finland, Germany, Japan & Slovenia.
Read about Michael’s Design Thinking courses at: https://academy.smu.edu.sg/graduate-certificate-
applied-innovation-gcai-1621

29. Michael Netzley, Ph.D.
mnetzley@outlook.com