Travel businesses urged to do more to build trust over data
Travel companies are being urged to do more to prove they can be trusted with people’s data if they want to build confidence among customers.
The call comes from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)’s travel group after research revealed most consumers still don’t think businesses treat their data in an honest and transparent way, despite the introduction of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May.
Almost half (42%) of the 1,500 consumers surveyed said they had received communications from businesses not permitted to contact them in the six months since the new data rules came into force.
This is a marginal decrease in comparison to the 48% in the six months before GDPR.
Only a quarter of people (24%) believe that businesses treat people’s personal data in an honest and transparent way, only slightly higher than the 18% when GDPR took effect.
Additionally, half (50%) of people surveyed believe that the introduction of GDPR has made them more likely to unsubscribe, rather than simply ignore communications from businesses or consciously not opt in at all.
CIM’s travel group chairman Keith Cartwright said: "The festive period is one of the travel industry’s busiest periods as consumers look ahead to the New Year and begin planning their holidays.
"But the CIM survey shows that trust in firms to use consumer data responsibly remains very low and has hardly changed since the introduction of GDPR.
"These results are a stark warning to any organisation which uses email marketing to leverage sales – a key tool in the travel sector.
"Organisations that have earned consumers’ trust will engage with their customers and build brand loyalty – those who don’t will get left behind."
Trust is highest among the younger generations but only 47% of respondents know their rights as a consumer in relation to data protection.
The research was carried out by One Poll between November 19 and 21 2018, across a nationally representative survey of 1,500 respondents.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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