Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research last week published are report on "Humanizing the Digital Travel Experience" that looks at the transistion of travel booking to digital mediums (online, kiosks, etc.) and at some best (and worst) practices from companies in the space. 

According to the report, "Despite its success getting travelers to use Web sites, kiosks, and other digital channels, the travel industry consistently disappoints them. For example, 83 million online leisure travelers don't find the Web easy to use to plan and buy their trips, and fewer travelers are satisfied using digital channels than those using human agents. To improve, the industry must humanize the digital travel experience — putting human benefits ahead of technology. Humanized digital travel experiences are useful, usable, and desirable. They deliver basic value, take content available to all and make it meaningful to one traveler, and tap into travelers' emotions. Humanized digital travel experiences are created by aligning organizations to be customer-centric, gathering and using relevant customer insight, and adopting an outside-in, emotional perspective versus the industry's usual inside-out, clinical approach."

Harteveldt goes on to note that customer service has the worst negative influence on companies along with offering customers clunky cross-channel experiences.  He goes on to offer a few suggestions on how online travel companies can improve the online channel to provide a level of service that mirrors the satisfaction levels of in-person service.