Report on Managing Customer Experience in Travel and Tourism Sector

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of customer experience management within the travel and tourism sector, focusing on Thomas Cook as a case study. It begins by exploring the needs and expectations of various market segments, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer preferences and segmentation strategies. The report then examines factors driving customer engagement, including interaction, social media, and service quality, and evaluates customer on-boarding strategies. It includes a detailed customer experience map for Thomas Cook stores, illustrating touchpoints and their impact on business opportunities. The role of digital technology in managing customer experience is assessed, followed by an examination of customer service strategies and their effectiveness in meeting consumer needs. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and recommendations for maximizing customer engagement and enhancing overall customer experience within the industry. The report also highlights the importance of understanding consumer behavior, providing tailored services, and leveraging digital tools to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

MANAGING CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE IN TRAVEL
AND TOURISM SECTOR

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1. Needs and expectations of different market segments.....................................................1
Value and importance of understanding need, wants and preference of target customer group.2
P2. Various factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer
group.......................................................................................................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................4
P3. Customer experience map for Thomas Cook stores.........................................................4
P4. How touch points create business opportunities..............................................................7
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P5. Importance of digital technology in managing customer experience..............................8
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................9
P6. Customer service strategies..............................................................................................9
P7. Customer experience developed by customer service strategy that meet consumer's need
..............................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Every organisation's success is based on their consumer and it is important to manage
consumer experience. Customer experience management refers to the process an industry used to
oversee, track and organise every interaction between customer and organisation. Thomas cook
group is one of the world's leading leisure travel and tourism industry and operates in 16
countries. In 2007, Thomas Cook AG merged in MyTravel Group plc, and renamed as Thomas
Cook Group plc. The study will analyse need and expectation of market segment for Thomas
Cook and explore customer experience map that create business opportunities and analyse
industry's weak points that need to work on. The report will determine impact of digital
technology in customer relationship management and lastly it will end up with the application of
effective customer experience management to maximise customer engagement.
LO 1
P1. Needs and expectations of different market segments
Travel and Tourism industry is very large and diverse that need to reach effectively.
Marketers of Thomas Cook use segmentation to understand in a better way to its consumer need
and their demand and implement marketing strategies effectively. Market segmentation is a
procedure of dividing market of potential customer who shares similar tastes into various groups
based on their characteristics. Market segmentation is important for the hotel to tailor marketing
mix and meet effectively to the consumer need, it help in identifying purchasing power of
consumer by pricing differentiation. Market segmentation help the marketers in developing
appropriate marketing strategy and promotional scheme according to the need, want and
expectation of target consumer (Market segmentation, 2017).
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(Source: Market segmentation, 2017)
Thomas Cook segment their market in different bases such as:
Age/ Life stage- Thomas Cook target all age group consumers but their needs and
expectations vary from each other. For example; Youth needs are; budgeted and customized
services, healthy food, leisure activities, etc. Aged or retiree need safe journey experience, hassle
free and comfortable services, etc.
Purpose/ Motive- It includes purpose of travelling such as; leisure, holiday, refreshment,
business purpose, etc. and the need of business person is; Wi-Fi facility in flight as well as in
rooms, person who come for holiday want spa services and other recreational facilities.
Socio-economic status- Consumers who are social status seeker want luxury rooms and
luxurious cars to hire, premium services, etc.
Value and importance of understanding need, wants and preference of target customer
group
It is very essential for any organisation to know what their customer exactly want and
their preferences with the variable trend and most effective way to make the products and
services available. Target consumer refer to the person identified by market and consumer
segmentation and they are likely to buy organisation's product and take services from the
company (Homburg, Jozić and Kuehnl, 2017). Consumers are the one reason of longevity and
continued success of Thomas Cook as they consistently meet and exceed the expectation of their
consumer. Following are the need of target consumers- Business person need is Wi-Fi service in
2
Illustration 1: Market segmentation

airlines and non disturbance room in hotel as well as a big conference hall to conduct meeting.
Families need is flexible check-in-out timings, comfortable rooms, quality food, fast booking
services of airlines. Couples need quality facilities such as spa, non disturbance rooms, etc.
There are various ways to determine consumer needs such as: by identifying target customer,
what is their value, how industry can become more relevant to their consumer. Following are the
importance of understanding customer need, want and preference:
 Understanding target consumer group and their need help Thomas Cook Group in
developing effective marketing strategy according to their segmentation and preference.
 It is important for a successful business to understand and provide exactly what guests
want rather than exceed services (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016). It is essential for the hotel
to know what customer are willing to pay and offer them those services that make most
sense for the specific situation.
 It is also help the Thomas Cook Group to know about consumer visiting purpose such as
recreation, business meeting, study trip, family trip, etc.
 Understanding consumer preference promotes customer loyalty. Customer remains loyal
to the industry if Thomas Cook understand what their consumer want and exceed their
expectations.
P2. Various factors that drive and influence customer engagement of different target customer
group
Customer engagement is a process of optimizing the relation between consumer want,
need and company's objective to develop the most feasible deliverable. In simple words,
Consumer engagement refers to a connection or relation between consumer and the organisation,
this connection can be interaction, reaction or consumer experience. Build customer engagement
enhance customer loyalty towards the industry (Nema and Joshi, 2016). Customer engagement
become important measure of effectiveness of marketing program. Engaged consumers are more
loyal and they promote brand image of Thomas Cook. There are various factors that influence
and drive consumer engagement of different target customer group of Thomas Cook.
Interaction and involvement- Regular interaction with families as well as retiree by
Thomas Cook lead them to get involved with the industry. This will influence their buying
behaviour and they feel valued. If Thomas cook deliver their services effectively that help in to
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establish sound relation with the organisation. Interaction develops emotional bonding with
families and retirees and increase commitment and trust towards the brand.
Social media- Social media is the best way to target youth as they are more active on
social media. It help to communicating to the FAQs of youth and resolve them as soon as
possible. By using social media as customer service channels and continuous respond to
consumer's queries can drive customer engagement.
Services- It includes internal services and response to consumers that are concerned with
social status. Providing quality services by knowing what customer need enhance customer
engagement that build loyalty and satisfaction (Peppers and Rogers, 2016). And engaged
consumers promote for the brand to others. Luxurious facilities, quality services, premium rooms
and cars can drive royal and consumers who seeks social status.
No response to negative feedback- Either existing customers or new clients, negative
feedback put impact on every type of consumer's mind and moreover no response by industry on
negative feedbacks can decrease consumers loyalty towards industry. It can change the brand
perception and affect the growth of new customers as well (So and et.al., 2016).
M1 Customer engagement factors determine customer on-boarding strategies for target customer
group
Company can use different strategies to attract their target consumer group and enables what
consumers expect and want from the company. Industry can use digital marketing to attract
consumer towards the product and services. It is important for consumer engagement that
Thomas cook meet their consumer expectations, if their expectation are not met they can switch
easily. Industry can use emails, calls, advertisements and work on all the touch points of
consumer.
D1 Evaluation of broad range of different target consumer groups' need and expectations
Evaluation of target consumer's need and expectations is important to understand their
buying behaviour (Srivastava and Kaul, 2016). Industry can gain insight from conversation,
service conversation help in to investigate consumer's need and expectations. It can be evaluated
through email and customer contact form, feedback survey, social listening, on-site activities,
repeat purchase ratio, through social media community, etc.
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LO2
P3. Customer experience map for Thomas Cook stores
Mapping customer experience is not only important for the industry, it is very useful to
the marketers to visualize the kind of experience they are providing to their guests. Customer
experience mapping is the process of visually and strategically mapping consumers interaction
and experience with the brand. It is slight different from customer journey mapping. Customer
experience map give an understanding of the procedure that every target consumer go through
when interacting with the brand and throughout their buying journey (Customer Journey Maps,
2019). It includes information gathers through social connection, reviews, feedbacks, payment
related information, etc.
Stages Research
and
inspiratio
n
Comparis
on and
decision
making
Booking
and
payment
mode
Pre- sale
services
and
channels
In-flight/
In-room
Post-sale
services
and
channels
Customer
engagement
Custom
er
activitie
s
Hear from
relatives
and
friends
see online
ads
read from
magazine
s and
newspape
r
Stores
Consumer
compare
and
evaluate
all the
alternative
s and
select the
best
option that
meet their
need and
expectatio
ns
Customer
Book
rooms,
flights or
cabs that
meet their
need and
make
payment
Ask any
queries
related to
services
and
flights,
etc.
Analysing
that the
services
and
products
are up-to
expectatio
ns
finding
Enjoy and
experienc
e services.
Consumer
behaviour
and all
the
activities
after
experienc
ing
services.
Order
again if
satisfy.
Engaged
through social
media and by
rebooking.
Giving
feedback and
reviews that
are they happy
with the
services or not.
5

detail of
booked
service
Touch
points
Word of
mouth
Social
Media
Emails
Traditiona
l media
Word of
mouth
Website
Online
booking
and
payment
system,
like:
Company
app or
tour
booking
page
Offline
booking
and
traditional
payment
system
Ticket
detail
page
Tour
detail
page
Tour
guide
Call
Website
Staff
Agency
Social media
Website
Visiting again
Experie
nce
Satisfacto
ry
Don't
know
Satisfactor
y
Not
Satisfacto
ry
Satisfied Somewha
t satisfied
Satisfactory
Feelings I heard
fine
reviews
for the
industry
their own
There is
no way to
compare
tool
comparing
through
Booking
process is
easy but
sometimes
it is
unable to
Service
departmen
t is not
cooperativ
e and
doesn't
Rooms are
comfortab
le and
clean, all
the
services
Overall
experienc
e is a mix
of feeling,
some
services
I'm very
impressed with
their behaviour
and presence
on social
media.
6

website is
quite
presentabl
e and
attracts
me
towards
them.
word of
mouth and
different
websites
book from
smart
device,
otherwise
booking
staff is
cooperativ
e and
payment
system is
also fine.
respond
kindly.
The
behaviour
of staff is
not
generous.
are on
time,
other
services
are in
between
not too
bad and
not up-to
the
expectatio
n
The
provided
guide on
tour is
cooperativ
e
are good
and some
are bad.
Ideas
for
improve
ments
They can
improve
their
services
and
present-
ability on
their
website
Industry
need to
hire better
and
Allows
compariso
n in tours
increase
informatio
n on
website
Simplify
the page
flow of
booking
Support
booking
via smart
device
Add hints
to the
field
Provide
planning
checklist
Give
training to
customer
service
departmen
t
Train the
tour guide
for better
communic
ation
Ensure
that
customer
meet what
they want
Improve
their
services
Train
their staff
Improve social
media activity
treat previous
consumer as
good as they
treat existing
consumers
7

effective
customer
service
staff
M2 Customer Journey model
(Source: Customer Journey Map, 2019)
P4. How touch points create business opportunities
Customer touch points refers to that points or way from which consumer contact or being
in touch with brand. Following are the touch points through customer experience map:
Social Media- Social media is one of the major and repeatable touch point in customer
experience map. Through social media consumer get to know about Thomas Cook Group, being
in touch with the industry, etc. industry also use this touch point to create business opportunities
by using it as marketing tool to attract consumer. Social media help in attracting consumer.
Emails- Company use emails to being in touch with its consumer, it starts from
marketing emails, from pre-booking to transactional emails and feedback source. Emails can
increase business opportunities and attract consumer (Kumar and Reinartz, 2018). It is the best
way that industry can being in touch personally to each consumers and can influence their
behaviour towards the industry.
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Illustration 2: Customer Journey Model

Word of mouth- Word of mouth means if any previous consumer gives good or bad
reviews about their experience with the brand. Customers mostly believe on word of mouth by
their relatives and friends. If customer satisfy with the services of Thomas group, they promote
the brands in relatives and friends.
Website- Website is one of the important touch points for consumer as well as for the
industry it reflects brand image. Customer research through website and get information about
the services of Thomas Cook. Also, they book their services and make payment through website.
Website is first look out for consumer and can make first impression in customer's mind.
Attractive, complete with necessary information can attract consumer to try its services and
increase business opportunities.
Staff or sales team- Staff and sales are being in touch with consumer from the point they
decide to book from Thomas Cook. Trained staff and sales team can enhance business
opportunities by providing excellent services to its consumer.
Service and support team- Service and support team involvement starts from pre-
booking to journey to post-booking to resolve any queries or issues of its consumer. Their
behaviour and activeness in resolving consumer service can increase customer satisfaction and
their loyalty towards brand.
LO 3
P5. Importance of digital technology in managing customer experience
Service sectors specially tourism and travel agencies are delivering satisfactory
experiences to its customers through digitalization. Technologies have helped these industries to:
 Enhance customer loyalty
 Customers' engagement
 Provide appropriate on time services
 Provide an advanced analysis of needs and demands of customers.
 Easy customized services through Business Intelligence technology.
 Reliable platform for transactions
Thomas Cook, has adopted efficient and advanced platform to leverage customer
experiences. It has increased its quality of services through e-commerce initiative. This digital e-
commerce plan of Thomas Cook uses some general tools like BPM, CRM, CMS, Mobility etc. It
can track customers' needs deliver them daily updates regarding holiday vouchers, packages and
9

other beneficiaries (Customer Relationship Management, 2018). Its website has variant of
reports available for resolving customers issues in terms of locations, weather conditions and
many more. “One View” is one of the project that continuously helped this agency to reach up to
the expectations of customers. Its destination centres to approximately 60 countries have
cultivated an environment of global engagement and multi-lingual management system to
increase customer services.
CRM systems like INET SOFT, INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE are some software
utilized by Thomas cook to strengthen its customer relationship management and experiences.
More advanced software are used by it to strengthen communication process among its
diversified group of customers as well as authorities.
M3. Digital technologies employed in managing customers' experience
Its “Personal Engagement strategy” of develops a healthy bond with its customers
Adopting utmost customer- centric approach to the business helps Thomas Cook to retain its
customers with higher pace.
The “Holiday App” creates easy booking options for the customers.
“Choose you Room” option is also one of its strategic digital contribution to facilitate and retain
its customers (Cook, 2017).
D3 Advantages and Disadvantages of CRM system
Advantages
 CRM system help the industry to manage all the data of customer in one place and it
results in increase in productivity of employees.
 It builds long term relationship with consumer.
Disadvantages
 The disadvantage of CRM is that company does not have control over the data. And there
are chances of losing consumer data.
LO 4
P6. Customer service strategies
Covered in Poster
P7. Customer experience developed by customer service strategy that meet consumer's need
Covered in Poster
10