Smart Omnichannel Architecture for Air Travel Applications Using Big Data Techniques

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to present an omnichannel architecture for air travel applications that enables seamless access and up-to-date travel information across channels. Air travel applications are characterized by diversity and various actors participating in the travel lifecycle. The life cycle is fulfilled by different systems starting from travel inspiration to post-trip activities. The traveler as a consumer of travel applications has multiple options like websites, call center, and travel agent offices to search, book, track, and manage the travel activities. The presence of multiple channels makes the traveler experience easy in terms of time-saving and convenience. The challenge with multiple channels is to ensure the consistency of travel data and keeping them up-to-date. The multichannel does not mean an omnichannel experience. A truly omnichannel experience means that traveler gets travel information flowing seamlessly from one channel to the other. It can be achieved by the architecture building blocks which are powered by big data paradigms including personalization, context management, scaling, and sharing the travel data states. In this paper, we will present the approach, architecture in detail and also discuss the survey results that motivated the research for omnichannel interactions. The architecture includes an in-memory layer that can serve across the channels with traveler data like preferences, interaction information, and history in a scalable way.