Virtual reality, almost everyone has heard of it. But the amount of people that actually experienced being in a virtual environment is significantly lower. This relatively new technology is upcoming in many different industries. The idea is simple: you put on a virtual reality headset and in a split second you are in the middle of a ‘computer-mediated multisensory experience’. A virtual environment is imitated, which shows a close representation of real-life situations or places. This technology can be used in many different industries, such as: education, entertainment, science or the tourism industry.
Sundio Group operates in the tourist industry. Because of the many operators in this field, it is important to bind your customers to your organization. That is why Sundio Group has a continuous interplay between cost leadership and customer intimacy. They focus on offering holidays at a low price, while unburdening the customers during the decision process of selecting their holiday and making sure to have direct contact with the client all the time – without a third party, which is often seen in the online travel sector.
In the tourism industry, offering your customers the best service is essential. The customer experience during the orientation phase, the booking phase and the execution phase must live up to their expectations. In these three phases the first phase, the orientation phase, is the most important. That is where virtual reality comes in. VR can improve the experience during orienting on the accommodations that Sundio Group has to offer. It allows the customers to explore an accommodation in great depth. Because of this, the client is able to form realistic expectations of the accommodation that will be visited. This will have a positive effect on the customer satisfaction and loyalty. Hence, virtual reality fits well with the current business strategy.
Implementing VR in the orientation phase of the booking process will help Sundio Group to offer their customers a new service, that none of the other travel agencies in the Netherlands already offer. Therefore, there is also a fit with Sundio Group’s IT strategy. As they operate mostly online, they have to be innovative and adapt to the rapidly changing technological environment. To be able to do this, they already have a strong and powerful IT strategy and team. Besides, Sundio Group is centrally organized and operates with one system. These benefits make it easier to implement such a complex system as virtual reality.
The business and IT strategy are closely intertwined. The perspective through which the business strategy and IT strategy are linked, is called the ‘Technology leverage’ perspective. The starting point is the business strategy. However, the IT department gets to see the business strategy and may implement this in the way that they see a fit. A major component of this perspective is innovation and adapting fast, which is a key focus of Sundio Group. Hence, if Sundio Group wants to differentiate itself and stay in its leading position, they should take off and jump in the deep end with virtual reality!
