Greg Plifka, Managing Director at Allianz Partners Hong Kong, recently shared his insights with us on how companies are leveraging innovative solutions to reshape customer expectations and experiences.
Plifka, a distinguished insurance professional with 18 years of extensive experience in the Asia-Pacific region, specialises in embedded insurance solutions where relevant insurance covers can be offered alongside the business partner’s core product within their existing customer journey.
Under his leadership, Allianz Partners cemented its position as a leading insurance provider for innovative solutions to the automotive, travel/airline, retail, and financial service industries in Hong Kong.
At the same time, Plifka’s focus on building simple, digital insurance packages and fostering a customer-centric culture led to the creation of numerous long-standing partnerships, making him and a key contributor to the company’s continued success.
As a judge at the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards Hong Kong 2025, he delved into how travel providers can enhance their offerings by partnering with industry players and how technology advancements transformed the industry to create exclusive and localised experiences.
With your extensive experience, could you elaborate on how innovative solutions shape customer experiences in the travel, leisure, and hospitality sectors?
Following the pandemic, we are continuing to see a digital transformation of travel and tourism, driven by technological changes and advancements that have redefined customer expectations. Travellers of today want solutions and services that are just a click away, providing seamless travel experiences.
Two key areas where innovative solutions are playing a big part are personalisation and solving what we call ‘travel tension’, ultimately improving customer experiences and boosting loyalty. When it comes to personalisation, it’s about artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics. For example, providing airline or hospitality staff with guest details and preferences at their fingertips so that they can provide solutions or offers based on those unique needs.
Travel tension is what all travellers face throughout their journey – from planning, researching, booking, going and even when enjoying the trip itself. What we’ve witnessed is that, especially after the pandemic, there’s a lot of uncertainty – from destination choice to unforeseen circumstances like cancelled flights, lost baggage, and even health emergencies whilst overseas. What travellers want is for travel providers to reduce this tension, and innovative tools can be part of the solution. For example, one of the tools Allianz Partners offers is Allyz, a one-stop-shop digital platform which provides travel advice and expertise along with integrated services. Features include destination itineraries and real-time flight and safety information.
In your opinion, what are the most significant challenges currently facing companies in the travel and hospitality industries, and how can they address these challenges effectively?
Consumers of today are becoming more demanding, expecting efficient and intuitive experiences that deliver instant gratification. This immediacy has led to greater competition amongst travel providers for loyalty, prompting companies to focus on eliminating friction through technology whilst maintaining a human touch in travel services.
Since the pandemic, people have also become warier before travelling with concerns such as getting sick or stuck in a country due to sudden lockdowns, adding to travel tension. Industry players need to ease these anxieties and provide peace of mind.
To help mitigate traveller concerns, travel providers can partner with ecosystem partners such as travel insurers, as the right policies can address some of these anxieties and reassure travellers from the start. Insurers like Allianz Partners provide value through policies that support consumers during unforeseen circumstances such as flight disruptions and cancellations. We offer customers 24/7 support with assistance teams across more than 70 countries, providing high-tech and human-touch experiences. When it comes to our product development, customers are at the centre of everything we do, and we use their feedback and the latest market data to shape our product development.
Given your proven track record, how do you think strong B2B2C partnerships contribute to the advancement and success of businesses in the industry?
Partnerships across the travel ecosystem are key to ensuring seamlessness, which travellers of today are demanding. Industry players need to work across silos so that together we can help travellers have memorable experiences that will keep them coming back. What’s important is that brands are leveraging partnerships that are complementary to each other, where they have like-minded approaches to innovation, and where they can continue to collaborate to find ways to add value to the customer.
As an industry, the more we can do for travellers to make their lives easier and provide solutions in a timely manner along the way, the more loyal they will become. For example, companies that partner with travel insurance providers to enhance customer care can differentiate themselves by offering peace of mind throughout the entire travel experience, eliminating travel-related concerns including disruptions and unforeseen circumstances, such as flight delays, personal emergencies, or baggage issues.
In fact, our customers have told us that coupling travel insurance with their core products or offerings resulted in better conversions of their core product.
What role do you believe technological transformations play in influencing the travel industry?
Technology has revolutionised travel and made many aspects of the journey far more convenient, such as empowering travellers to plan and book their entire trips from the comfort of their homes or on the go, managing flights, transport, accommodation and itinerary options.
This also makes communication more instant, and travellers can easily contact service providers to troubleshoot any issues right as they crop up. This also means, however, that customer support must be more readily available to tend to global travellers who may have concerns and come from different time zones, as they will demand responses instantly or within minutes, with limited waiting time.
Technology can also help shape the industry by helping to bridge gaps in terms of labour shortages and enhance travel experiences. In a 2023 study by Deloitte, half of the hotels and 99 percent of airport managers surveyed said that they adopt new technologies to address staff shortages they experience. It also found that 74 percent of airport respondents and 57 percent of hotel general managers expect automation to boost guest experiences and ultimately their bottom lines. Fortunately, tools like AI can help to speed up responsiveness and servicing by meeting customers right where they are.
With more seamless communication and greater connectivity online, travel experiences become a two-way street. Technological transformation has provided travellers with a voice to share openly about their experiences for other consumers to read, so there’s a lot more transparency and openness internationally now. What is critical is that as words can spread quickly via platforms like social media, industry players must stay aware of what customers and travellers are saying, so they can act just as quickly on feedback and concerns.
Looking ahead, what future trends in travel and hospitality do you think will present the greatest opportunities for growth and innovation?
Sustainability is increasingly top of mind for the travel industry, including travellers who expect travel suppliers to address it. Consumers are becoming increasingly eco-conscious and open to companies that offer eco-friendly alternatives. For example, airlines can offer cleaner fuel via Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or give tourists alternative options to purchase carbon offsets. Meanwhile, hotels could focus on local produce to support surrounding communities and lessen their carbon footprint. With consumers being more mindful of the impact their actions have on the environment, the industry has opportunities to respond with solutions that meet consumers’ eco-conscious needs.
Their decisions are also fuelled by wanting authentic and unique experiences, driven by post-pandemic attitudes. Travellers are increasingly moving away from conventional tourism, searching for more personally meaningful destinations and offbeat experiences.
Around 49 percent of global travellers seek immersion in local cultures and products, and they want personalised experiences and activities. To meet this demand, travel providers can curate more local experiences through collaborations with other industry partners. For example, hotels can partner with tour operators and national parks to design exclusive packages.
With remote working here to stay for the foreseeable future, another opportunity is focussing on digital nomads as the number is predicted to increase. These individuals travel freely and work remotely from across the world, seeing themselves more as temporary residents than tourists. Remote workers may not necessarily be individual travellers, and they may bring their family members like their partners and children. Hospitality players could look at digital nomad packages, which can be coupled with curated luxury or wellness experiences for these workers to unwind on their days off.
As a judge at the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards Hong Kong 2025, what are the primary criteria you will use to evaluate the nominees?
A key criterion for me would be looking at how nominees are looking to redefine industry standards and elevate customer experiences. Travelling can present unexpected challenges for tourists and travel providers who are able to reduce travel tension go a long way in improving the experience of travellers, turning them into returning guests. With enhanced customer care, travellers are more likely to have peace of mind through their travel experience so that they can focus on having an unforgettable trip.
Innovation and the use of technology is another area to consider, as technology will present endless opportunities for nominees to deliver high-quality experiences. Examples of technology making a difference in tourism include extended reality (XR) and AI being used to create novel experiences, using data-driven insights to manage crowd control and ensure a positive visitor experience and using digital twins to enhance events. These examples all go back to mitigating traveller concerns, ensuring that they have a smooth and positive experience whilst on their trips.