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Break content speed limits: How Icelandair uses tech to compete with giants

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<p>The travel industry is finally bouncing back after the COVID-19 pandemic as people return to leisure travel in droves, booking everything from family vacations and destination weddings to long-awaited cruises and getaways of a lifetime.</p><p>While revenue growth is welcome news for travel brands, consumer expectations have heightened. Travelers are savvier than ever and want travel brands to meet their needs through every customer journey stage. Research indicates they are willing to pay more for great experiences.</p><p>Competition is stiff among travel industry brands that have weathered the pandemic, and much is at stake. According to <a href="https://www.statista.com/outlook/mmo/travel-tourism/worldwide">Statista</a>, global travel industry revenue is projected to reach more than $850 billion in 2023 and $1,016 billion by 2027, when it’s forecast that 74% of total travel revenue will be generated from online sales alone.&nbsp;</p><p>In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/solutions/what-is-composable" target="_self"><strong>composable digital experience platforms</strong></a> (DXPs) powered by <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/headless-cms" target="_self"><strong>headless CMS</strong></a> can enable travel brands to rise to the task of delivering unmatched customer experiences.</p><h2>Travel has evolved and continues to change</h2><p>According to the <a href="https://www.uschamber.com/on-demand/economy/marriott-ceo-state-of-the-travel-industry-trends-outlook-2023">U.S. Chamber of Commerce State of the Travel Industry in 2023</a>, the travel industry has proven resilient despite changing significantly since the pandemic. For instance, while leisure travel is recovering nicely, business travel has been slower at returning to pre-pandemic levels and isn’t quite there yet.</p><p>Booking windows are also much shorter now, indicating that some travelers are wary of unforeseen events that might occur if they book their trips too far in advance. More people are also taking “blended” trips for multiple purposes. They may combine business and leisure activities into one vacation, for example.</p><p><a href="https://amadeus.com/en">Amadeus</a>, a leading travel technology company that provides search, pricing, booking, and other services, predicts travel engagement will continue to be enhanced by virtual online experiences that give potential travelers a taste of what their trips will be like before they open their wallets.</p><p>And when they decide to book, alternative forms of payment like Apple Pay and Google Pay will increasingly become more mainstream for travel-related expenses, from upgrading flights to paying for in-flight meals and train tickets.</p><h2>Why travel brands need a composable DXP</h2><p>To stand out from the competition, the right DXP with a headless CMS can enable a travel brand to deliver engaging customer experiences at every stage of the buyer journey now and into the future.</p><p>With a headless CMS, where the front end is independent of the static back end, a brand’s marketing teams can quickly make changes on all the channels where they engage their audience without any technical expertise or fear of impacting functionality.</p><p>An API-first composable DXP can be integrated with internal and external systems that connect multiple data sources for more seamless content delivery and personalized experiences. When integrated with analytics tools, for example, a DXP gives marketers the speed and agility to react quickly to customer feedback and unpredicted changes. These can range from weather-related closures flight updates, and booking cancellations.</p><p>By integrating <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/cms-guides/localization-strategy-global-content-operation" target="_self">localization</a> and analytics tools, content can automatically be delivered in the correct language based on the user's location and in the correct format for their device.&nbsp;</p><p>Composable DXPs also enable travel organizations to swap out functionality and design elements as technology evolves into the future. As the name implies, an organization can “compose” its unique tech stack by choosing the best solutions and services for its DXP based on its current business goals and then changing up as often as needed. The old days of taking down outdated websites and building new ones every few years to change design and functionality become a thing of the past.&nbsp;</p><h2>How three very different travel brands benefit from composable headless CMS</h2><p>Here’s how three real-life travel brands benefited after switching from legacy platforms to composable DXPs built on the Contentstack headless CMS.&nbsp;</p><h3>Golfbreaks</h3><p>Golfbreaks, a leading UK-based golf vacation company, needed a consistent source of truth for content across multiple sites, and its previous CMS wasn’t up to the challenge. Another issue was accessing and formatting data to be leveraged by other applications.</p><h4>Case study</h4><div class="cs-table vertical borders"><table style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><tbody><tr><td>After transitioning to Contentstack, data was made accessible and structured for use in a weekly newsletter and marketing emails via Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Overall, the organization benefited from 90% faster publishing times and a 70% reduction in developer time. To learn more, read the entire case study, "<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/case-study/golfbreaks-shoots-a-hole-in-one-with-contentstack" target="_blank">Golfbreaks shoots a hole in one with Contentstack</a>."</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3>Icelandair</h3><p>After switching to a headless CMS, Icelandair saw a 90% decrease in the time it took to push out promotions, and it was also able to simplify integrations between the airline and its translation platform. The result was a 70% faster translation delivery rate and a more straightforward process for the content team.</p><h4>Case study</h4><div class="cs-table vertical borders"><table style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><tbody><tr><td>The airline’s content team gained the capability to manage multiple languages for 16 locations, all through an automated process without leaving the CMS. Translation entries are sent within the CMS by simply publishing them to a separate environment and selecting the desired languages. After translation, the content system updates the environment’s entries as localized versions. To learn more, read the full case study, “<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/case-study/icelandair-chose-headless-cms-integrations-microservices" target="_blank">Icelandair improves automation, workflows, and localization with Contentstack</a>.”</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h3>REWE Group</h3><p>The REWE Group, a diversified retail and tourism cooperative based in Europe, needed to dismantle a Java-based, monolithic platform that had undergone a decade’s worth of customizations and extensions.</p><h4>Case study</h4><div class="cs-table vertical borders"><table style="background-color: rgb(252, 252, 252);"><tbody><tr><td>After taking a phased approach to implementing Contentstack, the user experience of content managers significantly improved, as they could make real-time edits without developer support. The result has been improved consistency and quality of content coupled with faster publishing. To learn more, read the full case study, “<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/case-study/rewe-group-accelerates-content-publishing-with-headless-cms">REWE group accelerates content publishing with headless CMS</a>.”</td></tr></tbody></table></div><h2>Key considerations before making the switch to a composable DXP</h2><p>Transitioning from legacy to a composable platform can be complex, so there are some essential things to consider before moving. First, ensure you have buy-in from leadership and stakeholders on business, marketing, and IT teams. A shift in mindset is just as necessary as choosing the right implementation partner.&nbsp;</p><p>Secondly, analyze your existing tech stack, channels, and business goals to determine what areas to focus on first. Decisions should be made to prioritize rollouts based on which content improvements will significantly impact customer or user experience, existing maintenance costs of your old platform, and other factors.</p><p>Next, create a roadmap that outlines your implementation plan. A phased approach that tackles key challenges first for the most significant return on investment is ideal. For instance, if your main website is outdated and causing you to lose business, focus on that first. Start by integrating the must-have solutions initially, then roll out additional features and tackle other sites or channels over time.&nbsp;</p><p>Fortunately, one of the most significant benefits of switching to a composable DXP with headless CMS is implementing phased rollouts via APIs without impacting functionality and features set up in the back end. In short, the front and back end are decoupled so they can be developed independently of each other while still being able to communicate via APIs.</p><p>Last but not least, be sure to find the right implementation partner and platform. Consider previous experience and expertise. Be sure to read testimonials and case studies from their existing customers. Also, ensure the platform supports the customization and integrations required to meet your biggest challenges.</p><h2>Learn more</h2><p>Learn more about how a headless CMS can help your business in our guide, “<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/cms-guides/headless-cms/"><strong>What is a headless CMS</strong></a>?”</p><p><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/request-demo/"><strong>Schedule a free demo</strong></a><strong> </strong>to see how Contentstack’s headless CMS can help your travel brand deliver exceptional customer experiences.</p><h2>About Contentstack &amp; AWS</h2><p><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/">Contentstack</a> deployed on Amazon Web Services (AWS) allows customers to harness the full power of cloud through industry leading AWS security and scalability paired with pre-built AWS integrations and extensions - making it easier than ever to implement and manage composable digital experiences at scale. Our recent addition of Amazon Bedrock enables Contentstack users to supercharge their digital experiences by leveraging advanced AI models from Amazon, Anthropic, and AI21 Labs, along with unlocking a host of new generative AI capabilities within Contentstack.</p>

Blog_AAH_Travel

Why travel brands need composable DXPs

<h2>Why the travel industry should embrace composable technology</h2><p>Composable technology and a headless CMS can revolutionize your travel business with the following benefits:</p><ol><li>Enhanced customer experience (CX)</li><li>Flexibility, personalization, and agility</li><li>Scalability and adaptability</li><li>The power of headless CMS in travel</li><li>Improved content management</li><li>Real-world success with headless CMS</li></ol><p>Given the benefits and proven success of composable technology in the travel industry, travel companies must consider implementing this approach to stay competitive and meet evolving customer demands.</p><p><strong>Keep reading to learn more!</strong></p><p>The essence of the travel industry is customer experience (CX). As this experience becomes digital, the travel industry witnesses new roadblocks. The industry has long relied on creating highly personalized travel plans, but the rapid adoption of digital technologies has brought a landmark shift.</p><p>Every person has a preference for how to connect with hotels, restaurants, and airline companies and how they complete trip reservations. While the travel industry has always remained at the forefront with the adoption of digital technologies, customer expectations, and preferences are changing faster than anticipated.</p><p>This calls for a solution like “Composable Technology” that provides digital experiences like never before. This includes providing personalized recommendations, a 360-degree spin set of hotel rooms, and accurate content creation for trip reservations.</p><p>Composable technology is reshaping how travel companies operate while ensuring customers receive unprecedented flexibility, personalization, and agility.</p><p>This article looks at how composable technology like digital experience platforms (DXP) powered by headless content management systems (CMS) can empower the travel industry to deliver top-notch personalized customer experience.</p><h2>What is composable technology?</h2><p><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/glossary/composable-technology">Composable technology</a> is the new approach to constructing, assembling, and managing different software solutions. This technology enables travel companies to assemble their systems from relatively independent modular components. They can use ‘n’ number of component combinations that provide them scalability, agility, and flexibility.</p><p>In short, composable tech empowers travel companies to</p><ul><li><p>Respond to customers’ demands rapidly</p></li><li><p>Offer personalized solutions</p></li><li><p>Adapt to current market trends</p></li><li><p>Release competitive pressure</p></li></ul><p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c9Z9sYAnTkI?si=8L7ZLaVI7AKeyo4r" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p><h2>The rise of headless CMS in travel</h2><p>When discussing composable technology, it’s hard to overlook headless CMS and digital experience platforms (DXPs) as they are the two sides of the same coin.</p><p>Contrary to the traditional CMS, where the backend and the frontend are tightly coupled in a single technical area, a headless CMS separates these two layers.</p><p>This structure makes the headless CMS a breeze for marketing and content teams to create and store content in reusable modules. With a headless CMS, even developers can use any technology to deliver content to any channel.</p><p>Explore how a headless CMS can help your travel company in our guide, “<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/cms-guides/headless-cms/">What is a headless CMS?</a>”</p><p><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/headless-cms" target="_self">Headless CMS</a> enables travel companies to make quick content, keeps all content fresh and up-to-date, allows integration with other apps, and ensures consistent content delivery across multiple digital channels. This CMS ensures travel companies create a hyper-personalized experience, which results in higher customer satisfaction.</p><p>Let’s understand using a case study:</p><h3><strong>Case study</strong></h3><p><strong>How did Contentstack’s headless CMS help Icelandair manage 12 languages for 16 locations without leaving their CMS?</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.icelandair.com/">Icelandair</a> was using DotCMS, which could not support the company’s modular approach to content design. Its batch publishing took more than 30 minutes, and it was difficult to connect with different applications.</p><p>So, Icelandair shifted to Contentstack’s headless CMS. As a result, Icelandair’s content team published more frequently and timely without any technical issues. The company cut the time to push out promotions by over 90 percent.&nbsp;</p><p>Icelandair could send translation entries directly into the CMS. This helped the team publish content in a separate environment after selecting the desired languages.</p><h3>What do our customers say?</h3><p><em>“DotCMS was not natively headless, and the system did not allow you to save your work and preview the results. Anytime you posted a blog or a page, you couldn't work on one locale and then push that up; you'd have to wait until you were sure that no one was working on the item in other languages. It pulled everything — all locales, all relationships. It took forever.”</em>&nbsp;</p><p>Hallur ﬁór Halldórsson, UX Writer and Content Designer at Icelandair</p><p>To learn more,<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/case-study/icelandair-chose-headless-cms-integrations-microservices"><strong>read the full case study</strong></a>, “Icelandair improves automation, workflows, and localization with Contentstack.”</p><h2>Digital experience platform (DXP) in the travel industry</h2><p>Let’s now focus on the other important side: digital experience platforms or DXPs.</p><p>Did you know that <a href="https://media.bain.com/bainweb/PDFs/cms/hotTopics/closingdeliverygap.pdf">80% of companies</a> believe they deliver excellent customer experience, but only 8% of customers agree? Shocking?</p><p>That’s why you need a composable DXP powered by a headless architecture. It helps you deliver an engaging and consistent experience at every step of the customer journey point.</p><p>But <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/cms-guides/the-ultimate-guide-to-digital-experience-platforms">what is a digital experience platform</a>?</p><p>A digital experience platform manages digital experiences on a range of digital touchpoints.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/marketing/glossary/digital-experience-platform-dxp-">Gartner defines a digital experience platform</a> as “an integrated set of core technologies that support the composition, management, delivery, and optimization of contextualized digital experiences.”</p><p>In simple terms, DXP offers travel companies a technology stack to foster a long-lasting customer relationship. Apart from this, DXP enhances experiences in the travel industry through:</p><h3>Unified customer journey</h3><p>DXP provides a consistent experience, regardless of the digital touchpoint used for customer interactions. This unified journey increases customer loyalty.</p><h3>Personalization</h3><p>Today, most travel companies struggle to provide personalized experiences. DXP leverages advanced data such as customer behavior, preferences, and historical interactions. This helps a travel company deliver customized travel plans and offer promotions based on the type of hotel or airline the customer prefers.</p><h3>Multi-channel integration</h3><p>With a <a href="https://www.contentstack.com/composable-dxp" target="_self">composable DXP</a>, customers can seamlessly transition from one digital touchpoint to another. For instance, if customers start booking a trip on a mobile app, they can continue on a website without losing travel-related information. This experience reduces friction and earns the travel company a loyal customer.</p><h3>Efficient booking process</h3><p>As a composable DXP focuses on user-centric design, it creates booking platforms that are intuitive and easy to use. This ensures customers can interact with the booking system without facing any hassle. An efficient booking process reduces the likelihood of abandoned transactions.</p><h2>Integrating composable technology into digital experiences for travel companies</h2><p>With composable technology, travel brands can increase their scalability, agility, and innovation.&nbsp;</p><p>Here’s how travel companies can make composable technology part and parcel of their digital experiences:</p><h3>Align with modular architecture</h3><p>Composable technology aligns with the modular architecture of DXPs. As a result, travel companies can integrate specific functionalities. For instance, using composable tech, companies can incorporate a new booking system module in their existing architecture. This helps companies meet the changing business requirements.</p><h3>Provide support with agile development</h3><p>With this technology, travel companies can adjust to dynamic market conditions. For instance, travel brands can use real-time travel alerts during unforeseen circumstances. This shows their agile response to changing conditions.</p><h3>Ensure customization</h3><p>Brands can customize, personalize, and expand their digital offerings with composable tech. For instance, brands can customize the user interface. It helps them recommend travel destinations based on the customer’s profile. These will, in turn, draw consumers and create word-of-mouth publicity.</p><h3>Enhance scalability</h3><p>During the holiday, when traffic spikes, travel companies can use composable architecture. Because this architecture integrates with other services and systems, it supports the changing booking requirements. This avoids any delays, especially during the high booking season.</p><h2>How does composable tech provide personalized experiences?</h2><p>No marketing and content strategy is complete without personalization. Yet personalization is only as good as the data it is based on. Most companies use siloed content, data, and analytics even without knowing. As a result, companies often rely on data that might not deliver valuable insights.</p><p>That’s why travel companies need to embrace composable tech.</p><p>As it integrates various services and systems, composable tech provides numerous data points, including customer, content, and experience data.</p><p>With these data points, travel companies are better positioned to understand and decode customer preferences, behavior, and purchase history. Marketing and content teams can use these insights to create customized offers and ensure a seamless experience.</p><p>For instance, composable architectures may integrate a recommendation engine, a customer relationship management (CRM) system, and a booking system. Based on the booking information from the booking engine and customer interaction information from the CRM system, the recommendation engine suggests hyper-personalized offerings. As data is no longer isolated, travel companies can use it to create an enjoyable brand experience.</p><p>Instead of bombarding customers with unnecessary recommendations and offers, composable tech sends the right offer to the customer at the right time.</p><h2>Omnichannel strategies for enhanced engagement</h2><p>Did you know that <a href="https://blog.softtek.com/en/omnichannel-strategies-help-retain-89-of-customers">omnichannel strategies help companies</a> retain 9 out of 10 customers? While companies that don’t use these strategies retain only 3 out of 10 customers?</p><p>This makes an omnichannel approach necessary for travel companies looking to provide curated experiences and generate positive customer sentiments.</p><p>An omnichannel strategy focuses on providing a highly personalized cross-channel journey.</p><p>For instance, a customer interaction can begin on a mobile app and continue on a website. It can transition to a customer service call, all while ensuring a coherent and personalized journey.</p><p>But how does composable technology help?</p><p>Travel companies can implement these strategies using composable technology and provide a seamless and consistent experience across digital channels.</p><h3>Role of Composable Technology Omnichannel Strategies</h3><p>Composable technology eliminates siloed data and seamlessly integrates data collected from different channels. This allows travel brands to understand the customer journey better and optimize interactions at every touchpoint.</p><p>Composable tech's adaptable and flexible nature allows travel brands to connect different digital channels to fulfill ever-changing requirements. For instance, a travel company using composable tech can integrate a new website or app feature. They can do it without disrupting the customer’s experience on other digital platforms.</p><p>Additionally, composable tech helps personalize interactions throughout the customer's journey.</p><p>Whether a customer explores destination options on a website or checks reviews on a mobile app, composable tech ensures that each interaction resonates with the customer. This gives rise to a personalized and engaging experience.</p><h2>FAQs</h2><h3>What is composable technology, and how does it benefit travel brands?</h3><p>Composable technology is the new approach to constructing, assembling, and managing different software solutions. Composable technology enables travel companies to assemble their systems from relatively independent modular components. It offers travel companies with agility, scalability, and flexibility.</p><h3>How does headless CMS contribute to a better digital experience?</h3><p>With a headless CMS, content creators can create content without worrying about the presentation layers. The headless CMS then delivers this content to different digital channels and platforms using the application programming interfaces (APIs).</p><h3>What are the key components of an effective omnichannel strategy?</h3><p>The key components of an effective omnichannel strategy are a seamless customer journey, omnichannel integration, and personalized customer experience.</p><h3>Can small travel agencies benefit from composable technology?</h3><p>Yes, even small travel agencies can benefit from composable technology. Composable tech is scalable and flexible, which allows companies to innovate, deliver exceptional customer experience, and adapt to the changing market demands.</p><h3>How does composable tech improve customer engagement and satisfaction?</h3><p>Composable tech improves customer engagement and satisfaction through omnichannel strategies, personalization, and swift responses to market demands.</p><h3>What are the key differences between traditional and headless CMS in Travel?</h3><p>Traditional CMS stores content in predefined web templates. Meanwhile, headless CMS separates the front and back end and stores content separately. With headless CMS, it becomes easier to deliver content on various channels.</p><h3>How can composable technology transform customer experience in travel?</h3><p>Composable technology transforms customer experience in travel through personalized experiences, enhanced flexibility, and reduced costs.</p><h2>The future of travel starts with composable technology</h2><p>Composable technology is vital to travel companies’ search for leadership in the digital domain. This tech provides agility and flexibility and offers customers a positive customer experience.</p><p>Embrace the composable tech and give your customers a modern and smooth travel experience. In the future, composable tech will undergo massive digital transformation. As a result, it will focus on customers and deliver curated experiences in a dynamic travel sector.</p><p><a href="https://www.contentstack.com/request-demo/"><strong>Schedule a free demo</strong></a><strong> </strong>of Contentstack’s composable DXP and see how it can assist your travel firm in winning more customers.</p>

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