Greg Plifka, Managing Director at Allianz Partners Hong Kong, not too long ago shared his insights with us on how firms are leveraging revolutionary options to reshape buyer expectations and experiences.
Plifka, a distinguished insurance coverage skilled with 18 years of in depth expertise in the Asia-Pacific area, specialises in embedded insurance coverage options the place related insurance coverage covers will be supplied alongside the enterprise accomplice’s core product inside their present buyer journey.
Under his management, Allianz Partners cemented its place as a number one insurance coverage supplier for revolutionary options to the automotive, travel/airline, retail, and monetary service industries in Hong Kong.
At the similar time, Plifka’s focus on constructing easy, digital insurance coverage packages and fostering a customer-centric tradition led to the creation of quite a few long-standing partnerships, making him and a key contributor to the firm’s continued success.
As a choose at the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards Hong Kong 2025, he delved into how travel suppliers can improve their choices by partnering with trade gamers and the way know-how developments reworked the trade to create unique and localised experiences.
With your in depth expertise, may you elaborate on how revolutionary options form buyer experiences in the travel, leisure, and hospitality sectors?
Following the pandemic, we’re persevering with to see a digital transformation of travel and tourism, pushed by technological modifications and developments which have redefined buyer expectations. Travellers of right now need options and providers which are only a click on away, offering seamless travel experiences.
Two key areas the place revolutionary options are taking part in an enormous half are personalisation and fixing what we name ‘travel tension’, in the end bettering buyer experiences and boosting loyalty. When it involves personalisation, it’s about synthetic intelligence (AI) and information analytics. For instance, offering airline or hospitality employees with visitor particulars and preferences at their fingertips in order that they’ll present options or presents based mostly on these distinctive wants.
Travel stress is what all travellers face all through their journey – from planning, researching, reserving, going and even when having fun with the journey itself. What we’ve witnessed is that, particularly after the pandemic, there’s plenty of uncertainty – from vacation spot option to unexpected circumstances like cancelled flights, misplaced baggage, and even well being emergencies while abroad. What travellers need is for travel suppliers to scale back this stress, and revolutionary instruments will be a part of the resolution. For instance, one in every of the instruments Allianz Partners presents is Allyz, a one-stop-shop digital platform which offers travel recommendation and experience together with built-in providers. Features embrace vacation spot itineraries and real-time flight and security data.
In your opinion, what are the most vital challenges at present dealing with firms in the travel and hospitality industries, and the way can they deal with these challenges successfully?
Consumers of right now have gotten extra demanding, anticipating environment friendly and intuitive experiences that ship prompt gratification. This immediacy has led to larger competitors amongst travel suppliers for loyalty, prompting firms to focus on eliminating friction by way of know-how while sustaining a human contact in travel providers.
Since the pandemic, folks have additionally turn into warier earlier than travelling with issues similar to getting sick or caught in a rustic resulting from sudden lockdowns, including to travel stress. Industry gamers must ease these anxieties and supply peace of thoughts.
To assist mitigate traveller issues, travel suppliers can accomplice with ecosystem companions similar to travel insurers, as the proper insurance policies can deal with a few of these anxieties and reassure travellers from the begin. Insurers like Allianz Partners present worth by way of insurance policies that assist shoppers throughout unexpected circumstances similar to flight disruptions and cancellations. We supply prospects 24/7 assist with help groups throughout greater than 70 international locations, offering high-tech and human-touch experiences. When it involves our product improvement, prospects are at the centre of every part we do, and we use their suggestions and the newest market information to form our product improvement.
Given your confirmed monitor report, how do you suppose robust B2B2C partnerships contribute to the development and success of companies in the trade?
Partnerships throughout the travel ecosystem are key to making sure seamlessness, which travellers of right now are demanding. Industry gamers must work throughout silos in order that collectively we will help travellers have memorable experiences that can maintain them coming again. What’s essential is that manufacturers are leveraging partnerships which are complementary to one another, the place they’ve like-minded approaches to innovation, and the place they’ll proceed to collaborate to search out methods so as to add worth to the buyer.
As an trade, the extra we will do for travellers to make their lives simpler and supply options in a well timed method alongside the manner, the extra loyal they are going to turn into. For instance, firms that accomplice with travel insurance coverage suppliers to boost buyer care can differentiate themselves by providing peace of thoughts all through the complete travel expertise, eliminating travel-related issues together with disruptions and unexpected circumstances, similar to flight delays, private emergencies, or baggage points.
In reality, our prospects have instructed us that coupling travel insurance coverage with their core merchandise or choices resulted in higher conversions of their core product.
What function do you imagine technological transformations play in influencing the travel trade?
Technology has revolutionised travel and made many elements of the journey much more handy, similar to empowering travellers to plan and ebook their complete journeys from the consolation of their properties or on the go, managing flights, transport, lodging and itinerary choices.
This additionally makes communication extra prompt, and travellers can simply contact service suppliers to troubleshoot any points proper as they crop up. This additionally means, nevertheless, that buyer assist have to be extra available to are inclined to world travellers who could have issues and are available from totally different time zones, as they are going to demand responses immediately or inside minutes, with restricted ready time.
Technology also can assist form the trade by serving to to bridge gaps in phrases of labour shortages and improve travel experiences. In a 2023 research by Deloitte, half of the motels and 99 % of airport managers surveyed stated that they undertake new applied sciences to deal with employees shortages they expertise. It additionally discovered that 74 % of airport respondents and 57 % of resort normal managers count on automation to spice up visitor experiences and in the end their backside strains. Fortunately, instruments like AI will help to hurry up responsiveness and servicing by assembly prospects proper the place they’re.
With extra seamless communication and larger connectivity on-line, travel experiences turn into a two-way road. Technological transformation has supplied travellers with a voice to share overtly about their experiences for different shoppers to learn, so there’s much more transparency and openness internationally now. What is essential is that as phrases can unfold shortly through platforms like social media, trade gamers should keep conscious of what prospects and travellers are saying, to allow them to act simply as shortly on suggestions and issues.
Looking forward, what future developments in travel and hospitality do you suppose will current the biggest alternatives for progress and innovation?
Sustainability is more and more high of thoughts for the travel trade, together with travellers who count on travel suppliers to deal with it. Consumers have gotten more and more eco-conscious and open to firms that supply eco-friendly alternate options. For instance, airways can supply cleaner gasoline through Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or give vacationers different choices to buy carbon offsets. Meanwhile, motels may focus on native produce to assist surrounding communities and reduce their carbon footprint. With shoppers being extra aware of the impression their actions have on the atmosphere, the trade has alternatives to reply with options that meet shoppers’ eco-conscious wants.
Their selections are additionally fuelled by wanting genuine and distinctive experiences, pushed by post-pandemic attitudes. Travellers are more and more transferring away from standard tourism, looking for extra personally significant locations and offbeat experiences.
Around 49 % of world travellers search immersion in native cultures and merchandise, they usually need personalised experiences and actions. To meet this demand, travel suppliers can curate extra native experiences by way of collaborations with different trade companions. For instance, motels can accomplice with tour operators and nationwide parks to design unique packages.
With distant working right here to remain for the foreseeable future, one other alternative is focussing on digital nomads as the quantity is predicted to extend. These people travel freely and work remotely from throughout the world, seeing themselves extra as short-term residents than vacationers. Remote staff could not essentially be particular person travellers, they usually could carry their relations like their companions and youngsters. Hospitality gamers may take a look at digital nomad packages, which will be coupled with curated luxurious or wellness experiences for these staff to unwind on their days off.
As a choose at the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards Hong Kong 2025, what are the main standards you’ll use to guage the nominees?
A key criterion for me can be how nominees want to redefine trade requirements and elevate buyer experiences. Travelling can current sudden challenges for vacationers and travel suppliers who’re capable of cut back travel stress go a good distance in bettering the expertise of travellers, turning them into returning company. With enhanced buyer care, travellers usually tend to have peace of thoughts by way of their travel expertise in order that they’ll focus on having an unforgettable journey.
Innovation and the use of know-how is one other space to think about, as know-how will current infinite alternatives for nominees to ship high-quality experiences. Examples of know-how making a distinction in tourism embrace prolonged actuality (XR) and AI getting used to create novel experiences, utilizing data-driven insights to handle crowd management and guarantee a constructive customer expertise and utilizing digital twins to boost occasions. These examples all return to mitigating traveller issues, making certain that they’ve a clean and constructive expertise while on their journeys.
