Sabre has gathered industry experts to form the Travel
Expert Index, a group that will give their opinions on several questions each
month.
The panel consists of a variety of members, including
longtime ASTA counsel Paul Ruden, former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall, travel
journalist Rudy Maxa, former Ritz-Carlton public relations vice president
Vivian Deuschl and Miraval Group senior vice president Tom Botts.
This month, the panel was asked about personalization, based
on recent Sabre research revealing that "94% of travelers want to pick and
choose options customized to them."
"The traveler wants to have choice, and data can help
travel brands deliver targeted options that don't overwhelm the traveler with
irrelevant choices," Sabre said.
Members of the Travel Expert Index were asked two questions:
"As the travel industry personalizes, what other industry should we look
to for inspiration," and "Which company do you feel currently excels
in personalization?"
The majority said the travel industry should look to the
technology industry for personalization inspiration, followed by telecommunications,
other, banking and automotive.
Their answers were varied when it came to a company that
excels in personalization, but Amazon came out on top followed by Apple.
Netflix, Google, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Mercedes, Facebook, Fairmont Hotels,
Moore, Bonobos, Spotify and LinkedIn also got mentions.
The Travel Expert Index is expected to be released monthly,
toward the middle of each month, Sabre said.