What Comes Next for U.S. Consumers, Travel Brands and Messaging in 2017?
Photo Credit: Some travel brands made strides with messaging last year while most others have a long way to go if they expect to meet consumers' expectations. Flickr / Karlis Dambrans
Skift Take
The past year was one when consumers in the U.S. began communicating with major brands via messaging apps more intuitively, travel being no exception. But the time and money it takes to test and invest in this complicated technology is significant and 2017 will likely involve more testing and learning for brands before they fully understand what most travelers want when they open a messaging app and rattle off a question.
There's little doubt that travelers' use of messaging platforms around the world grew throughout 2016 — whether it's Facebook Messenger, Skype, WhatsApp, WeChat, or another service.
What is uncertain is whether travel brands have kept pace and adopted messaging as aggressively as many have trumpeted. Part of this dilemma involves brands still figuring out their general social media strategies and how to have a presence on various platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Along with that, one question that's plagued parts of the travel industry during the past year -- hotels, in particular -- is: Are messaging apps actually strategic for our brand?
There's plenty of discord in brands' responses, with hotels such as Marriott and Hilton investing in messaging in the hotels' native apps for better customer relationship management. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Hyatt, for example, say they're on platforms like Facebook Messenger because they want to be where guests areÂ
