Andy Gauld, partner, technology in consulting at Deloitte, suggested there was no “big black box” solution for travel firms’ data needs.

“One solution will not unlock everything you need, and a lot can be done internally with different technologies,” said Gauld during Abta’s Customer Insight in the Travel Industry conference. “How much control do you want to relinquish? Control of insight needs to remain with you – they are your customers.”

Gauld said firms should “pick two or three things to go after” in improving customer experience through the use of data analytics.

He said it was more important to move quickly on these insights than worrying about potential failure, adding: “It’s OK to fail and make a mistake but do it very quickly. Think about proof of concept and do things in two or three weeks. Be prepared to fail and start again.”

He insisted there would always be a need for “human interaction” even with increased automation.

“Automation is here to stay but I don’t believe it will take over,” he said.