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![[Video] Two Paradigm Shifts in Travel and Three Ways Airlines Can Drive Engagement – Presentation from Aviation Outlook Africa Summit](https://simpliflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/screenshot.jpg.webp)
We had the excellent opportunity to deliver a presentation on customer engagement at the Aviation Outlook Africa summit that took place at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa July 11th through 13th. This proved to be one of the most eye-opening conferences for me personally, as it was interesting to have a two-way conversation with African airlines about the social era of customer engagement in a country (South Africa) in which just 10 percent of the population has reliable Internet access (a number that is even lower in most other parts of the continent).
The shifts in travel, and how to drive engagement
My presentation, “Two Paradigm Shifts in Travel and Three Ways to Drive Customer Engagement,” looked into how social media is changing the travel industry and what airlines and airports can do to leverage social tools to build stronger customer relationships. Like in any relationship, customer loyalty is bred from two-way communication, and while social media has given individual customers a stronger voice than ever before, it also provides airlines with an effective way to engage and understand them.
In this presentation, we illustrate how the “cult” is becoming more important than the customer, and how the traveler life cycle is evolving. While airlines are currently very good with the booking and travel processes, the new paradigm requires airlines to zoom out and understand the potential customer touch points that exist prior to booking and after travel. After introducing these concepts, we get into examples of how some forward-thinking airlines and other companies are embracing social media to accomplish this.
Please watch my full presentation below. For the areas where the projection screen behind me is not clear, I am also embedding the prezi presentation that was my visual accompaniment on stage. I’d love your feedback in the comments section, and over on Twitter (@airticulate).