Big data and analytics has a pivotal role to play as the travel industry continues to evolve: new entrants are disrupting all facets of the travel industry, and new traveller expectations are challenging all of us to continually improve how we operate.

New sources of data and information are prompting travel brands to innovate in terms of how travel is sold, how travellers are serviced and how disruption is managed.

Over the last ten years, we have seen two important trends emerge. Firstly, there has been an exponential rise of data and information.

Secondly, there has also been an increasing scale of computing power and storage capability, which is able to assimilate, process and work with multiple and complex data sources to generate insights and action.

Our new discussion paper, Defining the future of travel through intelligence, examines this new landscape and outlines how travel companies can harness the power of big data, analytics and experimentation to seize opportunities, address challenges, and thrive in a rapidly-changing environment.

As the paper explains, the future travel brand isn’t just about moving people from A to B, unveiling new destinations, or organising trips. Instead it is about a thoroughly progressive, completely 360 degree view of the traveller and everything that goes into creating special, unique, memorable experiences.

At every moment in the traveller’s journey, from the time they make an air booking or search for a train timetable online, to their hotel check in, their actions create data. This data, picked up from hundreds of points across the travel network, presents a valuable opportunity for travel companies to provide better-individualised services to the traveller and improve his/her experience.

The paper outlines how travel companies will need to be agile and use big data to experiment with new ideas, and offers examples of some of the travel innovations that data and analytics could underpin. It includes case studies of our work with Qantas and Avianca Brasil, which showcase how Amadeus Travel Intelligence has worked with these airlines to help them optimise operations and become more customer-centric.

The key to unlocking the potential of today is identifying the quick wins across the business to ensure incremental and impactful changes, as well as keeping an open mind about what is possible in the future. We look forward to collaborating with our travel industry partners, as we work together to unlock the benefits of big data, analytics and experimentation.

You can read more by downloading the paper here.