3 Tips for Tackling Big Data in the Travel Industry

Big data is big news, and business leaders are eager to unlock the potential in their data. An effective big data strategy has been shown to lead to enhanced decision support, more targeted product and service design, and any number of process and workflow efficiencies. Before travel companies can determine how they will manage the “job” of big data in the travel industry and jump into an action plan, their leaders need to understand the concept and how it can be effectively applied to their operations.

Getting up to speed on big data takes more than learning about the tools and techniques required to capture actionable insights that can be parlayed into business decisions. It also involves investigating how industry partners and competitors are approaching big data. Taking a 360-degree view can help business leaders begin to see the specific big data-driven possibilities for their organization. 

The Big Undertaking: Launching a Big Data Strategy

In his report, At the Big Data Crossroads: Turning Towards a Smarter Travel Experience, Thomas H. Davenport of Harvard Business School concludes that big data is the biggest opportunity for travel businesses to embrace the changing structure of data and maximize its use. To be sure, this is easier said than done. The technology used in big data management is quickly evolving and best practices are still being established.

Companies can start by taking stock of the capabilities of their internal resources (technology and IT staff) and determining what outside support they might need to harness all of their proprietary data and access relevant and valuable external data. These tips can help leaders set off on the right foot:

Understand the Disparate State of Data

In the travel industry in particular, data sets are massive and information moves fast. Consider the volume of transactions occurring each second across e-commerce and social media platforms alone—not to mention the activities taking place operationally. Some data is structured and other is unstructured, and it’s all from disparate sources. Handling the data takes a different kind of computer power than organizations are accustomed to applying.

Embrace a New Approach to Data Processing

As explained in the Davenport study, the traditional data management approach was aimed at segregating data into separate pools for analysis; today, processing data requires new types of databases, new programming languages, and new hardware architectures to bring various data together. It comes down to companies needing access to cheaper and faster data processing that’s built to handle mass quantities of unstructured-to-structured data conversion.

Lean on Partners with Expertise

This translates into companies needing to invest in new data management technologies and teaming up with vendors specialized in helping organizations get in on the big data movement. Technology companies have various solutions—many of them cloud-based—for integrating new tech tools with legacy systems, while ensuring data integrity and process security. Then, once the data management is under control, companies need help developing the skill sets to analyze the data and make sense of it for business purposes.

More Advice For Traveling the Road of Big Data

Making the most of big data isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s a process that every organization in the travel industry needs to strategically enter and constantly refine as its leaders determine what works for their needs, their systems, their employees, and their customers. The Forbes Insights report, Data Driven and Digitally Savvy: The Rise of the New Marketing Organization, provides the following recommendations to company leaders who want their organization to become a data-driven marketing leader:

1. Encourage senior management support and leadership
2. Provide training opportunities for executives and staff across the enterprise
3. Hire and motivate the right people
4. Help business decision makers become comfortable with data
5. Keep the customer front and center
6. Start with small, winnable pilot projects and build from there
7. Approach data-driven marketing strategically
8. Integrate data and make it accessible to all decision makers who need it
9. Build in flexibility, and be ready to change as rapidly as circumstances require
10. Tie success metrics to business results

For more insights, read Big Opportunities for Big Data in the Travel Industry, and look out for more travel industry big data coverage in this blog.