Travel organizations reduce operational costs by 40% to 50% | News
In an industry facing increasing pressure from rising labor costs, talent shortages, growing demand for immediate services and an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment, specialized co-sourcing models are gaining ground over traditional outsourcing.
According to data from 24/7 Travel Partner Desk (247tpd), a company specializing in customer service operations for the travel industry, this model allows companies to reduce operational costs by 40% to 50% in functions such as customer service and 24/7 operations. In markets with particularly high cost structures, such as the United States or Northern Europe, savings can be as high as 70%, according to company data.
The figures are based on activities with more than twenty customers from various sectors, including airlines, cruise lines, travel agencies, travel intermediaries and car rental companies, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Air Europa, Viajes El Corte Inglés and Avoris.
A model that positions itself between outsourcing and internal integration
Co-sourcing is defined as a middle ground approach between traditional outsourcing and fully in-house teams. Under this model, external teams work in accordance with the customer’s processes, KPIs and standards and function as an operational extension of the internal team without impacting the brand image.
For 247tpd, this model responds to a structural transformation in the travel industry, driven by three key factors: the continued rise in labor costs in key source markets, difficulties in accessing specialized talent and the growing pressure to provide immediate, omnichannel customer service.
Added to this is the impact of automation and artificial intelligence, which is redefining operational roles and increasing the efficiency standards expected of customer service operations.
“AI has raised the standard of what is expected of human agents; it has not eliminated them. Managing a last-minute cruise disruption, coordinating airline IRROPS or resolving a complex post-sales claim requires judgment, product knowledge and decision-making ability. 247tpd integrates real-time monitoring and analytics platforms for queue management, interaction tracking and KPI tracking, but puts the trained agent at the center of its model,” said Gerardo Ariño, Founder and CEO of 247 tpd.
He adds: “We are not a technology company. We are a people company that uses technology to deliver excellence. In the travel industry, operational complexity still requires teams that can think, make decisions and identify with the brand they represent.”
Specialized multilingual talent as a competitive advantage
One of the biggest challenges in the BPO sector is employee turnover, which in Latin American contact centers is typically between 30% and 40% per year, according to data from Metrigy and SymTrain (2024).
In this context, talent management becomes a critical factor for service quality. “Each departure entails recruitment and training costs, as well as a loss of operational knowledge that has a direct impact on the customer experience,” explains Gerardo Ariño, founder and CEO of 247TPD.
The company, which works with more than 600 professionals from Cali, Colombia, has developed a continuous training model that focuses on deep travel industry expertise and operational integration with client teams, supported by a talent management approach based on Gallup’s strengths methodology. This approach accelerates integration, strengthens service consistency and ensures a seamless traveler experience, regardless of the team or market running the operation. The result is more cohesive teams, greater operational stability and stronger responsiveness in highly demanding travel environments.
“The value lies not only in training agents, but also in achieving continuity. An agent working to a brand’s standards for two years provides a level of consistency that is difficult to replicate in high-volume models,” concludes Ariño.
This model has been adopted by leading travel companies such as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas), Air Europa, Viajes El Corte Inglés, Avoris, World2Meet, Logitravel, OK Mobility and others, who have worked with 247tpd for years to support everything from transactional operations and incident management to financial support and quality control, with implementations the company says can be activated within weeks.
