2024 was a banner year for the travel industry as traffic and volumes finally met and surpassed 2019 levels. With the pandemic lockdowns in the past, travel businesses remain optimistic for growth as normalized demand returns to the market. But not all pandemic effects have passed and travel providers are still struggling to hire effective and enthusiastic individuals for frontline teams, the key facet to guest and customer experiences. Decimation of the travel business during global lockdowns and effects of the ‘Great Resignation’ just after COVID-19 has put a real damper on travel and tourism jobs and travel business are still facing challenges in finding quality candidates to fill guest facing jobs as demand ramps back up. When a quality candidate is found, training and onboarding are the next challenges travel providers face as traditional training methods take time and are largely ineffective. Lack of support and training during the initial phase of the individual’s employment is a major factor that contributes to high turnover rates in the travel industry. With a shrinking pool of enthusiastic ‘travel workers’, brands must make accurate hiring decisions and ensure that onboarding and support is effective and complete. New innovations in technology can deliver quality and effective training and onboarding that reduces service gaps and promotes longevity in new hires.

Traditional Training Systems in a Fast Paced Industry

Finding qualified candidates in the travel industry is a challenge in the current labor landscape but the next obstacle for travel businesses is training new hires effectively and getting them ready for the ‘trenches’. Traditional methods of training, such as Binder Based Training, take time and do not provide any real word experience. Engagement with older training systems become more of a concern as human attention spans gradually decrease in the digital age. New hires who have to work through training modules and worksheets are ‘idle’ and unproductive during training time and are unable to apply learned concepts in real time. Self paced and independent learning platforms also have questionable effectiveness as user engagement is generally low in entry level type positions. Exam and quiz type evaluations utilized in traditional training methods may not give a clear picture of the new hire’s progress or ability. Older methods of training do not cater to today’s frontline worker and recent innovations have created opportunities to improve training experiences and effectiveness.

A New Way to Train Travel Workers

The travel industry is a fast paced business and with the current unfriendly hiring landscape, travel providers need training tools that can keep up with increasing demand and expectations from traveling consumers. AI and machine learning models are giving training methods a technology boost and are poised to change the way businesses train new and existing workers. Advanced engagement capabilities and high levels of analytical and processing power can enable AI based training platforms to deliver training at a much faster pace and more effectively than older methods, such as Binder Based Training. Depending on the specific business needs, AI tools can be highly optimized to specifically train new hires as well as existing workers that need upskilling or advanced organizational habits.

Next Level Training, Next Level Benefits

A new training tool is under development at TravelTechnologySolutions.net aptly named hopit-AI-lity (HAIY). This technology is designed solely to train travel workers, utilizing the latest in machine learning, AI and engagement innovations. HAIY is specifically geared towards the travel industry and approaches learning from the guest experience perspective. With its high engagement capabilities and real time evaluation functions, HAIY can train new travel hires at a much faster pace and with deeper understanding of core skills and habits needed to get the job done well and accurately. Recognizing that service gaps can greatly impact guest experiences and overall quality, hopit-AI-lity can train new hires in the field and in real time, deploying them much faster than traditional methods of training. Delivering training through handheld and mobile devices combined with HAIY’s plain language input comprehension ensures new hires always have support available when needed. Brand and job specific skills as well as veteran upskilling can be integrated into the hopit-AI-lity platform, positioning it as an all-in-one, long term training solution. Well trained and supported guest facing frontline staff are essential to the successful operation of any travel business and HAIY can deliver training and skills to achieve and drive exceptional guest experiences and efficiency in day to day operations. .

AI Technology Upgrades the Training Environment

AI backed technology is set to revolutionize many industries and the travel business will benefit from all sides of the business. One of the major challenges for the travel industry is hiring, training and retaining crucial frontline staff that deliver guest experiences and perform day to day operations that are both critical to the business. As the labor pool of qualified and enthusiastic candidates continues to shrink, travel businesses have to make better and more accurate hiring decisions as well offer thorough and in depth training and onboarding processes. Adopting the latest innovations in user engagement, travel businesses can get new hires training faster and more effectively than traditional methods, reducing potential service and quality gaps that can harm travel businesses branding. Technology such as HAIY, can be utilized to train new hires in real time and have a greater impact in delivering essential and foundational information new hires need to start contributing. hopit-AI-lity is an effective onboarding tool, offering support at any time through voice or typed requests. HAIY can also be used to upskill and retrain current staff, helping drive efficiency and productivity from frontline teams. Travel is a fast paced industry and traditional methods of training cannot keep up with the ramping demand for travel and exceptional experiences. hopit-AI-lity can get new hires trained faster and more effectively for an industry set to grow over the next few years.