How to deliver High Quality Customer Service in challenging times

Customer service challenges facing the travel sector

The pandemic was a harrowing time for many industries, but the effect of border closures hit the travel sector particularly hard. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the UK economy suffered ￡7 billion in losses because of the shutdown of international travel.

The travel sector is yet to recover and faces a pandemic hangover with issues in recruitment, training and customer service, with the cost-of-living crisis compounding pressures on businesses.

How did we get here?

Many talented and experienced people in the industry left in large numbers because of the pandemic. Airlines, airports, and in-destination tourism-related businesses all made cuts and offered layoffs - they could not afford to continue all of their services in the absence of holidaymakers. Unfortunately, the pandemic simply killed off a lot of enterprises, too.

Now, the businesses that survived face the challenge of delivering customers their expected fantastic experiences without the resources at hand, and with the extra pricing pressures of the cost-of-living crisis to boot.

In this context, what happened in the summer of 2022 was all too predictable. Long queues as a lack of staff struggled to meet renewed demand, undelivered suitcases sitting in hangars at Heathrow, understaffed hotels in-destination, limited local transport services, and insufficient customer service teams to deal with disgruntled customers.

As the busy summer season dissipates into the quieter winter months, many in the industry will be wondering how they can avoid repeat scenes next year.

So, what are the two main issues obstructing the travel sector from better services next summer?

Recruitment issues

In 2019, there were an incredible 1.9 billion international trips made globally and the travel sector accounted for almost 1 in 10 jobs worldwide.

However, estimates suggest that the global travel and tourism market lost roughly 62 million jobs in 2020.

The WTTC has warned the issue remains a threat to the industry as one in fourteen openings in the UK remain vacant. Experts predict the hotel, entertainment, and aviation sectors in the UK to be the worst hit, with vacancies of 16% (one in eight), 18% (one in six), and 11% (one in nine), respectively.

Leaders in the industry describe how difficult it is to fill positions quickly. Many roles, notably in the aviation sector, call for skilled workers, and others, like airport security, require extensive background checks.

Also, limited budgets for travel companies remain an issue despite the revived demand for travel. Many in the tourism industry are struggling to make budgets stretch to invest in things like customer service teams. The effect of the cost-of-living crisis and the rise of inflation only serves to tighten budgets further, particularly for those businesses especially affected by rising energy costs.

As we’ve seen, this talent shortage results in a below expectations experience for customers. Customers were looking forward to enjoying their holidays after a lengthy absence and the forced lockdowns. On finding experiences falling short of expectations, customers understandably wanted to voice their frustrations. A deluge of customer questions and complaints hit the travel sector over the summer. Those who complained found the customer service experience lacking.

Customer service

Disgruntled customers, already frustrated by disappointing experiences, simply could not get through to overloaded customer service teams.

Here is a logical consequence of travel businesses running on skeleton staff throughout the summer.

According to a report by Travel Daily Media, the tourism sector now has the second worst reputation for customer service across all industries. It’s easy to see how a succession of compounding factors has led to this deteriorating reputation.

We know that customer service is vital in the modern, competitive marketplace. Customers expect efficient, personalised, empathetic support from the brands they interact with. It’s a fundamental necessity for businesses to build connections with their customers through meaningful dialogue. Businesses must deliver a customer service experience that reflects the oft-used adage that the customer is a business’ greatest asset.

This issue is a significant obstacle for the tourism sector to overcome as brands must repair their reputations by offering stellar, empathetic customer service to regain loyalty.

Outsourcing - a possible solution?

By choosing to outsource their customer service, travel companies can access some of the world's most capable, knowledgeable, and sympathetic customer service personnel..

For companies struggling with a skills shortage, outsourcing can be both a short-term and long-term solution that will enable them to deliver the top-notch customer support that customers desire.

Travel businesses need to mend their relationships with consumers. Having skilled customer service staff available to participate in meaningful conversation and empathetically comprehend problems can go a long way toward appeasing disgruntled customers.

Sigma Connected provides expertly outsourced customer care as a practical response to the problems currently facing tourism businesses.

To learn more about the issues facing the tourism industry and the advantages of outsourcing as a possible solution, check out our full report.?