Why the travel industry confuses selling an experience with making a promise

A travel company has control over the product it sells and the service it provides when something goes wrong, but it has no control over the one thing the customer truly takes away from the trip: the experience. 

The distinction between product, service, and experience represents three independent layers that determine whether a customer will return to make another purchase or never want to hear from your business again.

Peter Drucker wrote in 1964 that: “The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it is selling.” Sixty years later, this statement continues to explain much of what happens in the tourism industry, where every sale seems simple until something goes wrong. 

The disconnect between what is advertised and what is actually delivered causes frustration and erodes travelers' trust.

The Three Stages of a Journey

Every trip consists of three distinct components, even when the customer doesn't realize this distinction at the time of purchasing the package. 

Understanding how each one works and relates to the others is what sets apart companies that simply sell tickets from those that create positive memories and, as a result, build customer loyalty. How these layers are managed determines the final impression in the consumer’s mind.

Product: what is specified in the contract

The first layer is the product—what is described in the contract or in the confirmation email.

It is the tangible and measurable part of the purchase: the airline ticket to a specific destination, the hotel room with an ocean view, the set itinerary with dates, times, and prices defined before departure. The product is the formalized promise—the set of items the customer expects to receive exactly as advertised.

Here, the details are what really matter. It’s not just “a car reservation,” but an SUV with an automatic transmission available at the airport at the agreed-upon time. It’s not just “a hotel room,” but a room on a high floor, away from the noise, as requested in the reservation. 

Any deviation from this delivery plan begins to erode the foundation upon which the experience will be built.

Service: Support When Something Goes Wrong

The second layer only becomes apparent when something goes wrong. It’s the service that kicks in when a flight is delayed, when a reservation disappears from the hotel’s system, or when a cell phone doesn’t connect as soon as the plane lands in another country. As long as everything works, the customer doesn’t even notice this layer, because it only takes on real significance when something goes wrong along the way.

Service is the contingency plan. A product failure is an opportunity for the service to shine—or to make the situation worse. 

Common issues that test service quality include:

• Lost luggage and the airline's lack of communication.

• Unstable or non-existent in-flight Wi-Fi connection on a long flight.

• Difficulty getting support to activate a tourist eSIM and running out of mobile data while abroad.

• It took a long time to resolve the incorrect charge on my credit card.

The way a company handles these issues shapes the customer’s perception of its professionalism and attentiveness. Good service can turn a problem into a story of overcoming challenges and delivering quality service, while poor service turns a minor inconvenience into a memorable disaster.

Experience: What the Customer Takes Home

The third layer belongs entirely to the traveler, not to the person who sold the package. It is the experience—the sum of the perceptions and feelings that remain after the traveler has returned home and begins to describe, in just a few sentences, what truly made that trip memorable. 

The company controls the product and the service, but the experience is a direct result of how the first two layers performed along the way.

Leisure tourism is the main driver of the industry, which reinforces the search for meaningful experiences. 

According to an ABAV survey reported by CNN Brasil, leisure travel is the main business for 62.8% of travel agencies in the country. In these cases, what the customer is buying is not the flight, but the feeling of freedom; it is not the hotel, but the rest.

Experience Marketing Versus Actual Delivery

In recent years, the tourism industry has started featuring the word “experience” in virtually every window display and advertising campaign. This is because promising an experience is inexpensive; it requires only well-written copy and a compelling image in the company’s promotional materials. The challenge lies in delivering on that promise.

It is expensive to maintain the product and service at a level that ensures the final experience truly lives up to what the advertising promised. 

A study by the Sebrae Agency indicates that, in order to provide a high-quality tourism experience, organization, safety, and comfort are essential—elements that require investment in infrastructure and training. 

Travelers forget the details of the product they purchased just a few weeks after returning home. They only remember the service when it fails. But they carry that bad experience with them for years, telling the same story to anyone who will listen. The memory of a poorly managed trip has a much greater power to tarnish a brand’s reputation than any marketing campaign.

How to Create an Experience That Builds Customer Loyalty

Ensuring a positive customer experience is not a matter of luck, but a deliberate effort. It involves aligning what is promised with flawless product delivery and responsive, effective support, transforming technology into a tool that ensures peace of mind.

Invest in technology

Technology is the bridge between promise and reality. Instead of leaving customers to fend for themselves, anticipate their needs. Connectivity is a clear example. A travel company can integrate mobile data solutions into its packages, eliminating travelers’ concerns about finding local SIM cards. 

By offering a white-label eSIM, the travel brand provides connectivity with its own visual identity.

For companies with greater development capabilities, an eSIM API enables full and customized integration, automating the delivery of data plans as soon as a customer purchases a package. This transforms a pain point into a competitive advantage in terms of convenience.

The goal is to use technology to ensure that the product works flawlessly and the service is seamless. For more ideas on innovation in the industry, check out our blog.