Booking a trip today requires much more than just reserving your flight or hotel room. People are providing their names, address, telephone number and email address to airlines, hotels, cruise lines, travel agencies and online booking sites. As the travel experience becomes more digital, the amount of information being collected on customers continues to increase.
Recent Carnival data breach has placed more emphasis on how travel companies are managing and securing customer data. While every security incident is different, travel-related security incidents illustrate common issues that organizations have with protecting large amounts of sensitive personal information.
When customers are making reservations and preparing to travel, they are often providing a wide range of information to each company they deal with. Depending upon the type of trip being booked, companies may collect the following types of information: Name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, credit card information, driver's license number, passport number, emergency contacts, travel preferences.
For international travel, additional documentation may be necessary for compliance with immigration, customs and security requirements. Cruise lines, airlines and other travel suppliers must frequently gather and maintain this information in order to facilitate bookings and verify customer identities as well as meet regulatory requirements.
The Digital Transformation of Travel
Online booking has also grown over the last ten years. The travel industry has embraced digital technologies that improve efficiency and convenience for their customers—allowing them to book a trip, manage an itinerary and check-in, upload travel documents and receive updates by accessing various sites and mobile apps.
These digital tools provide consumers with benefits including:
- Faster booking processes
- More personalized travel experiences
- Timely updates on itineraries
- Mobile check-in services/boarding
- Easier access to travel history
However, as digital engagement increases, companies now have to manage larger amounts of customer data than ever before.
The Value of Travel Data
Travel-related data tends to be sensitive because it contains identity, financial and behavior information in one record. Travel companies may store customer records that have any and/or all of the following kinds of items:
- Passport
- Driver’s license
- Contact Info
- Payment Info
- Travel History
- Reservation Info
- Loyalty Program Info
Because these records contain multiple types of personal data, protecting these records is a critical responsibility that all companies in the travel industry are tasked with.
Building Trust Through Transparency
Trust plays a huge role in travel and people expect businesses to responsibly manage their information while providing an easy and seamless travel experience.
Ways companies build customer trust are by:
* Clearly explaining privacy practices
* Implementing security measures
* Providing secure online booking
* Providing tools to protect accounts
* Being transparent about their procedures for handling data
As customers become more aware of data privacy and security issues, transparency is increasingly important in building lasting customer relationships.
What’s Next
Technology will continue to define the future of travel. Digital identification, mobile applications, biometric verification and custom travel services will increasingly be the norm for travel companies.
As travel companies start using new technologies, protecting customers' information will still be very important. Customers want convenience, but they also want to know that their personal information is being safeguarded when companies provide that convenience to them.
The continual conversation around travel data security makes it clear that trust, transparency and responsible data management are necessary elements for today's travel experience. Travel companies will have a competitive advantage as trends evolve to meet the demands of the connected world.
