The travel and sharing living sectors were among the most affected industries during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. These industries felt the impact on their operations as governments across countries implemented travel restrictions, physical distancing protocols, and limited social gathering mandates to help mitigate the spread of the virus. Specifically, it has led airlines, hotels, and room-sharing providers to operate with limited capacity until quarantine protocols were lifted.
These changes during the pandemic also affected current consumer behavior, emphasizing the importance of having a seamless user experience and data security when using online platforms. Today, travelers are more likely to consider local destinations, as many countries have restricted entry or closed their borders to minimize the spread of COVID-19. With this, travel industry service providers needed to adapt to changing consumer behavior.
As local travel destinations became more popular, sharing economy platforms saw a boom in popularity. They became a great option in these times as they can offer reduced chances of contracting and spreading the disease. Along with this, the reliance on apartment or home-sharing accommodations, peer-to-peer vehicle sharing, and RV sharing platforms also became famous as safer alternatives of accommodation and travel during these times.
However, customers want to feel safe that they will not be financially harmed or endangered by the service provider they use.
Criminals can easily compromise these services by circumventing weak cybersecurity systems, making knowledge-based authentication such as passwords and security questions more vulnerable to data breaches. Identity verification plays a crucial role in travel, especially during the pandemic. Authentication requirements that do not rely on passwords become more reliable means of ensuring data safety.
The changes in business operations will likely continue to be influenced by the adoption of new methods and innovations during the pandemic. With this, enterprises should also consider new identity proofing methods such as mobile biometric verification to accurately verify and confirm a person’s identity.
For more details about the need for identity certainty in travel post-COVID-19, here is an infographic from authID.
