According to Goran Mrvoš, CEO of INFOSIT, technology and digital solutions in travel and tourism have played a major role in the success of the industry over the last decades, and will help power future growth
ITB Berlin News spoke to the CEO in an exclusive interview about the continued role of technology in the industry, as well as the trends and innovations to expect looking forward.
What would you say is the place of technology and digital solutions in the travel and tourism industry today?
If you look at any aspect of travel business today, it is intertwined with technology: operations and efficiency, sales and marketing, management of companies and destinations. From smooth online bookings and smart locks to payroll management, you cannot do it without technology. Digitalisation will keep opening up opportunities, but the key question is which ones to focus on.
If you’ve been supplying software to hospitality companies for 21 years, like us, you need to deeply understand their business goals and operations —it is about much more than programming.
Digitising a specific need or process and integrating it with other systems in a smart way can go a long way towards improving efficiency and reducing costs.
What are some of the ways digital solutions can help companies in the travel and hospitality industry optimise their processes and offer customers a more bespoke experience?
Possibilities seem endless—from the orchestration of communication across touchpoints to augmented reality experiences, and convenience in how travellers buy and manage their trips. We know that the personalisation of services and experiences is at the centre of travellers’ satisfaction. Digital solutions can help with that. Software has solved important aspects of loyalty challenges. Infosit DXP, for example, is a central platform underlying direct online sales and marketing of hospitality companies that need to optimise the delivery of experience on multiple digital touchpoints. It integrates booking engines, CRM, ERP, MarTech, and other systems. Through integration, it provides unique loyalty solutions, and powers content delivery across channels and devices—from websites and campaign landing pages to TV sets in rooms and info-screens in lobbies.
Of course, digital solutions allow companies to automate things, to get more visibility and transparency, to be more efficient. At the core operations level, it is often about digitising a specific need or process and integrating it with other systems in a smart way. This can go a long way towards improving efficiency and reducing costs.
What role do data-driven analytics play in developing adapted digital solutions that help encourage consumer engagement and loyalty?
Data is massive and growing exponentially. I think the industry has been successful in collecting it. Now, whether we’ve been equally successful in orchestrating it, and using it to improve engagement and loyalty, is another question. Again, companies need solutions that make sense in their specific circumstances. First you need to discover what you are trying to solve. Then you can build a solution that will address exactly that. The success of an implementation is measured by business outcomes.
Travel technology trends: What’s next?
When asked about his expectations for travel technology trends moving forward, Goran Mrvoš stated that there was likely to be a number of innovations based on generative AI, given its popularity with the industry and investors. He underlined however that not every innovation would represent the next tech revolution: “Some will be successful, some will not be. That’s where the investment and activity is focused right now.” The INFOSIT CEO also highlighted the importance of near-shoring given the current geopolitical circumstances: “Concerns over data protection and security are growing, and partners delivering critical software solutions are under more scrutiny.” He maintained that these concerns would continue to shape the digital ecosystem in the hospitality industry in the coming years.
