Contracts, signatures, payments and credit card authorizations are essential to the tourism and hospitality industry, however, the current disconnected processes in many organizations are causing frustration and inefficiencies.

NAPCO Research partnered with Sertifi, a provider of contract and agreement solutions, to survey travel and hospitality industry professionals about their contract and agreement processes. The research revealed that many in the industry view their contract and agreement processes as inefficient, suggesting there are significant opportunities for efficiency gains and security improvements.

While the tourism and hospitality industry varies in its contract and agreement processes, there are commonalities pertaining to improvements that could be made. When asked about their most
important features for contract and agreement tools, the various segment representatives prioritized a mobile interface, signer verification, dashboards, and the ability to accept alternative payments such as Zelle and Alipay.

When asked to rank a list of features on a scale of importance from 1 to 10 with 10 being “Very Important and 1 being “Not Important at All,” survey respondents provided an interesting view on
how the industry is aligned on the importance of some features, while certain segments showed distinct priorities for others. For example, the need for a mobile-friendly interface emerged as one
of the top priorities across the board with 53% of total respondents ranking it either a 9 or 10. The events segment ranked it highest however (63%), which makes sense considering how frequently events professionals travel and work from venue sites. Another universally important feature is the support tools can offer for alternative payments such as Zelle or Alipay. Though traditional transactions using cash and major credit cards are still widely prevalent across all industries and are unlikely to vanish anytime soon, alternative payments made using digital wallets, bank transfers, cryptocurrencies, and other platforms, are on the rise.

According to reporting from Influencer Marketing Hub, the globalization of business and increased interconnectivity around the world has precipitated the rise of alternative payment methods as they provide quick, convenient, and easy methods of exchanging currency without cash or credit cards. In fact, Influencer Marketing Hub reports that by 2026, digital wallet expenditures are expected to increase by 53%, jumping from $3.4 billion in 2022 to $5.2 trillion in 2026. Considering the international scope of the tourism and hospitality industry, it makes sense that professionals would prioritize the need for alternative payments, as they ease pain points when exchanging foreign currency.

The hotel industry does stand out however, with some distinct differences in the features that it prioritizes. For example, 71% of hotel respondents stated that the ability to mark up and modify
contracts within a tool is very important. This is noticeably higher than the other segments, with 38% of events respondents, 33% of travel respondents, and 19% of tourism respondents stating that this is a top priority.

For similar topics and insight, download the full report here.