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Insights & Innovation

Leveraging over 80 years of aviation expertise, explore the latest insights from the travel industry covering everything from opinion pieces and thought leadership to our latest product releases, technology updates, and more.

The CAVU team was thrilled to attend the Passenger Terminal Expo in Frankfurt last week where we got the opportunity to chat with attendees about The Global Travel Marketplace and how it could unlock value from the airport passenger journey for them.  
With transforming the passenger experience a central theme of numerous conference talks and a key discussion point for many exhibitors, we explored the pain points facing today’s traveller and the challenges for the industry in meeting these redefined expectations. Originally featured in Passenger Terminal World magazine, we delve into the underlying passenger trends facing the travel booking process.

<h3>Redefined Expectations   </h3>
In today&#8217;s rapidly evolving consumer landscape, the travel industry faces the challenge of staying ahead of emerging trends and meeting evolving customer expectations. From the demand for a more streamlined booking process to the growing preference for digital innovations, the industry must anticipate and adapt to these shifts.  
Whether it’s pre-ordering and collecting loyalty points with your morning coffee or rectifying a problem with your latest online purchase, today’s consumers not only expect, but demand, a seamless digital experience as part of their purchase journeys. However, in its current reality, the travel booking experience falls short of meeting these expectations, remaining a fragmented and frustrating experience. In fact, 40% of travellers cite &#8220;disconnected experiences&#8221; as their top pain point​ (Salesforce, 2023)​. The result is juggling multiple websites, answering repetitive questions, and being bombarded with irrelevant offers – all hurdles in creating a positive and intuitive customer journey.  
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<h3>Travel Booking is Fragmented  </h3>
This isn&#8217;t just anecdotal. Studies show travellers can browse up to 38 websites before making a purchase​ (Expedia, 2013)​. Furthermore, 88% of travellers wouldn&#8217;t hesitate to switch platforms if the experience isn&#8217;t convenient and easy​ (Google, 2016)​. This fragmented process translates to lost revenue and dissatisfied customers – a scenario the industry can ill afford. Travelers crave transparency, flexibility and control throughout their journey – something the current landscape struggles to deliver.  
Travellers are no longer looking to simply ‘tolerate’ travel but are instead seeking to enrich it. The airport itself is no longer just a transit point, with 40% of travellers describing the airport as an enjoyable part of their holiday​ (British Airways, 2023)​. For business flyers especially, creating a comfortable and enriching pre-flight experience is a fundamental requirement, with nearly two-thirds counting access to the likes of premium airport lounges as being &#8220;important&#8221; or &#8220;very important”​ (AviationPros, 2017)​.  
It&#8217;s not just luxury lounges that pique the interest. &#8220;Luxe-for-less seekers&#8221; are on the rise, with 10% of UK travellers planning to upgrade their flights and 14% seeking airport lounge access in 2024​ (Skyscanner, 2024)​. This underscores a shift in value perception as travellers look for premium experiences without breaking the bank.

<h3>Connecting the Disconnected </h3>
An elevated experience comes as much from luxury add-ons as it does from offering a more customer centric experience. This means moving beyond generic offerings and embracing deep personalisation. Imagine priority access based on past travel behaviour, curated recommendations tailored to specific interests, or exclusive lounge experiences designed to match individual needs.   
By leveraging data insights and technology to create more personalised experiences, the impact is not solely in building improved customer satisfaction. Personalisation translates into greater business effectiveness, with 80% of consumers more likely to purchase from a brand that offers personalised experiences​ (Epsilon, 2018)​. As CAVU’s Digital Product Director, Joel Godfrey, explains: “A well designed, clean and frictionless customer experience benefits everyone – if customers can find what they’re looking for and checkout easily, they get what they came to us for, and we make the sale – it’s a win, win.&#8221; When fully realised, it can see improvements in marketing effectiveness cost savings by 10% to 20% while revenue and retention can see an uplift of up to 30%​ (McKinsey, 2023)​.  
The travel industry stands at a crossroads, with consumers expecting and demanding more from an industry that has long been fragmented and full of friction. At CAVU, we connect the disconnected, elevating travel experiences for customers and unlocking value from the airport passenger journey for the businesses that serve them. By embracing innovation and prioritising customer-centricity, we can all be part of shaping a brighter future for travel.

The CAVU team recently attended the Passenger Terminal Expo 2024 in Frankfurt to discuss The Global Travel Marketplace and how it could unlock value from the airport passenger journey. 

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Passenger Terminal Expo 2024: Navigating the Trends of Today’s Traveller

In 2024, many of the travel trends from 2023 look set to continue, with passengers taking a more considered approach to travel, prioritising the planning phase and requiring that operators not only meet their needs but also anticipate them.
Operators, meanwhile, will need to cater for customers’ increasing expectation of affordable personalisation, while navigating their own budget constraints.
The quest for sustainable travel will also continue to dominate in 2024, as travellers look to reduce their environmental impact and demand that operators do the same. As global temperatures continue to rise, however, customers are set to change not only how but also where they travel.

<h4>AI will streamline tasks for customers and operators alike</h4>
In 2024, using AI for trip planning will become mainstream, while operators will increasingly rely on the technology to improve efficiencies in staffing and budgets.
<h4>AI is becoming established as a key tool in travel planning</h4>
As discussed previously, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-can-travel-industry-offer-value-during-cost-of-living">the cost-of-living crisis is changing the way passengers travel</a>, with customers putting more emphasis on the planning phase to ensure they get as memorable and personalised an experience as possible. AI has emerged as a key aide to trip planning in 2023 and we expect it to become mainstream in 2024.
AI services such as Expedia’s beta test of a ChatGPT integration can help customers to narrow down and refine their preferences. Rather than being faced with an overwhelming list of options, customers are guided toward the travel choices that best suit their needs.
From an operator point of view, AI can help to streamline sales and customer service tasks and ensure faster, always on responses, boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty levels. Using AI-powered chatbots to cover gaps in customer service hours, for example, will ensure that customer queries can be dealt with in real time.

<h4>Understanding passenger behaviour is critical for operators</h4>
As discussed in our recent webinar on AI in the travel industry, Manchester Airports Group has been working with Copenhagen Optimization to help it forecast passenger foot traffic and better staff its channels, leading to an extra 530,000 passengers getting through security within the target 15-minute window. MAG has now extended the partnership to include stand and gate allocations at its three airports in 2024.
MAG hopes that by better predicting passenger footfall and movement through the terminals it can unlock capacity and use its existing infrastructure as efficiently as possible. As well as streamlining operations, this will also boost satisfaction by giving customers a more seamless journey through the airport.

<h4>Eco-tourism will boom amid increasing sustainability concerns</h4>
Sustainability concerns have not only changed the way some passengers are travelling, but also where they’re travelling to.
<h4>Voluntary carbon offset schemes will continue to grow</h4>
While environmental concerns are leading some to avoid air travel altogether, increasing numbers of those continuing to fly are paying to mitigate the environmental impact of their flight.
Airlines including British Airways and Delta offer an optional surcharge to offset carbon emissions, while companies like Cool Effect allow consumers to calculate and offset their emissions from travel or donate to carbon projects.
The use of voluntary offsets will continue until 2027, when the global Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) becomes mandatory, requiring airlines and aircraft operators to offset growth in CO2 emissions above 2020 levels.
In the meantime, growing pressure from consumers and impending regulatory deadlines mean operators  are well on their way with carbon offsetting initiatives. S&amp;P estimates that, by 2025, airlines will depend on carbon offsets to decarbonise 97% of their operations.

<h4>Research into alternative fuels will remain a priority</h4>
Some airlines – including JetBlue and EasyJet – have opted to move away from carbon offsets to instead focus on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help them achieve net zero emissions. Virgin Atlantic recently made headlines by completing the first transatlantic flight – from Heathrow to JFK – powered only by SAF.
While the use of alternative fuels is a long way from being operationally or commercially viable on a large scale, Virgin Atlantic’s success has been seen as a step toward proving that greener air travel is possible. Developments in this space will only ramp up in the coming years given global emissions targets.
<h4>Cool-cationing is redrawing the tourist map</h4>
The rise of so-called “cool-cationing” is creating new tourist destinations, as travellers start to avoid the soaring temperatures of traditional holiday hotspots and instead choose cooler options, especially if travelling with children.
In research commissioned by Booking.com, 51% of people stated that climate change will impact the way they plan their travel in 2024, with 56% saying they will use their holiday to cool down. As global temperatures continue to rise, this could potentially require a shift in the destinations that airlines serve.

<h4>Customers want a seamless experience, but not at any cost</h4>
Customers are taking a more considered approach to travel due to sustainability and budget concerns. This means that, in 2024, operators will have to work harder than ever to deliver seamless travel experiences in an affordable and environmentally conscious way.
AI will be one tool to help deliver against these growing customer expectations, helping operators to really interrogate customer behaviour and then deliver the services needed to ensure customer loyalty and satisfaction.

CAVU examines some of the key travel trends for 2024

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Sustainable, personalised travel will be a winning combination in 2024

In the evolving landscape of customer expectations in travel, one truth remains crystal clear: passengers are increasingly drawn to personalisation. The complexities involved in collecting and managing data mean that for many brands, data-driven personalisation strategies are often overlooked. However, the resulting benefits that come from a brand’s ability to understand and ultimately retain their customers will be vital to success in an increasingly competitive travel market.
<h4 id="ember1611" class="ember-view">Customers have come to expect personalisation</h4>
A yearning to be recognised, understood and genuinely cared for by brands that they engage with is an enduring theme with customers. According to Forrester, a staggering 77% of customers express a willingness to choose, recommend or pay more for a brand that delivers a personalised service or experience.
Today&#8217;s customers expect more, and rightfully so; they look to brands to understand them as individuals. Countless surveys have delved into customer opinions, shedding light on the impact of personalisation. The findings are striking: 49% of customers have admitted to making unplanned purchases due to the allure of personalisation, while 40% have opted for more expensive choices.
As personalisation continues to shape the customer experience, businesses find themselves at a crucial crossroads. It has undeniably become one of the core engines of business growth, with companies investing heavily in technologies that tailor every touchpoint of a customer’s booking journey.
However, a pressing question arises: why are some brands struggling to achieve effective personalisation, and where do they start on this transformative journey?

<h4 id="ember1616" class="ember-view">Overcoming data challenges for effective personalisation</h4>
With data often siloed across channels or departments, brands face numerous obstacles in the management, compliance and collection of data. As the volume of data continues to surge, particularly first-party data, brands are now recognising and prioritising the need for advanced data management solutions.
The importance of AI and machine learning is set to grow significantly. These technologies have become integral to personalisation strategies, efficiently managing extensive data for daily decision-making. This not only ensures accurate data and time savings, but also has a profound impact on consumer spending and enhances customer retention.
In addition to overcoming data challenges, companies must actively address customer concerns regarding the usage and storage of personal information. Prioritising and showcasing robust security measures that align with compliance standards is an important step. This proactive approach to trust-building is essential for alleviating customer discomfort. Without customer confidence in sharing their data, the goal of effective personalisation becomes nearly impossible.

<h4 id="ember1621" class="ember-view">A seamless path to personalisation</h4>
Embarking on your personalisation journey is crucial and begins with a clear definition of what personalisation means for your brand. Basic personalisation tactics are no longer sufficient. Research from E-consultancy highlights that a mere 8% of customers engage with brands using their first names, and only 7% show interest in birthday-themed emails. To maximise commercial benefits, it is essential to truly understand your customers and their interactions with your brand across various touchpoints, both online and offline.
<h4 id="ember1623" class="ember-view">Connecting the dots across customer touchpoints</h4>
Centralising customer engagement, behaviour, transactions and loyalty into a unified view allows for precise data analysis. This approach not only reveals opportunities within your customer database but also empowers you to predict future customer behaviours based on existing knowledge.
Armed with this foresight, you can create and deliver targeted campaigns, offering an exceptional, personalised customer experience. The ripple effect of this extends beyond customer satisfaction to substantial commercial gains. The key lies in seamlessly connecting the dots across all customer touchpoints, ensuring a unified and personalised journey regardless of the channel.
<h4 id="ember1626" class="ember-view">The value of personalisation</h4>
The cost of acquiring customers has surged, with experts estimating it has increased by as much as 60% in the last 5 years. With people carefully planning their holidays, this rising cost places greater importance on customer loyalty. In this context, holding onto customers is key. Personalisation plays a pivotal role in building loyalty – it enhances a customer’s experience, leading to higher satisfaction. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a customer base that consistently returns, thereby establishing a robust lifetime value (LTV) that surpasses the initial acquisition cost.

In the evolving landscape of customer expectations in travel, one truth remains crystal clear: passengers are increasingly drawn to personalisation. Our Head of Customer Marketing, Roisin Evans, discusses how a brand's ability to understand and retain their customers will be vital to success in an increasingly competitive travel market.

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How data-driven personalisation can transform your business

Ahead of CAVU’s AI-focused webinar next month, we examine five stand-out examples of how AI has been used to transform a traditionally challenging or static area of the travel industry. Innovative applications range from personalising the display of flight information in the terminal, to forecasting operational responses to adverse weather conditions in the air.

<h4>1) Expedia: simplifying trip planning with AI-powered app integration</h4>
AI can help travellers to process vast amounts of data, narrowing down and refining preferences during the trip planning process. Earlier this year, Expedia launched a beta test of a ChatGPT integration into the Expedia app to allow conversational trip planning.
App users can have an AI-powered open-ended conversation in the app and get recommendations on where to go and stay, as well as possible things to see and do while on their trip. The app automatically saves any hotels mentioned in the discussion so the user can come back to them later.
The conversational planning prompts are integrated with the app’s other AI-powered functionality, including price tracking and hotel comparison, to create a fully AI-driven approach to trip research. The customer is guided into their choices rather than being overwhelmed with the opinions on offer.
<h4>2) Delta Airlines: personalising in-terminal flight information boards</h4>
In a futuristic take on personalisation, Delta Airlines is currently trialling a new Parallel Reality™ experience for passengers travelling through Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The installation uses AI and facial recognition technology to enable up to 100 travellers to view their own tailored flight information on the same screen at the same time.
Instead of having to search for their details on a busy departures board, customers are shown their own flight information and departure gate when they stand within the Parallel Reality™ screen’s viewing area. All the customer needs to do is scan their boarding pass and their own viewing zone is created through non-biometric object detection.
According to Delta, the system works by using different coloured lights to create separate, private viewing zones where each customer can see only their information. These zones move with the customer while they’re near the screen. Although in the test phase, this technology could have huge implications for delivering personalised information.

<h4>3) Singapore Changi Airport: offering a personalised, immersive retail experience</h4>
Earlier this year, Singapore Changi Airport saw the installation of a new immersive retail experience created by a partnership between Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail and Lotte Duty Free. The Martell stand uses AI to offer the customer personalised tasting recommendations based on their preferences, before passing these suggestions to a robot bar tender that will prepare and serve the customer’s chosen drink.
While this installation is at the more playful end of AI’s possible applications, it shows the levels of personalisation possible in the airport retail space, and the kind of experiences that customers will come to expect in-terminal.
<h4>4) Delta Airlines: modelling operational responses through simulation</h4>
In an example of how AI can help to create insight from existing data, Delta Airlines has created a machine-learning platform to help it better predict and prepare for operational challenges. The airline has a wealth of historical data, and using a digital simulation environment, has been using this data to model the impact of &#8211; and best response to &#8211; hypothetical, disruptive events like bad weather.
This means that, when a challenging situation occurs, Delta’s operational decision makers have a range of possible responses to choose from to ensure that passengers can still travel safely and reliably. The process will be ongoing: the more data Delta has, the better prepared it will be for operational challenges.

<h4>5) Brisbane Airport: using AI to reduce emissions and costs</h4>
Sustainability remains a key concern in the travel industry, with airports keen to show they’re doing all they can to reduce their environmental impact. Brisbane Airport recently deployed BrainBox AI’s autonomous decarbonisation solution at its airport service centre to dynamically control the air conditioning by gathering and monitoring temperature data.
According to the airport, this reduced energy consumption by 20%, cutting carbon emissions by 22 tonnes over 3 months, with obvious cost benefits too. Following the scheme’s success, Brisbane Airport is now deploying Brainbox AI across the airport as part of its target of net zero emissions by 2025.
<h4>AI must be used to complement not replace existing human thought</h4>
While robot bar tenders and personalised display screens might sound like they belong in a sci-fi film, AI has brought them into the here and now. And while some of these stand-out implementations are at the flashier, more customer-centric side of the travel experience, it’s clear that there are many behind-the-scenes uses for AI that can improve operational efficiency by enabling better forecasting.
However, the way in which AI is understood, managed, and deployed will be central to its success. In our upcoming webinar, speakers from MAG and CAVU will explore how the travel industry can effectively harness AI’s power by using it to enhance existing capabilities, rather than to replace human thought.
Webinar guest John Hudson, MAG CTO, says:
&#8220;While AI holds the potential to revolutionise the aviation industry, it&#8217;s not a silver bullet that can solve all of our problems instantaneously.
We need to ensure we harness its power correctly and not push too hard and fast, otherwise AI will end up in the same post-hype graveyard as NFTs and 3D TVs.&#8221;
Our webinar will examine AI’s place in the travel industry, outlining how you can unlock the benefits for your business. To get answers to the most pressing questions around AI in travel, and to hear our speakers’ thoughts on its future applications, register to attend.

AI has revolutionized a traditionally rigid and demanding segment of the travel sector. From customizing flight information displays at terminals to forecasting operational strategies for dealing with adverse weather conditions mid-air, its innovative applications have brought about transformative changes.

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Five examples of innovative AI adoptions in the travel industry

<h5 id="ember41" class="ember-view reader-content-blocks__paragraph">Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping industries across the globe, and travel is no exception. AI tools and capabilities that were once seen as futuristic are now increasingly mainstream, providing real opportunities for companies to optimise operations and transform the customer experience.</h5>
This growing interest around AI, combined with our longstanding mission to transform airport travel, made it a prime topic for our first webinar.
We brought together a panel uniquely qualified to discuss AI&#8217;s emergence and impact on the travel sector. Featuring Manchester Airports Group CTO John Hudson and CAVU Head of Data Sam Cooledge, we tapped into extensive experience leveraging AI to enhance business and rethink customer journeys. Our host Leigh Rathbone, CAVU Head of Quality Engineering, guided the discussion to uncover AI&#8217;s origins, its operational capabilities, and the transformative role it can play for travel firms looking to innovate and offer personalised customer experiences.
In our latest Expert Opinion, we summarise the highlights from a fascinating discussion that is as much insightful as it is cautionary. You can also watch the full <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyUgmBgT6DU">video here</a>.

<h4>AI is the tool, not the solution</h4>
Setting the scene early, Leigh encapsulates the arrival of AI perfectly:
&#8220;AI is reshaping the way we experience the world right now. It is no longer a thing of the distant future: it’s happening right here; it’s happening right now. It is profoundly having an influence on how we in the travel industry think, how we act, and how we’re putting our customers front and centre in what we do&#8221;.
This set the scene for John and Sam to demonstrate that AI is influencing the travel industry in much smaller, more incremental ways than we might imagine. AI will not change what we do, but how we do it, speeding up and automating processes &#8211; especially those involving large volumes of data &#8211; to enhance productivity.
However, the travel industry needs to understand the limitations of AI and see it as a tool that can enhance existing human skills rather than replace them, building efficiencies that would not otherwise be possible.
<h4>How can businesses in general use AI to enhance their operations?</h4>
Before focusing on the travel space, John cites two ways in which AI has been implemented in real world business settings.
AI can level the playing field and improve output&#8230;
A joint study by the Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group perfectly demonstrates the potential of AI. In the experiment, 758 consultants were given 18 tasks to complete, with 50% chosen at random to have access to ChatGPT 4 and 50% asked to work without it.
Those working with AI completed 12% more tasks, 25.1% more quickly and with a 40% improvement in quality. Even more interesting, however, is that the lower-skilled cohort of those using ChatGPT saw a greater improvement than the more skilled cohort.
John said: &#8220;AI can be a balancing force; it can balance the playing field when it comes to quality and output of our team. Now for me, that means that if I can give out access to AI for my teams, they can start doing things that are technically beyond what they would normally be able to do.&#8221;

<h4>&#8230;but only if used to enhance, not replace, human thought</h4>
However, John also references a different study from Harvard Business School &#8211; <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/604b23e38c22a96e9c78879e/t/62d5d9448d061f7327e8a7e7/1658181956291/Falling+Asleep+at+the+Wheel+-+Fabrizio+DellAcqua.pdf">Falling Asleep at the Wheel: Human/AI Collaboration in a Field Experiment on HR Recruiters</a> &#8211; which revealed that recruiters using AI to make their decisions for them were less skilled in their judgements and missed out on some great candidates. This is further evidence of the fact that, when AI is relied upon too much, it inspires idleness. We must ensure that AI serves as a guide rather than trusting it implicitly.
<h4>How can AI be used in the travel space?</h4>
Moving on from the benefits &#8211; and pitfalls – brought by AI, we turn our attention to how MAG and CAVU are using AI.
<h4>How is CAVU already using AI to optimise its pre-book products and services?</h4>
At CAVU, AI is proving invaluable in conducting research and getting insights. Sam explains how we’re using AI to categorise unstructured data from open text feedback models into focused metrics, acting as a segmentation tool to create sense from the noise. With these insights, CAVU is using AI to develop new products and services that match our customers’ needs.
The advantage of this lies in creating a more personalised experience for customers, offering a more seamless and tailored experience. As Sam explains, if we can understand trip types, we can put personalisation at the heart of customer communication. AI then allows CAVU to move at scale, forecasting demand and implementing price elasticity using booking pattern insights.
Sam also describes how AI enables CAVU to create real time adjustments to pricing, avoiding the extensive manual analysis that would otherwise be needed to personalise pricing and adjust it depending on context (for example a major sporting event).

While MAG hasn’t changed what it was doing, this improved efficiency has seen it improve customer satisfaction through more accurate and actionable predictions.
John stresses that this is where AI is a real game changer. It’s not about blanket implementations, but about identifying a problem and then using AI to help solve it in a way that offers real business value. AI was the tool that enhanced, not replaced, human thought and understanding of passenger behaviour, creating insights from vast volumes of data.
<h4>Why are we not yet serving a truly personalised experience in travel?</h4>
When it comes to travel booking, Leigh highlights that there are those who are willing to share data for a more personalised holiday booking experience with tailored in-airport and in-destination options.
However, while this is an area where we might have expected AI to thrive, its limitations lie in incredibly siloed data infrastructures. Once operators are able to share data commercially with other partners and store it more centrally, and once governmental and regulatory questions around data sharing are answered, a more personalised experience will be within reach.
AI will then be the differentiator, automatically processing these vast volumes of data into useable models, rather than a person having to work through them manually. AI can do everything a human can, but quicker and better.
<h4>How can travel businesses start to introduce AI?</h4>
Our speakers stress that AI is here to stay and is something that must be embraced. Part of the discussion centred around the fact that, while 18 months ago AI felt futuristic, it is now mainstream: since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT has been discussed widely across television and radio in exposure not normally achieved by tech launches.
John predicts that, due to its simple and user-friendly interface, ChatGPT will become as ubiquitous as Windows and Microsoft. Users don’t have to be able to code; getting results is as simple as running a Google search. It’s a true disruptor that has become mainstream.

<h4>How can those without a tech background start to use AI?</h4>
For those travel businesses not yet using AI, our speakers advise that just signing up to free open access tools and starting to use them is the first step. Rather than a complete overhaul, it’s about adopting enhancements and efficiencies and simply testing what its potential is.
Start small and simple &#8211; for example using AI for translation, summarising email threads, or organising meetings across multiple diaries. You could even ask it to summarise an article like this into key points! You’ll then see the day-to-day efficiencies that AI can facilitate start to build into time regained for more strategic or value-add activity.
<h4>AI is here to enhance rather than replace</h4>
John concludes that AI can level the playing field, helping humans to complete more tasks, more quickly and to a higher standard, if we use it to enhance human thought rather than replace it. We must still interrogate AI’s conclusions and not simply accept them.
Both John and Sam agree that recent headlines that predict the demise of our jobs are missing the point entirely. By using it for more administrative or time-consuming tasks, it creates more efficiency and frees up time to spend on activities that add value.
Sam concludes that AI will allow travel businesses to do all the right things, but faster, more cheaply and at scale. It won’t reinvent what passengers want but will reinvent the way that the travel industry works to deliver it. It won’t change what we do, but how we do it. In short, AI will be the new competitive edge. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyUgmBgT6DU">Watch the webinar in full now</a>.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping industries across the globe, and travel is no exception. AI tools and capabilities that were once seen as futuristic are now increasingly mainstream, providing real opportunities for companies to optimise operations and transform the customer experience.

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AI is the new competitive edge in the travel industry

<h4>Our UX Designer Justyna Harrison talks about the central role that customer research plays in all of CAVU’s design decisions.</h4>
At CAVU we claim to understand our customers like no other. But how do we do it?
During an online booking journey, a customer can be faced with hundreds of details to process and interact with, and each one can impact their experience, from the placement and colour of a CTA to the layout of key product details. The goal is to make the booking journey as user-friendly and frictionless as possible, improving the customer experience while increasing the likelihood that they’ll make a purchase. The most effective way to do this successfully is extensive user research.

<h4>What is UX research?</h4>
Before delving into the specifics of how we integrate user research into our daily operations, let&#8217;s start with a brief explanation of what user research is.
User Experience (UX) research is a process of studying and understanding how people interact with products, services, or systems. It involves gathering insights about users&#8217; behaviours, needs, preferences, and challenges through various research methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, and data analysis. The goal of UX research is to create better and more user-friendly experiences by designing products and services that meet user expectations and address their pain points. It helps businesses and us as designers to make informed decisions, improve usability, and enhance customer satisfaction.
<h4>Our UX methodology: how exactly do we do it at CAVU?</h4>
As a UX &amp; Analytics team we run extensive user research. Depending on the requirements, we use mixed methods research &#8211; a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis &#8211; to learn as much about our customers as possible.
We analyse in-depth GA4 data, run online surveys, conduct Ethnography research, carry out user testing, and &#8211; most importantly – we talk to our customers via user interviews.
Why do we do it? Because whatever we create, we create for our customers. From the very start of an idea to creating and testing our products, we rely on customer feedback to guide all of our design decisions.
We have proven processes that help us gain insights into our customers&#8217; needs and pain points. We invite our customers to participate in relaxed and informal feedback sessions where we learn about them, their experiences, needs, likes and, most importantly, their frustrations, so we can act upon and improve these issues.

<h4>How does user research influence our design decisions?</h4>
Thanks to research, we have gathered insights from thousands of our customers, leading to invaluable growth and smarter strategies.
From creating new products to improving existing ones, our creations are guided by our customers&#8217; needs, not guesswork. When we require more understanding, we turn to our customers and, essentially, we act upon the knowledge we gain.
<h4>Improving website landing pages</h4>
In one recent project, we were tasked with improving key landing pages on our US distribution brand websites. Based on initial research, we discovered that some of the pages were not engaging for our customers and were not SEO-friendly.
Our main objective was to uncover what information our customers were looking for so that we could improve their engagement with these landing pages.
From Hotjar recordings, heatmaps, and clickmaps, we learned that our customers were not engaging with certain pages, with only 40% of observed users scrolling below the fold. Based on these findings, we set up 60-minute interviews with our US customers to learn more about their needs and what was causing their lack of engagement. We created transcripts of all recordings, tagged insights, and ran analysis sessions to find the key pain points, goals, needs, and our customers’ motivation.
Based on these insights, we discovered what type of content would bring value to our customers and how we could improve the layout of the landing pages to help our customers find the information they were looking for.
Because we found that our customers come back to the same trusted products, we added a product carousel in a prominent position to help users easily find their most valued products. We also added themed, tabbed content so that our customers can easily find and filter the information they need most: travel, hotel, and parking information.
In order to monitor performance, we first published these design updates on six carefully selected landing pages. We saw the pages’ visibility score improve in response to the latest Google algorithm update, showing the effectiveness of the redesign and optimised content on the pages compared to those yet to be updated.

<h4>Improving product cards using a mix of research methods</h4>
Running a mix of research has not only helped us to improve existing websites, but also new products and features we are developing, including new product cards.
During user interviews run on US sites, we found that over 85% of customers prioritise their favourite parking providers when making a booking decision.
As a result, we implemented a product card design that incorporates logos next to the parking provider name to help customers make quicker decisions and to provide assurance when choosing a parking lot. Seeing familiar logos helps to create a sense of trust and confidence during the booking process.
We also found that over 70% of our customers check reviews before booking a product, highlighting the importance of making product reviews prominent onsite. Reviews provide assurance of product quality and offer additional information not present in the product description.
From our research we also learned that over 80% of our customers rely on the map when searching for the right product. The map view informs customers about the precise parking location, while making the feature interactive means customers can zoom in and explore the surrounding area of the parking lot. Having discovered how important this is for our customers, we were able to make it a prominent feature of the product card design.

<h4>UX must come first in any design decision</h4>
Many companies make assumptions about who their customers are and what they want, but without conducting any initial UX research, it is impossible to know what customers really value and accommodate the user experience to their needs. At CAVU, UX is the first step in any design decision, however small. This ensures that from the very start, we are putting the customer at the heart of everything we do.

Our UX Designer Justyna Harrison talks about the central role that customer research plays in all of CAVU’s design decisions

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