Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest Muslim population in the world. That is why Ramadan is also a busy time for the travel industry. Millions of people are traveling to their hometowns in the time for Lebaran due to the ‘Mudik’ tradition, and most of them leaving the big cities for a few days or a week.
At this moment sales of planes, trains, and buses ticket reach its peak season. And as Indonesians finalize their plans to return home and visit extended family, travel-related searches reach their peak, even based on Google, 72% of searches come from mobile devices. Transportation searches pick up during the last week of Ramadan, while hotel and destination search peak during the multi-day Eid break.
When we talk about ‘Mudik’ tradition or traveling on Lebaran, these both are closely related to ticket booking and hotel reservation. Today, in the digital era we all know we can book our own flights and hotels online, compare prices, access price predictions, read the reviews, and much more with just one click away on the mobile phone.
According to marketing expert Frederic Gonzalo, 31% of travelers will plan their trip from a mobile device. In addition, making a purchase through mobile devices is one of the current main trends. As messaging apps are designed for mobile use, chatbots are an ideal tool for reaching millions of consumers in this Ramadan and Lebaran season.
By tapping into this annual tradition, your travel business can use a chatbot to simplify travel arrangements and streamline business procedures. A travel chatbot can help ‘The Homecomer’ audience so they can purchase transportation tickets and reserve a hotel in an easier way through their favorite messaging apps, helps them navigate their journey home, allows travelers to get real-time traffic information, as well as find things like rest areas and mosques.
It’s even possible to use the chatbot to find different routes to avoid the worst traffic, which will hopefully make a difference for many this year. As many consumers are already using messaging apps, there’s no learning curve. They can simply message the chatbot with the information they are looking for.
From the moment a traveler searches for and books a trip. Your travel chatbot can take care of their needs and provide them with positive and memorable experiences. Thanks to its features, a travel chatbot can offer resourceful assistance to customers provide an interactive service based on Natural Language (NL) while economizing processes. They can also educate consumers on current and upcoming travel promotions based on past conversations and purchase history.
In conclusion, it’s your golden time for your travel business to start implementing chatbot technology to the core of the digital strategy of your business. By using chatbots to respond to traveler inquiries in this Ramadan and Lebaran season, your business can improve the efficiency and productivity of your staff, concentrate on other areas of opportunity such as mapping out plans to increase repeat business and gaining loyalty for future travels.