Experience the world, by just sitting in Bahrain

Manama : If you can sit in Bahrain and experience a ride in Disney Land, will you miss the chance? The world of technology is moving so fast, that you may be experiencing such facilities soon.

Virtual reality could be the next great trend in travel industry; people could be given virtual experiences of places they are going to visit or the hotel room they are going to stay in, said Dean Bibb, Vice President CIS, Middle East & Africa, Sabre Travel network.

The industry has started experimenting with Google glasses and similar products, and now customers can walk into a travel agency and can virtually experience their destination-in-mind before making a decision. “You can walk into the hotel bedroom, for example, in Mauritius or take a ride in Disney Land. The possibilities of virtual reality are immense.”

“I have been in a virtual-reality ride in Disney World and I felt exactly as the real experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if people start preferring the virtual over real experience,” he said. 

“The upcoming generation, who has grown with good exposure to social media and gadgets, are looking for new experiences. Marketers will have to think beyond customisation and do personalisation. Youngsters talk to their friends and share ideas and are not dependent on travel agencies to guide them to choose destinations,” he added. “For companies, this new trend is both good and bad. Even though, it allows them to relate to the marketplace in a better way, any flip can be dangerous. Well earned reputation could go away just like that.”

Because of the jump in technology, cost for data mining and analysis -- often termed as big data -- have come down drastically, and this allows never-before-opportunities to personalize the services provided to customers, he
added. 

Instant offers that match the need of customers will be in vogue very soon, he predicted.

He stated that the current trend in travel industry is the boom in wearable like smart watches, which can provide you information on the move.

Answering a question regarding possible crumbling down of current business model of travel industry and loss of jobs due to increased automation including introduction of robots in place of human beings, he told DT News that humans still need to feel security of being involved with people. For example, he says, the young generation is on the internet-driven-applications and gadgets most of the time, but is also constantly communicating with each other. They still want to interact and have relationships, have friends.

Travel agencies will have to constantly reinvent themselves to match up with the advances in technology and will be always on their toes to add more personalization in their services, Bibb answered on a question regarding the possible wash away of travel agency margins and their businesses. 

“Agency margins are a result of the amount of service they provide. They will have to bring in technologies like virtual reality and also understand individual tastes of each customer to be relevant in the market,” he said.