Hays Travel has developed a bespoke app to further improve its service to customers. Launched this month via the App Store and Google Play, the Hays Travel app will allow customers to keep and view their travel documents in one place, settle balances with fast and secure payments, add holiday extras such as airport parking and car rental, as well as view a countdown to travel, access games, and earn badges.
Hays Travel appointed travel technology experts digitaltravel.io to build the app, following a competitive procurement process.
Dame Irene Hays: “We are delighted to reach the launch stage of this important output in our tech transformation programme. Whether they are researching their next holiday or managing their booking, our app’s interactive features that will further improve our customers’ experience and complement the service our agents provide in branches.
“We were impressed by the digitaltravel.io team who understood our objectives and demonstrated that they have the experience and capability required to build us a bespoke Hays Travel app.”
Having spent twenty years in travel technology, Peter Whittle, digitaltravel.io CEO, co-founded the business in 2021 when he spotted a gap in the market. For Peter, taking his business’s expertise to deliver a bespoke app for the UK’s largest independent travel agent is an important moment for his business.
Peter Whittle, digitaltravel.io CEO, said: “This is a landmark project for digitaltravel.io. The bespoke app we have developed for Hays Travel will offer customers an even better experience and further grow Hays’ brand loyalty and reputation. From travel planning and trip booking to staying connected on the go, this all-in-one app focuses on customer engagement and post booking services to make holiday planning simple.
“It was a pleasure working with the Hays team who were open to our ideas and challenged us to deliver a first-class bit of tech – we are all very happy with the results.”
During the app’s trial phase, Hays Travel colleagues in retail branches and at its Sunderland Head Office put the new app through its paces, giving the development team valuable feedback on their experience.
What followed was a successful customer trial phase that involved the app being rolled out across Hays Tavel’s retail divisions, with branch colleagues encouraging customers to download and use the app and give feedback on their experience using it.
Dame Irene concluded: “This is just the beginning, working with digitaltravel.io and our tech partner Nordstar, we have a roadmap in place for further developments and additional functionality that will improve customers’ experience and journey.”
