Is Human Connection a Luxury?
So, a little while ago I wrote a blog questioning what defined luxury travel for you. For some people it is white glove service, for some people an amazing hotel room or spa facility, some people consider fine dining their luxury. Your definition of YOUR luxury can even change over time. At the time I wrote the piece, I considered my luxury to be time. Any place, anywhere, where someone else did everything for me so I could focus time on my family without the distractions of day to day living chores, that was my luxury.
I read this article in the Travel Daily publication this week and it really resonated with me.
“Human connection will become a cornerstone of luxury travel during the era of AI, according to premium tour operator andBeyond. Chief marketing officer Nicole Robinson expects the value of genuine human interaction to increase over the next five to 10 years as AI becomes more embedded in the travel planning and booking process. “The guest should not feel the technology - they should feel the care it makes possible,” she said. According to Robinson, luxury travellers want to feel understood - something that can only be achieved by intuition, empathy and emotional intelligence. The task of high-end travel companies will be to strike a balance between technological innovation and humanity. Robinson explained that this equilibrium is especially crucial in safari and nature-based travel - something andBeyond specialises in - where storytelling and connection to place are vital. “There is a difference between being targeted and being understood,” Robinson said. “One feels automated, the other feels generous. “Technology can help us gather information, but our people are what turn that information into meaning,” she added. JM
Whilst I agree with what this article says, I would personally extend further the concept of the importance of the human connection to go beyond the high-end travel companies. Any travel business, my own included, I truly believe will only stay in business if the human element is front and centre of how the business operates, and how we interact with our clients.
How do you feel when you want to discuss something with your bank, a utility company or telco, and cannot get past the bots? Do you still enjoy the touch and feel of goods you wish to purchase in a real store, talking to a real person who is an expert in their field about what you are about to buy?
AI has a lot of benefits, and the inroads into our lives will continue as the developers cater to our demands and interest. It will get harder and harder to work out what is real and what is not, especially in the online world.
I was at a luxury travel conference about 5 years ago and the opening night presentation was all about AI and what it could do. In hindsight now, I know what they were showing us and why, but it was such a new technology to us at the time that, from what we were shown, many of us did not grasp its relevance and the influence it was going to have on our businesses and our lives moving forward.
So, having said all of that, do you see the Human Connection as a luxury in your life now? Or do you strive for it to be the norm and just use AI as the luxury that can save you time on research, and then allow you to let a real person guide you to the conclusion of your goals? Where should all of this sit in the realm of travel? Maybe you should think twice before you let a bot advise you of your next holiday plans and ask yourself – “but what about the human connection?” It could make your next trip so much more.
Question - is the image on this post lifted from someone's FB page of their holiday and real? Or is it AI generated (and why for bonus points)