Big data has the potential to transform how travel companies - including airlines, airports, rail operators and hotels - operate, and make the experience better for both businesses and customers alike.
That's according to a global study commissioned by travel industry IT solutions provider Amadeus, and written by a Harvard professor, which claims exploiting big data can provide travel businesses with better decision-making, greater product innovation and stronger customer relationships.
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However, the report warns that businesses are at a "big data crossroads" and they need to prioritise big data in order to gain the most benefit from high volumes of unstructured data.
The report, authored by Thomas H Davenport, Visiting Professor at Harvard Business School, and co-founder and director of research at the International Institute for Analytics, received input from top travel firms and big data experts from across the globe, including Air France-KLM, Eurostar, Facebook, Marriott Hotels and Munich Airport.
It also provides examples of how some travel operators are already harnessing the power of big data to their advantage, including how Air France-KLM use Hadoop as the basis of a group-wide revenue management system.
The report also warns of challenges that need to be overcome in order for travel firms to take advantage of big data, such as finding those with the skills required to exploit it.
"The travel industry stands at a big data crossroads today, with new technologies and techniques offering the potential to translate increasing volumes of data into higher profits and more efficient operations," said Davenport.
"Some leading companies are pioneering the use of big data and already seeing a huge impact. Airlines, airports, hotels, rail companies and travel sellers need to ask themselves if they have a big data strategy in place, and if it will allow them to be at the forefront of this opportunity."
"It is impossible to overstate the transformative potential of big data, both in terms of improving the travel experience and how the wider industry itself operates," added Hervé Couturier, head of R&D, Amadeus.
"With this in mind, it is perhaps the single biggest opportunity in a generation for travel businesses: to embrace the changing structure of data in order to maximise it. At the same time, big data also offers us the chance to 'put the fun back into travel', which at its very heart is about improving the passenger experience."
