PRICELINE
Travel trends in the US 2021 :
• 35 % will embark on a road trip this year
• 32 % plan to visit family or friends - as the pandemic has highlighted the importance of these relationships
• 57 % plan to add to their bucket lists
• 66 % plan to take advantage of working remotely by travelling more in 2021 , with parents more likely to say this ( 71 %) than non-parents ( 62 %).
• 78 % are excited to travel and 92 % are planning to do so if they haven ’ t already .
• 56 % of Americans plan on rescheduling 2020 trips that were cancelled due to Covid-19
( Source - Priceline 2021 Work-Life Balance Survey )
Doubling down on Priceline ’ s digital journey Brodbeck commented that during the height of the pandemic , when lockdowns were in place around the world , Priceline took the opportunity to focus on three main areas :
1 . The changing needs of the customer 2 . Launch of VIP programme 3 . Accelerated digital transformation
“ We used the period during the pandemic to double down our efforts in relation to our digital journey which centres around cloud migration to Google and how we are using data-driven analytics to improve the customer experience ,” he said .
Priceline started to focus on their digital transformation two years ago and according to Brodbeck were two thirds of the way through when Covid-19 struck . As a result the company has increased their technology budget as they feel it is a key enabler to drive future growth . Recent improvements have included personal product searches on their website , app , VIP rewards programme , and a focus on their cyber security with round-the-clock monitoring of their Network Operating Centre .
Brodbeck points out how Priceline is actively using technology to turn the tide to bring affordable travel back to consumers in the US with the use of product development and a multiservice digital payment platform . “ We actively seek to understand what our customers want and what our customers need from a travel perspective and then innovate accordingly ,” he said .
“ We launched a VIP Loyalty programme which rewards people who use our travel platform for buying products . The more you buy on Priceline ' s platform , the greater status you can achieve and the more you can save . We offer different tiering of discounting for our customers and benefits based on their spend
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